‘Caligula’ Director Tinto Brass Dies at 93

Giovanni “Tinto” Brass, an avant-garde filmmaker best known for directing the X-rated historical epic “Caligula,” has died. He was 93 years old. His wife Caterina Varzi and children Bonifacio and Beatrice Brass told Italian news agency Ansa that Brass had died, but did not give a cause.

Brass’ career kicked off in the 1960s and ’70s with a series of experimental films including his debut, “Who Works Is Lost,” which followed a day in the life of an unemployed designer. It screened at the 1963 Venice Film Festival. Other early works includes “Yankee,” a 1966 Western about a standoff between a bounty hunter and a crime boss, as well as “Col cuore in gola,” a 1967 murder mystery which featured Jean-Louis Trintignant.

With 1976’s “Salon Kitty,” a historical drama set in a Berlin brothel during the Nazi era, Brass moved into erotic filmmaking. But it was “Caligula,” an infamous look at one of Rome’s most notorious emperors, that made a name for Brass. The film was written by Gore Vidal, who later disavowed it, and produced by Penthouse founder Bob Guccione. It featured a cast of esteemed actors such as Peter O’Toole, Helen Mirren, John Gielgud, and Malcolm McDowell in the title role, but made headlines for its frank look at ancient Rome’s sexual depravity, depicting orgies and hardcore sex. “Caligula” was re-edited and re-cut several times only to bomb at the box office when it opened in the U.S. in 1980. However, it has built up a significant cult following over the decades and an 178-minute “Ultimate Cut,” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 to a warmer reception from reviewers.