Inferno: Movie Adaptations

L’Inferno, 1911
Directed: Giuseppe De Liguoro
This is the first film adaptation of Dante’s Inferno; it is a silent film and was produced in Italy.

Dante’s Inferno, 1924
Directed: Henry Otto
Notable cast: Ralph Lewis
This film is very loosely based on Dante’s Inferno; the story does not revolve around Dante visiting and escaping from Hell but rather a businessman condemned there for contributing to somebody else’s suicide.

Dante’s Inferno, 1935
Directed: Harry Lachman
Notable cast: Spencer Tracey, Claire Trevor, Henry B. Walthall
Less an adaptation of the Inferno than a movie which alludes to the Inferno, this film is set in a carnival (run by a corrupt businessman) which includes scenes from Dante’s work.

A TV Dante, 1990-1991
Directed: Raoul Ruiz, Peter Greenaway, Tom Phillips
Notable cast: Bob Peck, John Gielgud, Joanne Whalley
This is a television presentation of Dante’s Inferno; while much of the poem is simply read on screen, there is also a blend of new and archival footage to accompany the reading.

Dante: The Divine Comedy, 2002
No known director or actor. This is a documentary of the Divine Comedy and includes both interpretive dance and scholarly analysis from several Dante professors.

Dante’s Inferno, 2007
Directed: Sean Meredith
Notable cast: James Cromwell, Tony Hale, Dermot Mulroney

This film is based on Dante’s Inferno, but also on a more recent update of the epic written by Sandow Birk and Marcus Sanders. It features puppets, not actors, and adds more recent figures such as Adolf Hitler to the characters in Hell.

Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic, 2010
Directed: Victor Cook, Mike Disa, Sang-Jin Kim, Shûkô Murase, Jong-Sik Nam, Lee Seung-Gyu
Notable cast: Graham McTavish, Vanessa Branch, Mark Hamill
This film is based on a video game adaptation of Dante’s Inferno, and instead of showing Dante’s search through Hell for wisdom, it features Dante’s desperate, warlike attempt to rescue Beatrice from Lucifer’s clutches with the aid of Virgil.

Dante’s Inferno, 2011
Directed: Douglas Neff
Notable cast: Anthony Alabi, Bishop Brown, Meryl Bush
This is an animated retelling of Dante’s Inferno.

Dante’s Hell Animated, 2013
Directed: Boris Acosta
Notable cast: Eric Roberts, Nia Peeples
This is a short film (2013) and includes both English and the original Italian script which Dante wrote; the English/Italian scripts are read over animated illustrations.