Dante: Inferno to Paradise

Dante:Inferno to Paridisio is an absolute masterwork crafted with love and care. From expert academic viewpoints to superb dramatic interpretation, I can not say enough positive things about the series. I must say that it is longish for a contemporary documentary, roughly some 4 hours, but it is well worth the ride. From the early life of Dante Aligheri to his death, interspersed with expert viewpoints and scenes from the Divine Comedy. I must say the actors who performed as Dante, Virgil, and Beatrice were all excellent. The supporting cast was strong as well, but the leads truly gave life to the pain and ecstasy they felt as they traversed the underworld and beyond. 10/10.

I have studied the Divine Comedy since I was a student, and I fell in love with this masterwork again watching the documentary. It was so engaging in its dramatic presentation, and the scholars analysis was insightful and also left room for the listener to consider what this great work means in terms of our own lives. I found Dr. Catherine Adoyo particularly helpful in her commentary and obvious love of the work and the joy she takes in sharing her insights. So often we hear that great art of the past has little relevance to our world, but this great program emphatically proved otherwise. Kudos PBS!

I was truly captivated as I made my way through the PBS viewing of Dante: Inferno to Paridisio. The documentary explains all three parts of Dante's manuscript. However, more importantly, it reveals how Dante's life impacted and is reflected throughout his manuscript. Realizing upfront that it was a four-hour documentary shown in two parts, I recorded both parts and then viewed them an hour at a time over four consecutive nights. I was engrossed as Dante's story unfolded within the context of his writings. I was somewhat familiar with Dante's manuscript; however, I now have a much better understanding of all three of its parts. I had no idea how much Dante's life and his exile contributed to and was reflected throughout his writings. The narration was excellent and the acting was superb. The filming of various locations in Italy and the lovely artwork interspersed throughout helped capture and hold my attention until the very end.

This documentary is dullsville. For starters, its too long. And you feel every minute of each of the two episodes because the pacing is excrutiatingly slow. The film lacks momentum or energy of any sort. And it's very repetitive. How many times do we have to listen to someone tell us how great, magnificent, innovative, marvelous, stunning, etc. The Divine Comedy is? We get it, that's why we're watching. Now tell us something we don't know. One standout positive thing: The actor who plays Dante really looks the part. My Florentine husband was very excited about this documentary. He fell asleep while watching it. Twice! Odds are you will snooze too.

Dante intended to grab the City of Florence by its shirtfront and shake sense into its people until they understood just how badly they had strayed from justice and decency.

The story of the man, the history of the times, a sense of place and Dante's own ambitions all are examined in this glowing documentary. This is a moving work brilliantly executed under Ric Burns. The scholarship, the storyline, the rich artistry, music, cinematography, set design and costumes are brought together beautifully to give the viewer a memorable experience.

Thank you to PBS for airing it and to all the artists and patrons involved in making it happen.