
In regard to the Bob Guccione-directed pornographic inserts in the uncut version of “Caligula”–what better way is there to exemplify the excesses of a crazed Roman ruler than with a little of the ‘ol in-out, in-out? And what better actor to preside over the excesses of a Sodom-esquire Rome than Malcolm McDowell, who lent “A Clockwork Orange” its amoral backbone? Here he plays the titular emperor, who carries on a long-standing incestuous relationship with his sister, Drusilla (Teresa Ann Savoy), and weds Rome’s most promiscuous prostitute, Caesonia (Helen Mirren), only to descend down a power-mad spiral of paranoia, insanity, and death. Director Tinto Brass (himself a porn auteur) uses this bit of history as a springboard into unspooling a lavish, extravagant pseudo-epic, rife with overwhelming sets, costumes, and carnage (dig the motorized decapitator!)–all of which become extensions of Caligula’s excessive character. McDowell–who at first seems to be doing a gloss on Alexander DeLarge, clocks in a portrait of murderous tyranny with a mix of cold-blooded conviction and tongue-in-cheek camp. The rest of the cast–including John Gielgud and Peter O’Toole in small roles–adopts the same no-boundaries Method histrionics, which lends the film a fittingly surreal tone. Furthermore, the porn inserts (including two lusty lesbians and a wild, full-blown (pun intended!) orgy scene)–whose integration runs the gambit from clumsy to seamless–are entrancingly sleazy, a complement to Caligula’s own prurient pleasures, and an affirmation of our own.
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