Caligula Italian : Caligola is a erotic historical drama film about the rise and fall of Roman Emperor Caligula. Original screenwriter Gore Vidal and film director Tinto Brass both disavowed the extensive changes to their contributions, with Brass dismissed prior to editing. Financier producer Bob Guccione , founder of Penthouse magazine, engaged Giancarlo Lui to film post-production scenes featuring hardcore sex, significantly altering the film's tone and style.
Initially released to Italian cinemas in , then screened in America the following year, Caligula was met with legal issues and controversies over its violent and sexual content. Different abridged versions were released worldwide, while its uncut form remains banned in several countries. A minute Ultimate Cut , approved by McDowell and consisting entirely of new archival footage not used for the previous theatrical release, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in , receiving more favorable reviews from critics.
Caligula is the young heir to the throne of his great-uncle , Emperor Tiberius. One morning, a blackbird flies into his room; Caligula considers this a bad omen. Shortly afterward, one of the heads of the Praetorian Guard , Naevius Sutorius Macro , tells Caligula that Tiberius demands his immediate presence at Capri , where the Emperor lives with his close friend Nerva , Caligula's dim-witted uncle Claudius , and Caligula's cousin Tiberius's grandson Gemellus.
Fearing assassination, Caligula is afraid to leave, but his sister and lover Drusilla persuades him to go. At Capri, Caligula finds that Tiberius has become depraved, showing signs of advanced venereal diseases and embittered with Rome and politics. Tiberius enjoys swimming with naked youths and watching degrading sex shows that include deformed people and animals; Caligula observes with fascination and horror.
Tensions rise when Tiberius tries to poison Caligula in front of Gemellus. Nerva commits suicide and Caligula tries to kill Tiberius but loses his nerve. Proving his loyalty to Caligula, Macro kills Tiberius instead with Gemellus as a witness. After Tiberius's death and burial, Caligula is proclaimed the new Emperor, then proclaims Drusilla as his equal, to the apparent disgust of the Roman Senate.
