''A TV Dante'' is a 1990 mini-series directed by Tom Phillips and

Peter Greenaway Peter Greenaway, (born 5 April 1942) is a Welsh film director, screenwriter and artist. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Flemish painting in particular. Common traits in his films are th ...

. It covers eight of the 34

canto The canto () is a principal form of division in medieval and modern long poetry. Etymology and equivalent terms The word ''canto'' is derived from the Italian word for "song" or "singing", which comes from the Latin ''cantus'', "song", from the ...

s in

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

's ''

Inferno Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * Inferno (1973 fi ...

'', part of his 14th century epic poem ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature ...

''.

and Tom Phillips won the

Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international Television, Radio-broadcasting and Web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with the ...

for ''A TV Dante'', their ambitious project to produce a video version of ''Dante's Inferno''. Greenaway was first inspired by artist Tom Phillips’ illustrated translation of the work and they collaborated on this, the first eight Cantos of the work, using all the state-of-the-art technological resources available to the electronic media at the time. The eight Cantos of the film are not conventionally dramatised, rather they are illuminated with layered and juxtaposed imagery and a soundtrack which comments, counterpoints and clarifies. There are visual footnotes delivered by relevant expert authorities, and these often perform the function of narration as well as illustration. The result is a video journey through Dante's underworld. ''A TV Dante'' was continued in 1991 through a further six of the Cantos, 9 through 14, by Chilean director

Raoul Ruiz __NOTOC__ Raoul is a French variant of the male given name Ralph or Rudolph, and a cognate of Raul. Raoul may also refer to: Given name * Raoul Berger, American legal scholar * Raoul Bova, Italian actor * Radulphus Brito (Raoul le Breton, died ...

. Starring

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...

Bob Peck Robert Peck (23 August 1945 – 4 April 1999) was an English actor who played Ronald Craven in the television serial ''Edge of Darkness'', for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He was also known for his role as game warden Rob ...

and

Joanne Whalley-Kilmer Joanne Whalley (born 25 August 1961) is an English actress who began her career in 1974. She has appeared primarily on television, but also in nearly 30 feature films, including '' Dance with a Stranger'' (1985), ''Willow'' (1988), ''Scandal'' ( ...

Prizes

*Winner: Special Prize

*Winner: Festival International du Nouveau Cinema el de LA Video *Winner: Finalist Award - New York International Film and TV Festival

Press Quotes

"A dazzling and inventive piece of video-image making...an eye-stitching use of television." - ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' "Nothing quite like it has been seen on television before. The extraordinary, multi-layered images on the screen are not so much state-of-the-art video but the state after that." - ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' "That rare and beautiful thing, an attempt to do something new with the medium." - ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

External links

* * 1989 films 1990 British television series debuts 1991 British television series endings Films based on Inferno (Dante) Films directed by Peter Greenaway Films directed by Raúl Ruiz 1980s British films {{1980s-UK-film-stub