For the past couple of years, I've was following the news of a recut of a very controversial movie after reading reports of over 90 hours of rediscovered footage being found in a storage warehouse rented by the pornographic titan, Penthouse, right before it would've been destroyed.
The film: Caligula.
At first, a fan of the film's director Tinto Brass wanted to create a cut that was more closer to his vision of the film. Then...nothing. Afterwards, news of a new cut of the film, held by another fan of the film, using the rediscovered footage and making it closer to the original screenplay written for the movie by the late Gore Vidal was announced. This new cut would not use shots that were used in the original, and it would not include the scenes of hardcore pornography that was shot during the film's post-production by producer Bob Guccione.
After being screened at both the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and Fantastic Fest 2023, Drafthouse Films acquired the North American distribution rights to the film for a limited release this past Summer. And now, it is available to own on home media.
With the subtitle, The Ultimate Cut, this near three hour film was something that audiences back in 1979 would not believe would come to existence. Instead of a heavily butchered disaster filled with over-the-top performances by several great British actors and hardcore smut, this recut is a dramatic epic featuring performances that should've been on screen over 45 years ago.
Even Malcolm McDowell, who played the notorious 3rd Emperor of Rome in the film, praised the new cut, and was happy that the best performance he ever did in cinema could finally be seen. And I couldn't agree more.
I will point out that some may be critical of the length of the film, but this recut is very character driven, unlike the over-the-top sex-focused original. With performances by Academy Award winning actress Helen Mirren as well as the late Teresa Ann Savoy, John Gielgud, and Peter O'Toole, the film brings more focus to a story of murder, love, lust, and political corruption from the characters the actors portray.
I highly recommend this new recut of Caligula, but I will still warn people that despite it's free from scenes of unnecessary sleaze, it still contains some graphic depictions of a sexual nature, full nudity, and some graphic violence. I wouldn't doubt that the reason why the film remains unrated is the fact that the MPA would've given the film an NC-17 rating if it was submitted for one.
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