FAQ for
Caligola (1979) More at IMDb Pro »

Not quite. Bob Guccione was the executive producer and after firing Tinto Brass from the director's/editor's chair, personally re-shot six minutes worth of sex scenes and ordered massive re-edits on the film. Still, 95% of the finished movie was directed by Tinto Brass, albeit not edited the way he intended.

No. He disowned the film shortly after the principal photography began, when he found out that Tinto Brass and the lead actor, Malcolm McDowell, altered the film's historical drama into a surreal political satire. The botched film released today is the result of Giancarlo Lui's attempt to reconstruct Gore Vidal's original intention.

Hardly. Most of the characters are condensed versions of various different historical figures, many have their real roles in the story changed, and some characters' fates are vastly altered. For example, Nerva STARVED himself to death in 33 a.d. and Drusilla died long before Caligula even met Caesonia. Also, all of Caligula's previous marriages are never mentioned and most of the sets, costumes and props in no way represent real Roman architecture or culture; they are, in fact, surreal and fantastical interpretations of Pagan Rome.

For years, the infamous 210 minute version was shrouded in mystery, but in recent interviews, Malcolm McDowell (the film's star) and Ernest Volkman (on-set writer) finally explained that it was nothing more than essentailly the commonly seen 156 minute version, but padded out with over forty minutes of Bob Guccione's hardcore sex footage.

The two reasons it was not included on the new DVD were because it was unnecessary and that this particular version has long since been disassembled (it was probably cut down to make the master for the 156 minute edition.)

An edited version of Sergei Prokofiev's "Montegues & Capulets" theme from his ballet rendition of "Romeo & Juliet."

Drusilla gives Caligula an onion to sniff so he would appear teary-eyed when saying Tiberius' eulogy. If one listens closely, Caligula tells her "hand me the onion" before he sniffs it.

Some versions of the film omit the entire moment of Caligula coming up to Drusilla and sniffing the onion.

"Caligula" is spelled as "Caligola" in Italian and legally this film is an Italian production, so the Italian spelling of the title is used in the IMDb listing.