Topic: OMFG the Devil took my girlfriend, or, the "Dante's Inferno Movie" thread

[Bad Wolf]

So. I just bought Dante's Inferno on Blu-Ray yesterday. Epic shit. The animation was great in all parts of the film, and I was surprised to see it was actually REALLY faithful to to original poem. They subtracted very little, and changed only what was needed to make it work. As a hardcore fan of the original poem, I approve this film.

It appropriates from other mythological stories as needed to make the plot work, for instance, the theft of Dante's Beloved, Beatrice, and her later corruption by Lucifer is very evocative to me of the old story of the Rape of Persephone, and frankly, when adapted in this context, the two stories work together very well. The imagery of Hell is astounding, and the denizens therein are never disappointing, and often quite disturbing (the unbaptized babies and the succubi are definitely on the disturbing side. Both gave me nightmares).

The music is a weak point, seeming overdone to the point of "bleah I'm dramatic lol", but hey, it suits the film just fine so whatever. It's just not something I'd listen to outside the film.

In terms of plot and style, the movie doesn't pull any punches. None whatsoever. Lucifer is as twisted as villains come, well past the moral event horizon when we encounter him. There is no attempt to humanize him or make him into a tragic figure who is a victim. He simply is evil for the sake of being evil, a purest evil who forces Dante to reflect on all his sins and discover the tiny spark of light within.

Dante is far from being the pure(ish), curious soul he was in the original poem. He is a dark, brooding figure, his soul horribly misshapen and scarred by the horror of the Crusades, and yet, unlike a somewhat similar figure in God of War's Kratos, Dante is willing to face and accept his sins, and by the end of the film, he has changed himself once more back to a humble man who is willing to make a change for the better.

Dante's trip through Hell is an immortal story about the quest for the better man in all of us, and while this iteration is certainly more on the bloody side, the message is the same. This movie is truly epic in every sense of the word. I have no other words for you other than BUY IT NOW.

Discuss.

[X]

Sounds like this file/poem could give the CV fans out there some insperation on the next castlevania fan game!

-X

[VGuyver]

yes, another good project that was similar was thhe Solomon Kane movie. Now that looked like a live action Castlevania movie.