"Inferno" the Film Clarifying "Inferno" the Poem

After watching “Inferno” the film, I have an entirely new perspective on the life of Dante and the poem as a whole. Seeing the ideas of Dante’s poem presented through a modern perspective in the film drives home the points he was attempting to make many centuries ago.

It was interesting to me that the filmmakers chose to include each and every one of the sins Dante included in his poem even though, through class discussion, we noted that many of these “sins” aren’t seen as so today. Seeing certain political and pop culture icons in Hell for committing sins such as seduction opened my eyes to how “sinful” modern life is. In the eyes of what is meant to be truly good, many of us lead less than virtuous lives, believing that “everything is okay in moderation.” Even during class discussions, we discussed how many of us believed in moderation as a benchmark for maintaining morality and virtue, when in fact, eliminating these shortcomings from our lives all together would allow us to lead truly righteous lives.

I was also intrigued by the way in which the filmmakers alluded to many aspects of modern culture that have made us, in the eyes of many, the most “sinful” generation to date. For example, today’s youth is heavily driven by money. This quality was referenced frequently in the film, as Dante had to use money to get through many of the levels of Hell. In the poem, divine intervention was what helped Dante and Virgil continue on, and the fact that this intervention was replaced with the simple exchange of money really shows how much of a factor compensation has become in today’s society.

Another aspect of modern culture that was alluded to in the film was the apparent laziness and lack of motivation of our generation. At the end of the film, Dante was hung up on his incredible journey for a brief second before inquiring about his friend’s plans for the night. This was an incredible variance from Dante in the poem, as he left Hell with opened eyes and a desire to lead a more virtuous life.

My biggest takeaway from “Inferno” the film was that “Inferno” the poem is not some outdated piece of literature providing a mythical image of Hell and pushing 14^th century morals. If anything, Dante the poet’s perspective on sin and virtue is more relevant today than it was in his own lifetime. Culture has continued down a less than righteous path as we have progressed, and we don’t appear to be taking an exit anytime soon. Applying Dante’s perspective on sin to modern culture really opened my eyes to the many shortcomings of my generation and led me to garner a much greater respect for “Inferno” the poem.