Has anyone actually made a relitivly faithful adapation of the famous poem?
By that, I mean in which somebody actually decends down through the 9 levels of hell(maybe not all of the levels, but a good portion of them shown at least). A look at the Internet Movie Database seems to indicate that most of the movies called “Dante’s Inferno” seem to have little or nothing to do with the Poem.
Though I could swear one existed. I remember years ago, when I was young, seeing a little bit of a movie where a narrator(possibly Vincent Price) was describing the Wood of the Suicides, and the camera showed totured souls who were slowly turning into gnarled trees. Either right before or right after it, a robed and hooded figure was pushing a small boat along a lake/river with a pole. It was also rather creepy that I remember. I think it was in black and white, but I can’t be sure.
[/sub]I can’t resist. I should, but I can’t.[/sub]
There was a really great triple-feature version made in 1982-1987, called “The Devil in Miss Jones II-IV.” I can’t recommend any of the other sequels, but these were fabulous.
[sub]I am so going to hell for this. At least level 7 or 8…[/sub]
For a more serious answer: I don’t think so. And I can’t find an IMdB reference to a Vincent Price movie that sounds right.
For such a famous poem, you’d think someone would have attempted it. They don’t have to stick to the verse, as a close approxmation in modern english would work just fine as long as they get the ideas across(Granted I know It’s a far more complicated work then just the plot but I’m thinking of a movie version here). Stop motion animation would be sufficent for the creatures(the minotaur, harpies, etc). Heck, considering how dark Dante describes hell to be, it’s not like they need any particulary fancy graphics either.
First of all, I really need to read this someday, perhaps the complete comedy.
Secondly, there have been several movies that do use fairly specific aspects of his creations in their works. Alot of it has been because those ideas have become somewhat generic themes for hell, I suppose, but it could be what you’re recalling. I seem to remember some pretty clear references to it in What Dreams May Come*.
Peter Greenaway, in collaboration with the artist Tom Phillips (A Humument), made a version of the first 8 cantos for British TV in 1989. John Geilgud as Virgil and Bob Peck as Dante. As I recall, the intention had been to continue through the whole poem, but the project was abandoned.
If you’re familiar with some of Greenaway’s other stuff, this was immediately after The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover and before Prospero’s Books. Pretty much the peak of his closest approach to mainstream bankability. He was excited by the new possibilities of computer editing and was using the technology to produced layered images of frames-within-frames combining illustrations, live action and animation. A TV Dante was very much him experimenting with the style that he later deployed in Prospero’s Books and The Pillow Book.
I hadn’t read Dante at the time and haven’t seen the series since. Suspect it’ll have dated badly, but I remember liking it.
You might have better luck getting Niven & Pournelle’s Inferno filmed. It is a modern tour through Dante’s vision, with updated characters. It’s pretty good, actually.
That was a wonderful novel. And the whole “science fiction writer goes to hell” would make for a pretty good movie. Anyone know any good Italian actors to play Benny?
bonzer beat me to it. I saw A TV Dante about ten years ago because one of the art houses happened to be showing it right at the same time that my medieval lit. class was covering Inferno. I remember disagreeing with some of their interpretations of the text, but still enjoying it immensely.
IIRC, reading an annotated version of the book helps in following Greenaway’s imagery (or his interpretation of Dante’s imagery).
The great Polish director Kryztof Kieslowski (Three Colors trilogy and The Double Life of Veronique) was going to direct all three volumes of The Divine Comedy, but he died before filming began.
Does anyone else think that if an attempt was made to put Inferno into a movie that it would be the most boring movie ever? I mean sure, it had great description and it was pretty gruesome, but there was no PLOT. He just walked through and saw things, and learned lessons from people. He was never in any kind of danger… I mean and movie made would need to stray too far from the poem to be considered accurate. It wouldn’t translate well onto the screen by itself. But then again, Hollywood certainly is good at makeovers, am I right?
The script for Heaven was subsequently filmed, with Tom Tykwer directing. But, as you’d expect from Kieslowski, the story only appears to be thematically inspired by Dante. (I haven’t seen it - the UK reviews were pretty rotten and I didn’t bother.)
There was a plot resolution in Dante. The whole book was about Dante’s being guilty of the sin of Sloth, which his dead love, Beatrice (who was a friend of Dante in real life, not his love), set into motion by enlisting the help of St. Lucia, who in turn, enlisted the help of the Virgin Mary. Throughout the work, you see Dante feeling small bits of sympathy for those in Hell, even though Vergil tells him he cannot. The end is when Dante accepts that he has been slothful and sinful, that those in Hell deserve to be there, and only then can he see the stars. The book really has to be read as a trilogy, and I guess the movie would have to be a trilogy too, with the only real resolution coming in the final movie. The real point would be making the movie artistic, using the works of Blake, Dore and Salvador Dali. It should be pleasing more aesthetically than plot-wise. Other movies like this have been mildly successful, like Solaris or Zhang’s Red Movies (Red Sorghum, Raise High the Red Lantern, Ju Dou). Regardless, the movie would manifest how interesting the Inferno was, and has several points of climax (especially Lucifer at the bottom). I can envision the ice pool, Cocytus, with a giant three headed beast and huge flapping wings as being a pretty big climax to the movie. Next, one has to consider score-- while Opera and violins would probably be most fitting (especially arias and something like Barber’s Adagio), I almost would like to see some Nine Inch Nails stuff in there, but I wouldn’t want the movie ruined with a bunch of crappy non-intellectual heavy metal goth stuff.
