A Christian knight named “Dante”, freshly returned from the Crusades, journeys through Hell looking for the soul of his lover Beatrice after she dies in his arms, the last of his family to be slaughtered by someone unknown. Her soul is snatched away from him by the devil as she screams that he must have betrayed her; he denies this. But at the gates of Hell, his torso is embroidered with a red ribbon cross depicting, like film slides, his sins. He meets Virgil and travels through the circles of Hell, attacking monsters, protesting his innocence, and calling out to Beatrice, whom the devil intends to wed. Can he stop the marriage? And is he worthy of Beatrice’s love? (Or God’s?)
This movie is based on a game that is based on the actual Inferno. The episodes in this Japanese/Korean/American production are animated in slightly different styles, but the plot all hangs together. It’s a clever fantasy/action/horror adaptation.
See below for more details about the plot. SPOILERS.
Dante gradually reveals that while on crusade, not only did he betray Beatrice (he had sex with a Muslim prisoner) he also slaughtered prisoners he was guarding, despite being commanded not to, and then let Beatrice’s brother take the blame. His father, a greedy glutton, was killed by the husband of the prisoner he took advantage of, as was Beatrice; his mother committed suicide. In the 8th circle, Fraud, he faces all this, and in the 9th, he faces the devil. After accidentally freeing the devil, he repents and asks God’s forgiveness. This binds the devil again, and Dante passes to purgatory, where the story ends.
The best part, visually, was the centaur woman who transported Dante across the lake of boiling blood. I think that was the circle for punishing wrath. The movie is creative, while at the same time being faithful to the source… there really were centaurs at the lake of boiling blood! Of course, much detail is missing. The sandy place is supposed to have blasphemers, sodomites, and usurers, but these are not mentioned. Instead, the new backstory is filled in a bit more here.
I was thinking this movie would help high-schoolers who have to study the Inferno. But they might be a little young for it. In Singapore’s system, it’s rated M18, and in the MPAA system, it’s rated R. There’s all kinds of violence, but also, a topless Beatrice, and a scene where Dante and Beatrice are naked and have had premarital sex; they swear they’ll get married later. After that, Beatrice miscarries, and her fetus goes to limbo where Dante discovers it.
Beatrice’s miscarriage was a genius way to make that detail of Hell personal, like the suicide of Dante’s mother. On the other hand, the dead babies with swords for arms who pursue Dante… those I really could have done without! Because of numerous unaesthetic elements like that, I can’t say I like this movie overall, and I definitely wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who doesn’t like horror. Super yuck.
