Dante: Inferno to Paradise

Explore Dante’s experience in exile, and his completion of the last two parts of the "Comedy," shortly before his death in Ravennain 1321. Interweaving soaring scenes drawn from Purgatory and Paradise, the film goes on to explore the afterlife and literary and cultural fate of Dante’s masterpiece from the time of his death down to today.

Discover Dante's motivation for writing, the power of The Divine Comedy, and the meaning of the character who travels through Inferno to Purgatory to Paradise.

Dante with Virgil as his guide begin their descent into Inferno, through the Gates of Hell. We hear one of the lines best known from the Divine Comedy: "Abandon All Hope, You Who Enter Here."

Dante: Inferno to Paradise, by acclaimed filmmaker Ric Burns, explores the riveting life and times of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) and his soaring masterpiece "The Divine Comedy" – one of the greatest achievements in the history of Western literature.

Explore the historical background of medieval Florence from 1216 to Dante's birth in 1265, dramatic details of Dante’s childhood, education and early literary and political career, culminating in his exile in 1302, and his decision to begin The Divine Comedy in 1306.

Dante and Virgil descend to the Third Circle of Hell, where they encounter those condemned for Gluttony. The character Ciacco describes the misery of his condition and explains that greed — or avariciousness — is the sin that corrupts everything.

Explore the despair and anger Dante felt after being unjustly exiled from Florence, and how his exile and the death of Beatrice Portinari motivated his writing — and ultimately the creation of The Divine Comedy.