Throughout reading the poem and watching the film of the Inferno, the reader/viewer arrives at an
opposing interpretation of what exactly the original tale was likely supposed
have told. Dante had originally written this poem hundreds of years prior to
the making of the film, with various translations and depictions of the story
produced throughout its time. Therefore, the film raises these questions for
the viewer by taking the story out of its epic context and portraying it in a
way that viewers of the modern society can relate to and understand.
As Matt stated in an earlier post, the gruesome depiction of
Hell that Dante had created for a setting to his poem greatly contrasts with
the Hell viewers see in the film. The
goal of writing an epic poem, as we know, is to essentially show a character
progress through a journey of which he learns a lesson of morality. Therefore,
as the reader travels with Dante through his descending journey of Hell with
his virtuous guide, Virgil, Dante allows the reader to interpret the imagery he
portrays through his words. Through
reading the poem and traveling along this ‘terrifying’ journey that Dante has
just conquered, the reader sees the main character restore his faith in religion
and ultimately become a better person.
On the contrary, the film is not meant to be seen as
anything ‘epic’. Instead, the makers of
the film intentionally recreated the story of Dante’s Inferno in a genre much more commonplace to the society of today. In today’s society, sinners are found nearly
anywhere, for just about anything (according to Dante’s view). Therefore, just as the film slightly suggests
with Dante’s acceptance of some of its circles, people are much less terrified
of the seemingly inevitable afterlife.
As a result, an epic movie would not do the original Inferno much justice in allowing the
viewer to understand its true aim.
Rather, the filmmakers created the story as a satire in order to relate
to the people of our generation. By
giving the film a satirical genre, it allows for an already cynical society to
understand that Hell still exists, and sometimes even ‘good’ people can find
themselves there for doing ‘bad’ things.
Ultimately, in order to fully understand the goals of each depiction
of Dante’s Inferno, it is necessary
to consider the setting and lifestyle that each was trying to attend to in the making.
Writing an epic poem that caters to 13th century people of Florence
requires a much different method of relating to its readers/viewers than a
satirical movie from 2007.
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