The name Caligula brings up all sorts of images, none of which are particularly engaging, but which do provoke morbid curiosity. You have to know. Nobody really acts like that, do they? Those types of orgies are only noir Hollywood rumor, right? And the torture that's alluded to but not so described so as to encourage our imaginations when reading World History in high school, that is all made up to keep our youthful morality in check, isn't it?

When you're a female and involved in the film world, you're supposed to loathe the filmed version of this historical specter. Even though Caligula reigned Rome for barely three years, it was such a startling and tumultuous time period and his actions were so outrageous, he gets epic treatment. But when you hear about this film, you invariably hear it chocked up as just another porn movie, horrible for any liberated woman and not worthy of attention. In fact, if you're a woman and actually try to watch it, the reactive glares you receive are enough to blind you.

However, the first interesting aspect of the new, three-disc version of this renowned piece of fleshy art is the difference between the theatrical version that was released here in the United States, and the version that was released overseas where the director apparently had more control over the final outcome. It's easy to dismiss Tinto Brass as feeling sensitive that he didn't get to have the film he wanted, but then you look at the "director's cut" versus the theatrical one, and the differences start becoming apparent immediately. Seeing as how Bob Guccione, of Penthouse fame, was one of the producers, he apparently saw fit to add some extra coital moments and take out some of the more plot-driven information for his domestic customers. Of course, his instincts turned the film into a cult favorite here.

In Brass's cut of the film, sex is more suggested than seen. That's not to say that there is no skin, or that it's not in excess, but Brass's version definitely has a more thematic and historically-driven perspective than the Caligula that became an underground success here in the states for how much it did show. By the same token, amusingly enough, his version does not progress as well as the one with the extra action added.

Hearing Brass talk about the process of making the film is interesting, and as the only meaty present-day interview the reflections stand out further than the quick puff-journalistic bits that must have been found lying around somewhere that end up being Helen Mirren and Malcolm McDowell adding their two cents. It's a nice set with enough varying extras to please cinema geeks, but you do wish if producing a new DVD meant going out of the country to interview the director that maybe a few of the others involved could have shown up too. Watching footage of production design where statues are actually being made from scratch, and other such details, is a fairly interesting experience.

So the entire Caligula question actually comes down to whether you want a quick visual fix, with a small side order of cultural revelation, or more of a fleshy look at one of the most controversial figures of royalty in our global history. It's a hard choice to make, to be sure. Neither is a brilliant work of film, but both have stimulating qualities that keep you watching. Pun intended.

Aka Caligola.