L'Inferno (1911)

Today's movie marks a shift in a lot of ways. It's the first feature length presentation I've reviewed, clocking in at 67 minutes (not a lot by today's standards but more than the 13 minutes I've been averaging).  I watched it on DVD and not a computer monitor which added a lot to the experience.  It also featured modern music as the film was restored and scored ith music by Tangerine Dream, a German electronic group.

L'Inferno is based on the Divine Comedy by Dante and was directed by Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo Padovan and Giuseppe de Liguoro.  The film follows Dante as he is led through the rings of hell by Virgil.  The film took over three years to complete and was the first feature film to be shown in its entirety in the U.S.

The movie is on the whole great for its time, though modern audiences will find it a bit slow. The special effects were amazing for the time period with very detailed costumes and some great camera tricks.  This is also the first film I watched where production design was really notable.  The sets and locations used really evoke a gothic mood and are very effective at making the viewer feel like the leads are descending into hell.  The movie stacked with extras as the denizens of hell which gives you a sense of Hell being endless.

The film has some effects that stand up today.  When Dante and Virgil encounter the cardinal sinners blown by winds, a combination of effects including some stop motion gives a real sense of the vastness of hell. The effects used to create Lucifer are also very effective (saying more would spoil it).  Other effects, while amazing for the time do not hold up so well (Cerebus, I'm looking in your direction).

The film is well done, but moves very slowly.  It manages to be simultaneously very literal and very impressionistic.  The general format of the movie is to show us text describing a scene and then act out exactly that scene.  Repeat.  Because the movie is basically following two characters who are witnessing evenets and not really interacting with anyone, you never have any real sense of danger. It's more of a travelogue than a drama.

Finally, I have to say that Tangerine Dream's modern score made me want to take ice picks to my ears. It almost never synched with what was happening on the screen and the vocals were really distracting.

Final word is that this is a good movie for people with an interest in film history or early special effects, but is otherwise a monotonous undertaking.

DVD rented from Netflix.