Caligola (1979)

Directors:

Tinto Brass
Bob Guccione
(mehr)

Drehbuchautor:

Gore Vidal (earlier screenplay)
(mehr)

Premierendatum:

15. Februar 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Historienfilm | Porno

Werbezeile:

What would you have done if you had been given absolute power of life and death over everybody else in the whole world?

Plot:

Details the graphic and shocking, yet undeniably tragic story of Rome's most infamous Caesar, Gaius Germanicus Caligula.

Plot Keywords:

Crowd | One Word Title | Hate | Father Daughter Relationship | Penis

Nutzerkommentare:

The Ben-Hur of Porn: Gratuitous Sex, Violence, & Weirdness

Besetzung

Malcolm McDowell	...	Caligula
Teresa Ann Savoy	...	Drusilla
Guido Mannari	...	Macro
John Gielgud	...	Nerva
Peter O'Toole	...	Tiberius
Giancarlo Badessi	...	Claudius
Bruno Brive	...	Gemellus
Adriana Asti	...	Ennia
Leopoldo Trieste	...	Charicles
Paolo Bonacelli	...	Chaerea
John Steiner	...	Longinus
Mirella D'Angelo	...	Livia (as Mirella Dangelo)
Helen Mirren	...	Caesonia
Rick Parets	...	Mnester (as Richard Parets)
Paula Mitchell	...	Subura Singer
Osiride Pevarello	...	Giant
Donato Placido	...	Proculus
übrige Besetzung in alphabetischer Reihenfolge:
Anneka Di Lorenzo	...	Messalina
Lori Wagner	...	Agrippina
Patrick Allen	...	Macro (voice) (uncredited)
Gerardo Amato	...	(uncredited)
Pino Ammendola	...	(uncredited)
Eduardo Bergara Leumann	...	High Priest of Rome (uncredited)
Signe Berger	...	Imperial Brothel Worker (uncredited)
Eolo Capritti	...	The Executioner (uncredited)
Valerie Rae Clark	...	Priestess of Isis / Imperial Brothel Worker (uncredited)
Maria Cumani Quasimodo	...	Priestess of Isis (uncredited)
Jane Hargrave	...	Priestess of Isis / Imperial Brothel Worker (uncredited)
Henrietta Kelogg	...	Imperial Brothel Worker (uncredited)
John Francis Lane	...	Guest at Proculus' Wedding (uncredited)
Giuseppe Maffioli	...	Master of Ceremonies (uncredited)
Juliet Morris	...	Imperial Brothel Worker (uncredited)
Carolyn Patsis	...	Imperial Brothel Worker (uncredited)
Susanne Saxon	...	Imperial Brothel Worker (uncredited)
Melanie Sutherland	...	Imperial Brothel Worker (uncredited)
Bonnie Dee Wilson	...	Imperial Brothel Worker (uncredited)

Regie
Tinto Brass		(principal photography)
Bob Guccione		(additional footage)
Giancarlo Lui		(additional footage)

Buch
Gore Vidal		(earlier screenplay)
Bob Guccione		(additional scenes) (1984 version) uncredited &
Giancarlo Lui		(additional scenes) (1984 version) uncredited
Franco Rossellini		(dialogue) (1984 version) uncredited

Produktion
Bob Guccione	....	producer
Franco Rossellini	....	producer
Franco Rossellini	....	line producer (uncredited)
Jack H. Silverman	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Originalmusik
Bruno Nicolai		(as Paul Clemente)
Renzo Rossellini		(1984)

Kamera
Silvano Ippoliti		(director of photography)

Schnitt
Nino Baragli
Enzo Micarelli		(1984 version)
Russell Lloyd		(uncredited)

Casting
Paolo Heusch
Roberto Tatti

Bauten/Dekorationsbau (art directors)
Danilo Donati

Kostüme
Danilo Donati		(uncredited)

Maske/Frisuren
Giuseppe Banchelli	....	makeup artist (as Guiseppe Banchelli)
Iole Cecchini	....	hair stylist (as Jole Cecchini)

Produktionsleiter (production managers)
Mario Di Biase	....	production manager
Sergio Galiano	....	unit manager
Augusto Marabelli	....	production supervisor
Alessandro Mattei	....	production supervisor
Franco Rossellini	....	post-production supervisor (1984 version)

Regieassistenten
Piernico Solinas	....	first assistant director

Ausstattung (Stab)
Gianpiero Grassi	....	property master
Giovanni Natalucci	....	architect
Luigi Urbani	....	set dresser
Franco Velchi	....	architect

Ton Stab
Marco Di Biase	....	boom operator
Gerry Humphreys	....	dubbing mixer
Archie Ludski	....	dialogue editor
Claudio Maielli	....	sound engineer
Giuliano Maielli	....	boom operator
Stefano Morandi	....	sound mixer (1984 version)
Robin O'Donoghue	....	dubbing mixer
Winston Ryder	....	supervising sound editor
Roger Van Engel	....	sound editor

Spezialeffekte
Franco Celli	....	special effects
Marcello Coccia	....	special effects

Kamera und Elektrik (Stab)
Eddie Adams	....	special photographer
Jerry Bauer	....	special photographer
Giuseppe Di Biase	....	camera operator (as Pino Di Biase)
Bob Guccione	....	cinematographer: additional scenes
Giancarlo Lui	....	cinematographer: additional scenes
Stan Malinowski	....	special photographer
Claudio Patriarca	....	special photographer
Enrico Sasso	....	camera operator
Mario Tursi	....	unit photographer

Kostüm und Garderobe (Stab)
Gloria Musetta	....	wardrobe mistress (as Gloria Picone Mussetta)
Gregorio Simili	....	wardrobe master

Schnitt (Stab)
Peter Krook	....	assistant editor
Giancarlo Lui	....	post-production director
Enzo Natale	....	post-production coordinator (1984 version)

Musik (Stab)
Aram Khachaturyan	....	composer: musical excerpts (as Aram Khachaturian)
Bruno Nicolai	....	conductor (as Paul Clemente)
Bruno Nicolai	....	orchestrator (as Paul Clemente)
Sergei Prokofiev	....	composer: musical excerpts

Restlicher Stab
Walter Alford	....	unit publicist
Ferruccio Amendola	....	dubbing director (1984 version)
Carla Cipriani	....	continuity
Bruno Di Bartolomei	....	accountant
Leslie Jay	....	assistant to producers
Tito LeDuc	....	choreographer (as Tito Le Duc)
Giuseppe Maffioli	....	consultant: gastronomy
Pino Pennesi	....	choreographer
Franco Rossellini	....	director: additional scenes (1984 version)
Maria Ruhle	....	unit publicist
Louise Vincent	....	dialogue director
Masolino D'Amico	....	translator (uncredited)
Paula Mitchell	....	researcher (uncredited)

Produktionsfirmen

• Penthouse Films International
• Felix Cinematografica

Verleihfirmen

• Produzioni Atlas Consorziate (P.A.C.) (1979) (Italy) (theatrical) (as "Caligola")
• Analysis Film Releasing Corporation (1980) (USA) (theatrical)
• Seville Pictures (1980) (Canada) (theatrical) (Canada: Quebec)
• GTO (UK)
• Ízaro Films (1981) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Citadel Films (1981) (Canada) (theatrical) (Canada: English Canada)
• Gaumont Italia (1984) (Italy) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Independent Artists (I) (1999) (USA) (re-release)
• Vestron Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Amuse Pictures (????) (Japan) (DVD)
• BRI Video (????) (USA) (VHS) (R version)
• Bitworks (????) (Japan) (DVD)
• Cine Video Corporation (CVC) S.r.l. (Italy) (VHS) (1984 version)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2001) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Ekaterinburg Art Home Video (EAHV) (????) (Russia) (DVD)
• Ekaterinburg Art Home Video (EAHV) (????) (Russia) (VHS)
• Electric (????) (UK) (VHS)
• Filmco Sweden (????) (Sweden) (VHS)
• General Media International Financial Services (GMIFS) N.V. (international)
• Hem Films/HemVideo Film (????) (Sweden) (VHS) (re-release)
• Home Video Hellas (HVH) (????) (Greece) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Image Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• KAVAN-Scanbox Entertainment (????) (Denmark) (VHS)
• Movies Select Video (1992) (Belgium) (VHS) (un-cut version)
• Movies Select Video (????) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Penthouse Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Roadshow Entertainment (1981) (Australia) (theatrical) (re-edit)
• Roadshow Home Video (????) (Australia) (VHS)
• Screen Multimedia-Metrodome Distribution (????) (UK) (VHS) (re-release)
• Tobis Filmkunst (????) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Tobis (1980) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Universal Video (UV) (????) (Italy) (VHS)
• Video Screen (1984) (Belgium) (video) (cut version)
• Warner Vision Australia (2005) (Australia) (DVD) (cut)

Weitere Firmen

• Cine Audio Effects  sound effects and foley design
• Cinenoleggio  technical equipment
• Ferani Veste  costume rental
• L.C.P. di Pompei  shoes
• Rancati dei Fratelli Sormani  props (as Rancate of Sormani)
• Rocchetti e Carboni  wigs (as Rocchetti-Carboni)
• Royal Italian Symphonia  orchestra
• Soc G.E.S.C.A. S.p.a.  accounting (as Soc. G.E.S.C.A. Spa.)
• Twickenham Film Studios  sound re-recording (as Twickenham Studios, London, England)
• V.G. S.r.l.  titles and opticals (1984 version)

Alternativ:

Caligula (USA)
Caligula, My Son (UK)
Caligvla (International: English title) (alternative spelling)
Gore Vidal's Caligola (Italy) (working title)
Io, Caligola (Italy) (recut version)

Länge:

156 Min | Italy:123 Min (recut version) | USA:148 Min (re-release) | 210 Min (original cut) | UK:102 Min | Spain:137 Min | USA:102 Min (R-rated version)

Produktionsland:

Italy | USA

Sprache:

Italienisch | Englisch

Farbe:

Farbe (Eastmancolor)

Seitenverhältnis:

1.37 : 1

Tonverfahren:

Mono (original release) | Dolby (re-release: 1999)

Altersfreigabe:

Finland:(Banned) (original rating) | France:-18 (DVD version) | France:-16 | Australia:Refused Classification (2005) | Belgium:KNT (original rating) | Belgium:16 (video rating) | USA:Unrated (uncut) | Germany:18 (SPIO/JK) (cut) | Spain:X | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-18 (heavily cut) (1981) | Australia:X (1985) | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | Netherlands:16 | Italy:VM18 | UK:18 (re-rating: 1990) (heavily cut) | USA:R (heavily cut) | New Zealand:R18 | West Germany:18 (nf) | Argentina:18 | Canada:(Banned) (Nova Scotia) | Chile:18 | Denmark:15 (DVD rating) | Denmark:16 | Finland:K-18 | Hong Kong:III | Iceland:(Banned) (original rating) | Iceland:16 (cut) | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | South Korea:18 (cut) | Sweden:15 | USA:X (self applied MA for "Mature Audiences") | Australia:R (cut) | UK:X (original rating: 1980) (cut)

Drehorte:

Dear Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Firma:

Penthouse Films International

Dies und das:

Prior to his hiring of Tinto Brass to direct, Bob Guccione had been in negotiations with John Huston, and then Lina Wertmüller - who wanted to cast Jack Nicholson in the film's starring role.

Pannen:

Anachronismus: Most of the penises seen in the movie are obviously circumcised. However, circumcision was not practiced in Rome.

Dialogzitate:

[after a man is decapitated]
Caligula: If only all of Rome had just one neck.

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Ausschnittsweise enthalten in The 75th Annual Academy Awards (2003) (TV)

Soundtrack:

We Are One

The Ben-Hur of Porn: Gratuitous Sex, Violence, & Weirdness

Some describe CALIGULIA as "the" most controversial film of its era. While this is debatable, it is certainly one of the most embarrassing: virtually every big name associated with the film made an effort to distance themselves from it. Author Gore Vidal actually sued (with mixed results) to have his name removed from the film, and when the stars saw the film their reactions varied from loudly voiced disgust to strategic silence. What they wanted, of course, was for it to go away.

For a while it looked like it might. CALIGULA was a major box-office and critical flop (producer Guccione had to rent theatres in order to get it screened at all), and although the film was released on VHS to the home market so many censorship issues were raised that it was re-edited, and the edited version was the only one widely available for more than a decade. But now CALIGULIA is on DVD, available in both edited "R" and original "Unrated" versions. And no doubt John Gielgud is glad he didn't live to see it happen.

The only way to describe CALIGULIA is to say it is something like DEEP THROAT meets David Lynch's DUNE by way of Fellini having an off day. Vidal's script fell into the hands of Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione, who used Vidal's reputation to bankroll the project and lure the big name stars--and then threw out most of Vidal's script and brought in soft-porn director Tinto Brass. Then, when Guccione felt Brass' work wasn't explicit enough, he and Giancarlo Lui photographed hardcore material on the sly.

Viewers watching the edited version may wonder what all the fuss is about, but those viewing the original cut will quickly realize that it leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination. There is a tremendous amount of nudity, and that remains in the edited version, but the original comes complete with XXX scenes: there is very explicit gay, lesbian, and straight sex, kinky sex, and a grand orgy complete with dancing Roman guards thrown in for good measure. The film is also incredibly violent and bloody, with rape, torture, and mutilation the order of the day. In one particularly disturbing scene, a man is slowly stabbed to death, a woman urinates on his corpse, and his genitals are cut off and thrown to the dogs.

In a documentary that accompanies the DVD release, Guccione states he wanted the film to reflect the reality of pagan Rome. If so, he missed the mark. We know very little about Caligula--and what little we know is questionable at best. That aside, orgies and casual sex were not a commonplace of Roman society, where adultery was an offense punishable by death. And certainly ancient Rome NEVER looked like the strange, slightly Oriental, oddly space-age sets and costumes offered by the designers.

On the plus side, those sets and costumes are often fantastically beautiful, and although the cinematography is commonplace it at least does them justice; the score is also very, very good. The most successful member of the cast is Helen Mirren, who manages to engage our interests and sympathies as the Empress Caesonia; Gielgud and O'Toole also escape in reasonably good form. The same cannot be said for McDowell, but in justice to him he doesn't have much to work with.

The movie does possess a dark fascination, but ultimately it is an oddity, more interesting for its design and flat-out weirdness than for content. Some of the bodies on display (including McDowell's and Mirren's) are extremely beautiful, and some of the sex scenes work very well as pornography... but then again, some of them are so distasteful they might drive you to abstinence, and the bloody and grotesque nature of the film undercuts its eroticism. If you're up to it, it is worth seeing once, but once is likely to be enough.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer