Dante Today
Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary and Popular Culture
Performing Arts Archive
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Armand Mastroianni, "Dante's Inferno" (2008)
"Dante's Inferno is the first movie being produced by Boris Acosta's production company, Master Films Productions, LLC, as part of a feature trilogy based on Dante Alighieri's masterpiece, The Divine Comedy. Dante's Purgatorio is planned to be released in 2009 and Dante's Paradiso in 2010."
http://imdb.com/title/tt0889133/
Jean-Luc Godard, "Notre Musique" (2004)
"The 73-year-old director's serene meditation on Europe's landscape after battle has an unusually obvious triptych structure, with each panel (or act) named for one of Dante's three 'kingdoms.' The central, hour-long 'Purgatory' of a writers' conference in Sarajevo bridges the opening 10-minute 'Hell' and a concluding 10-minute 'Heaven.' " (J. Hoberman)
The Village Voice, November 24 - 30, 2004
http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0447,hoberman,58622,20.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0360845/
"Clerks" (Kevin Smith, 1994)
"The screenplay is loosely based on The Divine Comedy. The character Dante Hicks gets his name from Dante Alighieri, the author and fictional protagonist of The Divine Comedy. The chapter titles are also somewhat of a reference to the literature in that in The Divine Comedy, each level of hell is given a title. It can be said that Quick Stop is 'Dante's hell'."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Clerks.jpg
Contributed by Sam Donovan (Bowdoin, '07)
"Dumb & Dumber" (Peter Farrelly, 1994)
Lloyd and Harry stop in a restaurant called "Dante's Inferno" on their way to Colorado.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109686/
Contributed by Luke Welsch (Bowdoin, '08)
"Il postino" (Michael Radford, 1994)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110877/
"I think that there is a somewhat valid connection between Il Postino and Dante... where Mario could be seen as the poet Dante, Beatrice is (conveniently) Beatrice (his inspiration in both contexts), and Pablo Neruda is Virgil, Dante's (and thus, Mario's) poetic "father" figure. Also, upon looking over the script to the film, there is a direct reference in the scene with Mario and Neruda speaking at the cafe:
Mario: I'm in love, really, really in love.
Neruda: Who are you in love with?
Mario: Her name's Beatrice.
Neruda: Beatrice. Dante. Dante Alighieri. He fell for a certain Beatrice. Beatrices have inspired boundless love. What are you doing?
Mario: Writing down the name Dante. Dante I know, but Alighieri-- "
Contributed by Aisha Woodward (Bowdoin, '08)
"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (Gore Verbinski, 2003)
"Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl says, 'Worry about your own fortunes, gentlemen. The deepest circle of Hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers.' " (Kate Geraghty)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325980/
Contributed by Kate Geraghty (Bowdoin, '07)
"Hannibal" (Ridley Scott, 2001)
"Hannibal is set in Florence where the notorius Hannibal Lector is posing as a medievalist and Dante scholar. He lectures on the Divine Comedy and recites poetry from the Vita nuova, as well as attends an operatic adaptation of the Vita nuova. Apart from these explicit references to Dante, there is also a sense in which the homicidal methods he employs mirror, contrapasso like, the sins of his victims, all of whom are in some sense bad. The noble folk, Starling and a nurse, are spared, despite HL's ample oppourtunities to kill them. It is difficult to equate any of the movie's characters with those of the Divine Comedy, although Lector does in a sense play Virgil to Starling's pilgrim; but in his role as avenger of evil, serial killer, HL appears more like the wrathful Old Testament God." (Peter Schwindt)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212985/
Contributed by Peter Schwindt
"Inferno" The Arches Theatre Company, Scotland
2006
http://www.thearches.co.uk/INFERNO.htm
"Dante's Inferno: The Trilogy"
A film by Moda Entertainment
http://www.modaentertainment.com/filmdantes.html
Background Image: Domenico di Michelino, Dante and His Comedy, 1465
