Tinto Brass
13 connections found
Filmography
View:
Connections, in both directions
Bob Guccione’s cinematic abortion “Caligula” was a work of art compared to this.
Orgiastic early nightclub scenes rekindle memories of Tinto Brass’s Caligula.
As I watched "Babylon," I wondered just how Chazelle might have improved 1979's hard-core epic tale "Caligula" starring Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren and Peter O'Toole.
It’s not quite on par with 1979’s Caligula , but it’s close – all in an apparent attempt to present the excesses of the early movie business not by objectively showing said excesses but by instead engaging in Chazelle’s own.
After Crowe defeats an encroaching barbarian horde in an exciting opening sequence, Harris decides to make him the protectorate of Rome during its transition back to a Republic, a decision that doesn't sit well with scheming son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix, in a campy part at least partially informed by Malcolm McDowell's turn in Caligula , but nonetheless not as crazy as the real Commodus).
MORE than just a welcome revival of the toga movie – a genre dead for more than 30 years, if you don’t count Bob Guccione’s gamy “Caligula” – “Gladiator” is an exhilarating, sweeping epic that begs to be seen on the largest possible screen.
In that sense, he has a point; one thinks of Laurence Olivier's famous line in Spartacus about snails and oysters, or that moment in Gladiator when Oliver Reed casually asks Russell Crowe whether he wants a girl or a boy.
From William Wyler’s “Ben Hur” to Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator” to HBO’s critically-acclaimed series, “Rome,” there’s ample proof that tales can be told of the violence and debauchery of ancient Rome without leaving permanent psychological scars on the viewer.
We accepted Russell Crowe in Gladiator and Malcolm McDowell in Caligula; we did not accept John Wayne as the Centurion overseeing Christ’s crucifixion in The Greatest Story Ever Told (you haven’t lived until you hear The Duke drawl, “Truly, this man was the son of God”).
The movie is full of gentle nods to a collection of styles ranging from Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns (there's more than a little Ennio Morricone music on hand) to the fetishistic WWII films of Tinto Brass ("Salon Kitty").
Not only do they manage to rival Joaquin Phoenix’s Commodus from the original Gladiator in terms of crazed volatility, they also have a distinct whiff of the ultimate mad emperor Caligula about them. Think John Hurt’s pasty-faced look as Caligula in ’70s TV classic I, Claudius and Malcolm McDowell’s version of the same historically bonkers figure in the notorious 1979 film Caligula. There’s even a hilarious counterpart to Caligula’s infamous beloved pet horse, in the form of Caracalla’s pet capuchin monkey, perched on his shoulder, who arguably has the film’s most startling character arc.
The depiction of the third � and mad � Roman emperor�s life is as ponderous as any �60s swords-and-sandals B-movie and as campy as Elizabeth Taylor�s Cleopatra, despite its high-minded script by man of letters Gore Vidal.
Indeed, put the two together, and That Awkward Moment almost plays like a post-modern romantic comedy Caligula: a celebration of unforgivable behavior with a cast that surely, SURELY must have had something better to do.
Interestingly enough, the star of that film, Malcolm McDowell, also appeared as the title character in the 1979 film "Caligula."
In that sense, he has a point; one thinks of Laurence Olivier's famous line in Spartacus about snails and oysters, or that moment in Gladiator when Oliver Reed casually asks Russell Crowe whether he wants a girl or a boy.
The immense success of Deep Throat a few years earlier suggested that pornography could make a leap into mainstream sensibilities, and rival publisher Hugh Hefner had scored an artistic coup by financing Roman Polanski's impressive adaptation of Macbeth.
I never thought I'd see the day when an A-list movie star headlined a film that was equal parts Cold War thriller, Hitchcockian suspense, and sleazy Salon Kitty styled exploitation, but here we are.