❝There stood the open monuments to a darker magic of the sun. The faded petroglyphs, the raised and smoothed worn coral alters where the maret of human sacrifice practiced late into the 19th century, and the scent of blood offering and cannibalism mingled with the sense of the white blossoms, and the violet blossoms, and the red blossoms, and the pink blossoms, and the yellow blossoms.❞
· · ────── •⊰✧⊱• ────── · ·
I was pretty surprised to see this while I was browsing films, since the only thing I knew about it is that it's releasing in September, but I decided to give it a watch after doing some research. I'm a big fan of 'The Divine Comedy' so I was kinda excited to see an interpretation of Dante's writing process/life in general; however, the film turned out to be a hodgepodge of philosophical musings pertaining to parts of the poem, mafia crimes and cringe-inducing romance. There were a lot of ideas introduced but not explored properly, despite a brain-melting 160 minute run-time.
In terms of acting, I expected more from the ensemble cast. Oscar Isaac did his best with the script he got, but the good moments were outweighed by the bad. Gal Gadot was as wooden as ever, although I knew her performance would be terrible beforehand. Gerard Butler and Jason Momoa really surprised me; I'd say they definitely did better than most of their colleagues. I do wish John Malkovich got more screen-time, though, because I love him and he was the only one providing any comedic relief.
I really liked the stylistic differences between the scenes taking place in the 14th and 21st centuries, and the cinematography overall was beautiful. The soundtrack could've been more impactful, in my opinion, though what I could hear was daintily melancholy and tragic.
On the whole, In the Hand of Dante is good, but it fails to reach its maximum potential, and I'm not sure I'd watch it again.
❝There stood the open monuments to a darker magic of the sun. The faded petroglyphs, the raised and smoothed worn coral alters where the maret of human sacrifice practiced late into the 19th century, and the scent of blood offering and cannibalism mingled with the sense of the white blossoms, and the violet blossoms, and the red blossoms, and the pink blossoms, and the yellow blossoms.❞
· · ────── •⊰✧⊱• ────── · ·
I was pretty surprised to see this while I was browsing films, since the only thing I knew about it is that it's releasing in September, but I decided to give it a watch after doing some research. I'm a big fan of 'The Divine Comedy' so I was kinda excited to see an interpretation of Dante's writing process/life in general; however, the film turned out to be a hodgepodge of philosophical musings pertaining to parts of the poem, mafia crimes and cringe-inducing romance. There were a lot of ideas introduced but not explored properly, despite a brain-melting 160 minute run-time.
In terms of acting, I expected more from the ensemble cast. Oscar Isaac did his best with the script he got, but the good moments were outweighed by the bad. Gal Gadot was as wooden as ever, although I knew her performance would be terrible beforehand. Gerard Butler and Jason Momoa really surprised me; I'd say they definitely did better than most of their colleagues. I do wish John Malkovich got more screen-time, though, because I love him and he was the only one providing any comedic relief.
I really liked the stylistic differences between the scenes taking place in the 14th and 21st centuries, and the cinematography overall was beautiful. The soundtrack could've been more impactful, in my opinion, though what I could hear was daintily melancholy and tragic.
On the whole, In the Hand of Dante is good, but it fails to reach its maximum potential, and I'm not sure I'd watch it again.
