My wanderings have taken me to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I have to confess that I had not considered Calgary as having a very active creative community due to the communities history of farming, ranching and oil. Much like Texas, there’s Austin, which is a little haven of creative activity in contrast to the stereotype of the “Good o’ boys”. To my surprise, I arrived in the middle of the 4th Calgary Underground Film Festival and was able to enjoy a few very fine flics.
Dante’s Inferno
DANTE’S INFERNO has been kicking around the cultural playground for over 700 years. But it has never before been interpreted with exquisitely hand-drawn paper puppets, brought to life using purely hand-made special effects. Until now. Rediscover this literary classic, retold in a kind of apocalyptic graphic novel meets Victorian-era toy theater. Dante’s Hell is brought to lurid 3-dimensional, high-definition life in a darkly comedic travelogue of the underworld — set against an all-too-familiar urban backdrop of used car lots, gated communities, strip malls, and the U.S. Capitol. And populated with a contemporary cast of reprobates, including famous — and infamous — politicians, presidents, popes, pimps. And the Prince of Darkness himself.
Dante’s Inferno is a very ambitious film. A fairly complex story is told with a very unique blend of graphic novel illustration skills animated in a charming Victoria-era toy theater style. Imagine paper puppets, hand draw, mounted to little sticks and animated by filming in live action. The characters move around the stage much like puppets in a puppet show.
One very unique quality used in animating in this style is the use of the 2-D nature of the characters set in a 3-D world. In a few key scenes, the puppets are flipped reveling a second drawing on the reverse side of the puppet. This might be a small point in a much larger project but it’s this type creative genius that set the film a part from other efforts that I’ve seen in this medium.
Sporting a hoodie and a hang-over from the previous night’s debauchery, Dante (voiced by Dermot Mulroney) wakes to find he is lost — physically and metaphorically — in a strange part of town. He asks the first guy he sees for some help: The ancient Roman poet Virgil (voiced by James Cromwell), wearing a mullet and what looks like a brown bathrobe. Having no one else to turn to, Dante’s quickly convinced that his only means for survival is to follow Virgil voyage down, down through the depths of Hell.
As the two characters tour the levels of hell, various sins are discussed and the levels in which they’re assigned. The story lends itself well to making commentary on current events and figures. Not surprisingly, Dic Cheney is present at one of the lower levels where he explains that his deeds have been so evil that he’s taken up early residence in hell. His earthly presence being in fact, a possessed body by some type of demon - makes sense!
Dante Alighieri’s epic poem “The Divine Comedy” has long been considered one of the most important works in Western literature. Written in the 14th Century in Italy, it incorporated the most profound theological concepts of the day and blended them with a vast knowledge of history, philosophy, astronomy, medicine, and geography into an envisioned tour of the afterlife. Often divided into three books – Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso – the epic poem traces Dante’s imaginary journey through the various levels of the afterlife. Descending first into Hell in “Inferno”, Dante is guided by the ghost of the Roman poet Virgil. Along the way they meet historical personages and people from Dante’s hometown of Florence, witness the tortures and punishments of Hell, and discuss the universal and timeless themes of morality and justice.
The film was screened at the Hi-Fi Club for it’s Canadian premiere. A quick survey of the crowd conformed that there’s a few creative types in Calgary complete with supporting venues. Perhaps I’ll make a point of visiting this part of the world more often.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Sara // Apr 22, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Hey that looks cool! I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something so creepy about 2-D paper-puppets.
2 Dee // Apr 22, 2007 at 11:23 pm
Agreed, there is a “creepy” factor.
I find it interesting that my attention and willingness to buy into the story was so easy. The format seems to prevent any kind of illusion and yet I followed along, pondered the points and laughed often.
Story telling is such a cool field, regardless of the format. I always enjoy the tails that make my brain bubble even just a tiny bit. Amazing how there’s so many different ways to express an idea - paper puppets and all.
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