Caligula

Yesterday I watched Caligula for the first time. Damn.

I expected this movie to be a hidden gem, but I didn't expect it to be as good as it is. It's beautiful, from start to finish. The sets were amazing, the narrative was surprisingly faithful to the historical accounts. Studying Roman history is a bit of a passion of mine, particularly the period of the late republic, through the crisis of the 3rd century. There was a lot of historical tidbits present in the movie, but left largely unexplained. (Particularly the auger of the raven in Caligula's bed). It felt good to be rewarded for my knowledge by having a movie present the events without a lot of extra explanatory text. Also, god damned Malcom McDowell. I think I prefer his performance here to the one in A Clockwork Orange.

Is it weird that young Malcom McDowell did two movies where he played the most utterly despicable human being imaginable, then forces the audience to sympathize with him? That seems like a really specific niche to get typecast in.

I'm surprised to say that my one complaint is that there was too much sex. It's some of the most well-shot sex I've ever seen, but a few of those scenes were gratuitous. In particular the scene where Julia Drusilla is conceived. Up until that point, Drusilla and Caesonia hate each other. Then they start making out with each other. Then it cuts to a pair of lesbians who are spying on the royal family and having sex with each other.

What?

Apparently this scene was inserted after the fact by Penthouse, who pushed the movie into a more pornographic direction. To the point where the director took his name off of the production, which is too bad. A debauched conception scene would be appropriate, but that scene was weird to me.

Also, the whole scene where Caligula sneaks into the women-only gathering of the priestesses of Isis. Why do the priestesses of Isis have an orgy when they meet? It felt like a locker room or slumber party sex fantasy, rather than a coherent part of the narrative. Having the Isis ceremony be more austere would have served as a good counterpoint to the depravity of the rest of the movie. I don't know if this scene was also against the wishes of the director, but I don't think so.

The highlight of the movie by far is Drusilla's death scene. It stands out to me as the single most heart-wrenching loss of human life I've ever seen depicted in a film. The fact that the person the viewer experiences their grief through is Caligula himself is a testament to how well the scene was arranged. I was god damned head-in-hands weeping for his loss.

Also very good is the final scene. From Caligula getting stabbed, his daughter being bashed against the marble stairs, the baffled Claudius, and the washing away of their blood. Dayum.

If you're not already familiar with the movie, then I should give you fair warning: it's pornography.

I mean, it's a brilliant film with a fairly historically accurate portrayal. But the historical Caligula was an insane bastard, well known for his sexual depravity. For almost the entire length of the film, there are naked bodies on screen. There are multiple sex scenes which actually show penises going into vaginas and mouths. All of it serves the greater purpose of the film (well, almost all of it), but you should know it's there before you sit down to watch it with your friends or something. =P

Caligula occupies a unique space between "normal movie" and "porn." I'm not intimately familiar with the production history, but it goes something like this:

1. Serious people want to make a serious movie about Roman history.
2. They start making their serious movie.
3. Their serious movie has a LOT of sex scenes in it.
4. No studio is willing to release their movie, because it has too much sex in it.
5. Penthouse (a porn studio) says they will release the serious movie.
6. Penthouse says "ADD MORE SEX!"

In the end, you get a very serious drama. A masterfully written, masterfully acted film. Plus a looooooooooooooooooooot of sex.

But it's kind of warranted. The actual historical figures (First Tiberius, then Caligula himself) are some of the most diabolical sexual perverts in history.

Yeah, the film is great, despite a little more sex than actually benefitted the story.