Dante's Inferno

I had been flipping through the channels and I saw a preview for this movie and I thought it looked very interesting so I watched it and fell in love with it. I went out and bought the modern version of the book. I loved the art work in the book and being an artist myself I decided to draw a few pieces based on the art in the book. I latter went back to watch the movie again and found that almost all of the sets (backgrounds) were almost identical to the artwork in the book and the banter between Dante and Virgil was about the same also (although the movie is MUCH more humorous) I think it's a great modern spin on the old classic.

If you haven't read Dante's INFERNO (part 1 of THE DIVINE COMEDY), you should. And once you have, you should check on this delightfully innovative spin on that classic tale.

This isn't the INFERNO as Dante wrote it. Dante has been completely modernized; Hell resembles Los Angeles, the punishments aren't quite what you remember, and the people populating Hell are now familiar faces (Ronald Reagan, Strom Thurmond, Condoleeza Rice). There's also a good dose of Monty Python and Mike Judge in the black humor that drenches every scene.

And while the take has its own novelty, what really elevates the film from good to great is the consistently enjoyable animation. The use of hand-operated paper cut-out puppets is wonderful. The care that has gone into crafting the sets and characters themselves is quite impressive indeed.

Highly recommended.

It was a good modern take on "Inferno" and delivered well. Often movies of Inferno are tedious, but this kept me interested without straying from the text too much. You've got a Dante walking around in a hoodie in a big city through the levels of hell. He and Virgil meander through airport security, strip malls and less desirable parts of a modern city. The punished souls of presidents, politicians, popes and pop-culture icons are sentenced to eternal suffering of the most unusual kind. The two dimensional paper characters tell the story in a simplistic yet imaginative way. The artistry matches the level of entertainment in the storyline.

I am disappointed that I cannot find it for sale or anywhere to stream.

If you ever wanted to see a film based on Dante's Inferno that was performed with cutout puppetry, then you'll get just that with this 2007 unknown indie project. I never thought I'd see the day when Alighieri's work would be adapted into the world of puppets that look like they were done by Mike Judge, Robert Crumb, and Rob Zombie. The many different vignettes that our leads roam through are impressively crafted, but they do go on a bit too long, although that is depending on your appreciation for the music on display. Besides, the two dimensional puppetry allows for some creative design work that makes one feel like they're seeing a puppet show caught on film. The film is sadly hard to find nowadays, but for what it is worth, there's a lot to appreciate in the craftsmanship.

You never know what you're going to get with an independent film...Even one that's "won awards." I'm pleased to say that this film both entertained and impressed me visually. The art style had me nervous at first, but as the film progressed it was clear that these filmmakers put a lot of effort into the look of the film.

Of course, you should know this film has no insights to speak of. This gives a very surface-level account of the inferno...which I read once 8 years ago, and still remember details this film left out. The film basically defines each level, provides one or two examples, and moves on. History and philosophy aside, the film does well to keep things low-key, and uses that to their comedic advantage wisely. The film is never laugh-out-loud funny, but it definitely aims to be a comedy.

I wasn't watching this movie for a thought-provoking film, I was just looking for a visually entertaining movie, and it was.

8/10