Poem Inferno vs. Film Inferno

The inferno is portrayed in two completely different ways when comparing the film to the original poem. The differences are significant because they cause the reader, or viewer, to react to the inferno in unique ways. The inferno in the poem is depicted as a place of extreme suffering from unimaginable punishments. Dante’s imagery consists of flames, decaying bodies, and eternal suffering while the filmmakers portray the inferno to be similar to the polluted earth that the viewers live on.

In the film, the inferno is less freighting to the audience because it directly parallels the world in which they live. McDonald’s, Taco Bell, and Quiznos are a few of the dinner choices provided in the land where the dead “abandon every hope” (Dante, Canto III Line 9). The inferno depicted in the film is so familiar to the viewers that they do not fear this place as the readers of The Inferno do.

In the film, hell is so closely paralleled with the real world that Dante makes a comment about the gated community looking like somewhere his parents would live. This statement serves to relate to the viewers because odds are they could all see their parents living in there too. An audience is not going to fear a place where they can envision their parents residing.

One similarity between the two infernos is the level of recognition of the individuals placed in hell. Dante and the filmmakers both placed heavy emphasis on historical figures that may not be household names. For both instances, the creators assumed that the readers or viewers possessed a certain amount of knowledge regarding the figures present in the inferno. This tells us that both Dante and the filmmakers had an intended audience of sophisticated, knowledgeable individuals.

What truly instills fear in the reader of The Inferno is how Dante illustrates exaggerated punishments and unimaginable torment. In the film, individuals who lived with the sin of lust were fated with eternal sex. The Dante in the film did not see this as “punishment” and actually wished he could join in. The inferno depicted in the film contained less dramatic fates, which causes the reader to be less scared of the inferno itself.

Ultimately, the two infernos are juxtaposed based on the viewer’s reaction to the sinners and their punishments in hell. The poem causes the readers to fear hell and cringe at the thought of such a destiny, while the film causes viewers to be almost comfortable with hell and think of it as a commonplace.