If the internet is to be believed, men are always thinking about the Roman Empire. This certainly seems true in cinema. In the second half of 2024, Francis Ford Coppola’s MEGALOPOLIS and Ridley Scott’s GLADIATOR II both turned their lenses towards (New) Rome, making points about the ancient past’s continued relevance and entirely missing others. These facts, of course, are not points for or against any fiction about or set in the Roman Empire: its history is far too rich and complicated to simplify into one feature film’s message, and what is selected as a focus from that society’s rich and complex building blocks says more about the world of the film’s creation – our world today – than it does about this oft-considered civilisation.
The latter end of 2024 also saw the re-release of Tinto Brass’ maligned CALIGULA in an entirely new cut. CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT purports to have no footage that made it into the 1979 theatrical release and to hew closer to the original vision of Brass and screenwriter Gore Vidal (both disowned the film upon its initial release). This “faithful” version has been forthcoming for even longer than MEGALOPOLIS, making them a strange pairing, but where Coppola’s much-beleaguered release is shamelessly, embarrassingly sincere and optimistic about humanity’s potential for growth, CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT revels in the moral rot and innate violence of unchecked power. If Brass and Vidal were unhappy with the first version for taming their extreme impulses, this should rectify their concerns.
“CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT revels in the moral rot and innate violence of unchecked power. If Brass and Vidal were unhappy with the first version for taming their extreme impulses, this should rectify their concerns.”
Drawn from the history of Caligula and his bloodthirsty, hedonistic power trip over four years until his own guard assassinates him, CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT enjoys the excesses of myth. Like Nero, few emperors are as well known as common shorthand for depravity and evil. Brass’ film is less concerned with historical accuracy than with portraying every perverse legend about the young emperor in vivid colour, grand sets, and extended scenes of violence and abuse (in the fragmented context of this all-new-footage approach, these would be gratuitously beside the point, were they not the point themselves). Malcolm McDowell’s gutsy performance eschews archness for full-on psychopathy, externalising Caligula’s urges with no temptation to hide behind ulterior motives or sympathetic undertones. His ability to marry charisma with despicable, unforgivable acts is a testament to his old-school movie star skills.
“Malcolm McDowell’s gutsy performance eschews archness for full-on psychopathy, externalising Caligula’s urges with no temptation to hide behind ulterior motives or sympathetic undertones.”
Even setting aside their long geneses, MEGALOPOLIS and CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT would make an odd, very imperfect, yet fitting double bill: in an age of unstable, rotten empires, both have different ideas about the way humanity should go from here. MEGALOPOLIS has rose-tinted glasses; CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT has none. This film is the Roman Empire in full decay, and humanity’s best intentions have no home here. The effect is less thought-provoking than merely provocative, turning wanton destruction into seductive spectacle. In many ways, CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT is reminiscent of Luchino Visconti’s 1969 film THE DAMNED, but without this earlier film’s flashes of humanity.
CALIGULA: THE ULTIMATE CUT threatens to prioritise style and depravity over substance, but perhaps that excess is the critique. While the new version does not elevate the material to masterpiece status, McDowell’s fearless turn and the curiosity of an unsanitised release make this worth watching.