| "From 1911 to 1914 the industry developed with astounding rapidity. The film [...] grew in length. But the most sensational pictures now began to come from Europe and had considerable influence on the American producers".Paul Rotha wrote these words in 1929, the same year that sound was added to the moving image. Starting from this context, I have tried to establish the role that Dante Alighieri and La Divina Commedia played in the story. Searching through film archives and old, almost untouched, press clippings, in American and Italian libraries, I have focused on a cluster of Dantean films, produced in Milan and near Rome. First and foremost, is the Inferno by Milano Films, which premiered in Naples, on March 1st, 1911. It was applauded for months and months in the United States (and in Europe) and circulated until 1925. A Purgatory by Helios Film, based in Velletri (Rome), and a Paradise by Psiche Films, in Albano Laziale (Rome), completed a Dantean trilogy which triumphed in the world.Because not even Italian experts appear always fully aware of the significant influence that Dante had on their film industry---and, most likely, on some American productions---I have tried to assemble as much evidence as possible about the "enabling" energies of Dante's "producerly" text on films of those early years. I have found conspicuous evidence of how, in turn, those films were "enablers" for film production in the following decades. From the 1911 "silent" Inferno, to the 1998 "digital" What Dreams May Come, Dante has always been present in the world of the moving image---including television and videocassettes---albeit in different guises: powerful "national bard", comically degraded jester, edifying teacher of moral values and even inspirer of "maestri" like Pasolini and Fellini.The core of my thesis deals with material that has only very recently received any substantial attention. Much more work needs to be done in this area. Because of this, my thesis at times reads like a "work in progress", or even like a "mystery story" constrained (often with difficulty), within the conventions of scholarly writing. |
