Name: Caligula: The Ultimate Cut (2024)
Start: 2025-02-13T19:00:00-07:00
Location: Globe Cinema

Directed by Tinto Brass | USA, Italy | 156 mins
During the golden age of provocative cinema (the 1970s), Penthouse Magazine proprietor Bob Guccione commissioned esteemed writer Gore Vidal to craft the ultimate epic: the story of the mad Roman Emperor Caligula and the consequences of one man’s unrestrained appetites wielding absolute power over the world. After a tumultuous production process, marked by cast departures, rewritten scenes, and producer interference in the final cut, Caligula was released to the public and immediately proclaimed the most controversial film ever made.
In 2024, art historian Thomas Negovan undertook an ambitious project to “rescue” Caligula’s reputation. Using hours of previously unreleased footage, Negovan re-edited the film to restore Gore Vidal’s original vision of perverse power. Featuring the talents of Helen Mirren as Empress Caesonia, Peter O’Toole and John Gielgud as Emperor Tiberius and his advisor Nerva, and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) as Caligula, Calgary Cinematheque proudly presents the latest incarnation of Rome’s most infamous tyrant: Caligula: The Ultimate Cut.
Part of our ongoing Contemporary World Cinema Series.