Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic

At the midpoint on the journey of life,

I found myself in a dark forest,

for the clear path was lost.

I cannot well recount how I entered the wood,

so long had it been since I abandoned the true way.

How shall I say what a dreary and horrid wood it was?

So bitter to endure that death itself would be but little worse.

Several times upon my journey home,

I had sensed an unseen rider trailing my steed.

Yet, when I approached, the rider vanished,

leaving no trace.

I feared this figure as an evil omen.

All my life I've known such signs and portents.

And lo, at the rise of the hill, I saw a spotted leopard,

all teeth and fury.

At the sight of these beasts, my heart sank.

I sensed danger not for myself, but for my beloved Beatrice.

Away, demon!

I drove my steed on, racing for my father's villa.

And Beatrice... nothing in this world meant more to me than she.

You were right, Dante.

Truly this is a divine place. Paradise on Earth.

Beatrice, will you take my hand in marriage,

under God and all that is holy?

Dante, I will not marry you only to see you dead in this crusade.

Jerusalem must be made Christian once more.

God is with us. We cannot fail.

Through three years of war and horror,

my love for Beatrice had only grown stronger.

As I came upon the family estate,

I found all unnaturally dark and still.

Fearing the dreaded omens, I entered.

The servants. All butchered.

Father. Oh, Father.

Beatrice! Lord, let her be alive!

In the name of God.

Where is...

Oh, no. No.

Beloved, are you all right?

Beatrice.

Is it you or a dream?

Who did this to you?

I know not.

A stranger. A foreigner.

Do you remember that night before you left?

What we said?

I remember.

Did you betray me?

Never.

I never should have left your side.

Forgive me.

What?

Do my eyes deceive me?

Fear not for me, my love. I told him you would be true to me.

I knew you would.

No! Wait! Come back to me!

What is this?

God in Heaven!

What? Dante?

She is mine.

No!

I have come to take what was promised me...

a soul meant for Heaven.

It can't be true.

Dante would never betray me.

Beatrice!

Release her, devil!

Dante, help me!

No!

This will not stop me! Nothing will stop me!

No!

What?

No!

God, give me strength!

Come with me, mortal, if you have the courage.

Dante, don't let him take me!

Beatrice!

You will not keep me from my beloved!

Dante, you lied to me! I trusted you!

You've got to save me! Dante!

I'm coming for you! I won't let him hurt you!

Beatrice! No!

- Martyr. - You lost her.

- Martyr. - You lied to her.

You lost her.

Never will you know her flesh again.

Never will you know her love.

Her sin.

- Martyr. Martyr. - You lost her!

- Her desire. - You lied to her.

- Your sins. - Never will you know her flesh again.

Your sins.

Never will you know her flesh.

You are bound.

- Martyr. - You lied to her.

- Martyr. - Martyr.

Why, God? Why are you doing this?

It is not the Lord that brought you to this fate, Dante.

What are you? Shade or living man?

Not man, though once I was.

I lived under Augustus in the time of the false and lying gods.

Are you not Virgil, glory of the poets?

He who wrote the Aeneid, the treasure of Rome?

Why do you seek such woe, Dante?

I seek only my beloved Beatrice and nothing more.

But I cannot open these accursed gates!

Have you lost all faith in God, O man?

Has the way been so obscured?

Heavenly Father, if only one soul should be saved,

please let it be Beatrice.

Help! Help!

Dante, if you broke your promise to me, I'll be forever damned.

Are you prepared to be judged in this place?

Do you think you are without sin?

Please, don't let him take me!

Beatrice. Beatrice!

What did Beatrice do to deserve such a monstrous fate?

She made a wager with Lucifer to see your safe return.

She lost.

Wager. What wager?

Lucifer bet that you would betray her love.

I never betrayed her.

You only deceive yourself, mortal.

By all that is holy, I vow to forsake all pleasures of the flesh

until I return from this noble crusade.

I gave myself to you because I know you will be faithful to our love.

And when I return, we shall be married.

And live to grow old and see our grandchildren have children.

I love you more than Heaven itself.

- Take this. - But, Beatrice,

this has been in your family for generations.

It is a true relic

said to contain a thorn from the crown of Christ.

Bring it back to me.

Great Virgil, lead me into the Inferno.

I beg of you, please!

I must save Beatrice even if it means my death.

I will guide you, but you must put aside all division of spirit

and gather your soul against all fear.

I fear nothing.

Then proceed.

Charon will carry us to the first circle of Hell, Limbo.

Nine circles comprise the Inferno,

with Lucifer residing in the lowest.

Horrifying, yes.

There are more damned in Hell ...

than liberated in Paradise.

I can see their sins in life.

Charon's boat has grown wide and mighty over the millennia.

He has had to compensate for the ever-increasing damned.

Through me the way to the city of woe.

Through me the way to everlasting pain.

I don't like the look of this.

Now shall I ferry you into the fire,

the cold and the everlasting darkness.

Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.

How could God allow this?

God allowed free will, even for his angels.

It was Lucifer that devised such torment.

Mercenaries of Florentina,

in payment for reclaiming the Holy Land,

your Immaculate Father hereby absolves you of all your sins.

Go with grace.

Praise God.

Do you think a priest has such divine power?

Can he truly absolve us of sins so easily?

Of course, Francesco.

Why would you doubt the Church? That is the path to Hell, my friend.

How soon until you leave?

Tomorrow, before dawn.

Dante, promise to watch over my brother.

Beatrice, I'm no child.

No harm will come to him, my love.

I'll protect him as if he were my own.

You who are living,

be gone from those who are dead.

I will not part, Charon!

I must cross!

I give you my soul to find Beatrice!

It belongs to us already, mortal.

Your will is nothing, mortal.

You will never traverse the circles of Hell.

Take me to Beatrice, demon!

Virgil, where did you disappear to?

I am pure spirit, Dante.

I cannot help you fight your enemies. I am naught but a guide.

Dante! Can you hear me?

Can anyone hear me?

Dante?

Thank God. I knew you would find me.

Dante?

Beatrice, my love.

Is... Is that you?

No! Dante!

No, stop! Stop, Dante!

What's happening?

How many ways can a man die?

No!

Come to me, Beatrice.

- I want to admire you. - No. Let me go.