Dante's Inferno

Dante’s Inferno is an animated satire featuring the voices of Dermot Mulroney, James Cromwell and Dana Snyder. Directed by Sean Meredith.

For those wanting some something truly different and original, I have definitely found something for you. This version of the 700-year old classic gives it an updated modern twist in order to reflect today’s social and political climate. And it does it with puppets. There is only one live actor (playing a brief but MAJOR role at the end), while all other characters seen (including a staged audience) are paper characters.

For those of you who slept through 11th grade English, the story is simple: our narrator named Dante (voiced by Dermot Mulroney) finds himself being given a tour of Hell with the Roman poet Virgil (James Cromwell) as his guide.

In this adaptation, while Virgil remains in his Roman garb, Dante is now modern, a slacker awakening hung over from a bad night of partying. The entrance of Hell is now a subway tunnel in a seedy section of an unnamed major city. The denizens of Hell now include many major social and political figures (including one near the end who is still very much alive).

Why puppets? While a live action version of the Inferno might still be effective, the puppets add an element of uniqueness and humor to the film, as well as the ability to push the envelope in content that the film might not have been able to do with live actors (a few scenes feature gratuitous full frontal “male puppet” nudity). However, while often funny, it does have an undercurrent of seriousness as well, along with staying generally faithful to Dante’s masterpiece.

The film’s scathing attack on today’s current political climate keeps true to the original as well- part of Dante’s intent was to “stick it” to social and political leaders he did not like in his time. The film also uses historical figures to illustrate very current troubles. One example: in the film, Virgil and Dante go to a “puppet show” within the puppet show hosted by the ancient conqueror Ulysses (voiced by Dana Snyder of Aqua Teen Hunger Force fame). Ulysses explains how he and his army invaded the Middle East to “liberate the people from their oppressors.” When one of his crew complained about the cost, Ulysses goes “Who cares? We’ll borrow it!” After liberating the people, Ulysses says his ships became so heavy with liberated loot that “Our sorry asses sank to the bottom!”

Other current examples of Hell: 1) people who refused to take a stand on anything while alive are doomed to perform a permanent 24/7 street demonstration protesting everything; 2) the circle for greed seems to be an exclusive gated community; and 3) a section reserved for Washington corruption turns into a rather demented version of Schoolhouse Rock.

It is safe to say that conservatives will not like this film much, as it is clearly slanted to the left and reserves plenty of room in Hell for recent right wing political figures, as well as clergy. The makers clearly have a right to express the views they believe. However, the politics and humor tend to get a little smug at times. A helicopter in Hell with Fox News written on the outside was a bit too much of a “wink, wink” for me, as was having Pope John Paul II in Hell (unlike other denizens, the film never explains why he would be down there).

Overall, this unique adaptation will not appeal to all tastes (and again will likely piss of conservatives), but it is funny and often pointed in its observations. It also highlights how the core of Dante’s story still applies to our world today, sins and all.

Extras:

• Making of Featurette
• Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery
• Original Trailer
• Trailers for other DI releases
• DVD-ROM Content
• 2 Commentary Tracks: One with the creators, the other by puppet historian John Bell and Dante scholar Pete Hawkins.

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