Dante's Inferno (L'Inferno)

HELL

Based on 'The Divine Comedy' by Dante Alighieri.

Film produced with material from the archives of the collections

from the Library of Congress and the British Film Institute.

Original film released in Naples

at the Mercadante Theater on March 10, 1911.

Dante's Divine Comedy was inspired

for a girl of only nine years old,

when the poet was impressed by her beauty.

Beatriz died at twenty-four years of age.

And his immortalization became

in one of the most amazing achievements

of human ingenuity - El Infierno

Dante imagines himself lost in a dark forest.

It glimpses the top of a mountain, resplendent in the sun.

It is the hill of salvation, to which he aspires to ascend.

Three wild beasts stand in the way of Dante:

A panther, which symbolizes greed,

A lion, symbolizing pride, and a she-wolf, symbolizing lust.

Beatriz, perfection according to Dante, descends to limbo

and he asks Virgil, a devout poet, to rescue and guide Dante.

Virgilio appears before Dante, and frees him from all danger.

He begs him to follow him to the gates of hell.

Through me, you enter the city of misfortunes.

Through me, you cross the eternal pain.

You will err among the abandoned forever.

Here there is no place for hope.

The river Acheron, on which Caron drags the souls of the dead.

As he approaches the condemned souls

on the river bank, threatens them.

"May misfortune pursue you, evil spirits,

Do not get excited about seeing the light of day again."

Dante is overwhelmed to see the sorry show

of the condemned souls, on the way to their fatal destiny.

Dante refuses to continue, Virgilio reassures him. Dante observes.

Those who during the great rebellion were neither with nor against God,

but with themselves, expelled by heaven.

Hell rejects them

so that the accursed tribe does not enjoy glory.

Homero, Horacio, Ovidio and Lucano welcome Virgilio.

He explains to them the nature of Dante's mission in Hell.

The lasting place of innocent lives

who died before Christ.

Virgilio points to Poets, Philosophers,

Men of State, Men of Science, all confined.

Its only punishment is to live without hope.

Every guilty soul appears before Judge Minos

who assigns the punishment.

Allow poets to follow their path.

Each gust of wind whips the carnal sinners.

The fury of the turbulent blows of hell drives them forward.

The Poet sees Cleopatra, Dido, The Queen of Cartagio

and Helen of Troy, punished.

Francesca De Rimin and her lover, Paulo, demonstrate before Dante.

The story of Francesca de Rimini.

"One day we read the story of Lanceloto,"

a passionate lover.

Alone we were, no suspicion nearby.

Trembling, he kissed my lips.

That day we did not read more of the book.

Dante is overwhelmed with the sad story of Francesca.

And falls to the ground, passed out.

"I passed out of pity, I felt faint,

and I fell, like a dead body falls."

The circle of the Gluttons, guarded by.

Brain, the monster of the three heads.

He is appeased by Virgil, who throws a handful of earth in his mouth.

The Gluttons Tortured by the Eternal Rain

while they lie on the ground.

Dante recognizes a famous Glutton of Florence named Ciaccio.

The poet wants to know if

there are other Florentines punished in hell.

Ciaccio replies that many,

but more guilty and in lower circles.

Pluto watching the greedy and wasteful.

He is enraged to see Dante, but he does not have the powers to hurt him.

The greedy and the wasteful doomed

to roll big bags of gold around the circle of hell.

The greedy ask, "Why are you holding?"

The spendthrifts respond, "Why are you letting go?"

To get to the inner city of Dis,

the inner circle of Hell,

Flegias, under the orders of Virgilio, transfers them to the other side.

Felipe Argenti recognizes Dante and tries to hit him.

Virgilio prevents it. "Get away, go down with the other dogs."

The access of poets to the city

is obstructed by evil spirits.

They impede access to poets

and the three furies appear on the walls of the city.

Dante holds his hands to his eyes to prevent them from turning him into granite.

An angel appears ordering to open the doors.

In the swamp, Virgil explains to Dante.

"Here they are buried in the limo

the souls that were carried away by anger."

The Heroes buried in fire pits.

Farinato rises from the burning tomb

to talk to Dante.

Cavalcanti asks Dante about his son.

Dante replies that he is still alive.