Caligula: The Ultimate Cut(1979)

Pooper:
Caligula’s depravity grows worse once his sister/lover Drusilla dies, and he takes deliberate action to provoke the rich and powerful in Roman society. After Caligula seizes the estates of his advisors and the other wealthy landowners, they successfully enact a plot to kill Caligula and his wife and daughter. As a new emperor is crowned, the servants quickly wash away Caligula’s blood and remove all signs of his existence from the palace.

Long Ending:
This Pooper is of the 2023 Ultimate Cut version of the film and is loosely based on the story of the real-life Roman emperor.

Believing that Caligula’s (Malcolm McDowell) well-liked and powerful family was becoming a threat to his rule, Roman Emperor Tiberius murdered all of Caligula’s relatives except for Caligula and his sister Drusilla (Teresa Ann Savoy). Tiberius then adopted the siblings to raise them in his image. Now a young man, Caligula is in line to be the next Emperor. He also is engaged in a sexual relationship with Drusilla. Although she is generally supportive of her brother, Drusilla is one of the few people who ever tells him “no” or resists his whims.

Tiberius summons Caligula to his home to officially annoint Caligula as his successor (choosing Caligula over his own grandson Gemellus). Tiberius is a depraved individual, killing, torturing, and sexually abusing his servants (including a small role for John Gielgud). After Tiberius declares Caligula his successor, Tiberius’ bodyguard Macro murders Tiberius to hasten Caligula’s rise to power. The Roman people rejoice that the mad tyrant Tiberius has died, and Caligula further endears himself to the people by hosting public games, insulting his predecessor publicly, and making charismatic speeches.

Drusilla eventually convinces Caligula to find a wife so he can produce an heir. He gets engaged to a woman named Caesonia (Helen Mirren), who is completely subservient to all of Caligula’s desires. She eventually gives birth to their daughter. As Caligula’s power grows, he starts become depraved like Tiberius and paranoid. He has Macro and Gemellus murdered (despite the fact that both were loyal to him), and Macro’s wife imprisoned. When told he cannot sleep with a woman because she is engaged, Caligula crashes their wedding and then rapes both the woman and her husband.

Caligula’s reign of terror is briefly checked when he becomes deathly ill. Although he recovers, Drusilla (who nursed him back to health) catches his illness and dies from it. Falling into depression over his sister’s death, Caligula briefly disappears and his advisors (who have grown tired of Caligula’s antics) rejoice. They ignore Caesonia’s demands that they search for the Emperor.

When he eventually returns, Caligula declares himself a god and calls the members of the Roman Senate insignificant sheep. Wondering aloud if anyone will try to stop him, he provokes the most powerful people in Roman society. Caligula starts a brothel made up of the wives of the senators and his advisors, embarrasses the military by sending them on sham quests, purposefully bankrupts the treasury, names his horse to serve as a senator, and taxes the Church. All of this only endears Caligula to the public, as they view these powerful people as deserving of the punishment and abuse the Emperor bestows upon them. However, Caesonia expresses concern that Caligula is going too far and making too many enemies. Caligula responds that he wants to see how far he can push them before they will defy him (intimating that he wants someone to stop his mad reign). Caligula then seizes the estates of most of the upper class and throws them in jail.

Finally pushed too far, Caligula’s remaining advisors plot against him. One morning as he is on a walk with his family, the head of Caligula’s guard unsheaths his sword and strikes Caligula across the head. His other advisors quickly annoint a successor Emperor as the guards kill Caesonioa (as she tries to defend Caligula) and murder Caligula’s young daughter. The guards then repeatedly stab Caligula with their spears as he cries out “I live.” As the new Emperor is publicly announced, servants drag away Caligula’s corpse and wash his blood out of the palace.