''Dante's Inferno: The Private Life of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Poet and Painter'' (1967) is a feature-length 35 mm film directed by

Ken Russell Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was a British film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films in the main were liberal adaptation ...

and first screened on the BBC on 22 December 1967 as part of ''

Omnibus Omnibus may refer to: Film and television * ''Omnibus'' (film) * Omnibus (broadcast), a compilation of Radio or TV episodes * ''Omnibus'' (UK TV series), an arts-based documentary programme * ''Omnibus'' (U.S. TV series), an educational progr ...

''. It quickly became a staple in cinemas in retrospectives of Russell's work. Using

nonlinear narrative Nonlinear narrative, disjointed narrative, or disrupted narrative is a narrative technique, sometimes used in literature, film, video games, and other narratives, where events are portrayed, for example, out of chronological order or in other ways ...

technique, it tells of the relationship between the 19th-century artist and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his model, Elizabeth Siddal.Russell' s Rossetti Bruxner, David. The Guardian 26 Nov 1966: 7.

Plot

The exhumation of Lizzie Siddal's desiccated body is seen, followed by a shot of Rossetti dancing among the flames of a bonfire of paintings by Reynolds and Gainsborough. A voice-over informs us that Rossetti is a founder of a revolutionary group of artists called the

Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

. The figure of the young Lizzie dressed as

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

appears above the flames. Lizzie is seen modelling for Millais' '' Ophelia'' and for a painting of Joan by Rossetti. The voice-over states that she eats little and often throws it up. She and Rossetti spend several years together while he paints and draws her but she spurns his sexual advances, even slashing him with a needle when he presses himself on her. Rossetti turns to the more accommodating

Fanny Cornforth Fanny Cornforth (born Sarah Cox; 3 January 1835 – 24 February 1909) was an English artist's model, and the mistress and muse of the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Cornforth performed the duties of housekeeper for Ros ...

. Lizzie is introduced to

laudanum Laudanum is a tincture of opium containing approximately 10% powdered opium by weight (the equivalent of 1% morphine). Laudanum is prepared by dissolving extracts from the opium poppy (''Papaver somniferum Linnaeus'') in alcohol (ethanol). Red ...

by Emma Brown to alleviate her stomach pain. She is advised by Christina Rossetti that Dante Gabriel needs a patron. Christina's voice-over speaks her poem ''In an Artist's Studio'', about Lizzie. She tells Lizzie she looks ill. Rossetti and Christina visit

William Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolism. ...

, who is painting '' The Light of the World''. Hunt asks Rossetti to look after his girlfriend Annie Miller while he is away in the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

painting ''

The Scapegoat A scapegoat is a goat used in a religious ritual or the victim of scapegoating, the singling out of a party for unmerited blame. Scapegoat or The Scapegoat may also refer to: Places * Scapegoat Wilderness, a Wilderness Area in Montana ** Scapego ...

'' but Rossetti has an affair with her and Hunt spurns her on his return.

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...

visits Rossetti's studio and shows an interest in Lizzie's art. Rossetti meets Edward Burne-Jones and

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and encounters the beautiful Jane Burden. They paint the

Oxford Union murals The Oxford Union murals (1857–1859) are a series of mural decorations in the Oxford Union library building. The series was executed by a team of Pre-Raphaelite artists including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones. T ...

. Jane marries Morris and Rossetti marries Lizzie. Lizzie becomes increasingly hysterical due to her laudanum use and Rossetti's philandering. She dies from an overdose. Rossetti buries his unpublished poems with her. Some years later,

Charles Augustus Howell Charles Augustus Howell (10 March 1840 – 21 April 1890) was an art dealer and alleged blackmailer who is best known for persuading the poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti to dig up the poems he buried with his wife Elizabeth Siddal. His reputation as ...

persuades him to dig the poems up but Rossetti is haunted by the image of the dead Lizzie and becomes addicted to chloral. Fanny Cornforth rescues him from a suicide attempt but Rossetti is now increasingly obsessed with Morris' wife Jane. He sleeps with her when Morris is away in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

but she remains distant. Isolated, with only the loyal Fanny to care for him, Rossetti sinks further into addiction.

Cast

Oliver Reed Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...

as Dante Gabriel Rossetti * Judith Paris as Elizabeth Siddal *

Andrew Faulds Andrew Matthew William Faulds (1 March 1923 – 31 May 2000) was a British actor and Labour Party politician. After a successful acting career on stage, on radio and in films, he was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 1997. Early life Fauld ...

* Iza Teller as Christina Rossetti * Christopher Logue as Algernon Swinburne * Gala Mitchell as

Jane Morris Jane Morris (née Burden; 19 October 1839 – 26 January 1914) was an English embroiderer in the Arts and Crafts movement and artists' model who embodied the Pre-Raphaelite ideal of beauty. She was a model and muse to her husband William ...

Pat Ashton Pat Ashton (28 February 1931 – 23 June 2013) was an English actress. Her engaging cockney, blonde persona is best remembered for appearances in English TV-sitcom film spin-offs ''On the Buses'' (1971) and ''Mutiny on the Buses'' (1972). She wa ...

* Clive Goodwin as

* David Jones as

* Norman Dewhurst as Edward Burne-Jones * Tony Gray as William Michael Rossetti * Douglas Gray as

Derek Boshier Derek Boshier (born 1937, in Portsmouth) is an English artist, among the first proponents of British pop art. Greene, Alison de Lima (2000). Texas: 150 Works from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers. New York, New Y ...

John Everett Millais Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...

* Caroline Coon as Annie Miller * Janet Deuters as

Emma Brown ''Emma'' is the title of a manuscript by Charlotte Brontë, left incomplete when she died in 1855. A pastiche of it was written by Clare Boylan and published as ''Emma Brown'' in 2003. Original manuscript Brontë began work on ''Emma'' in 1853 ...

* Austin Frazer, the narrator.

Inception

Russell had made an earlier film for television about the

Pre-Raphaelite The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, James ...

s called ''Old Battersea House'' (1961), the success of which had drawn attention to the then-unfashionable art. Russell's original intention was to make a film showing the lives and works of the three main Pre-Raphaelite painters – Rossetti, Millais and

Holman Hunt William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolis ...

— but the arrival of a script into Russell's office at the BBC by Austin Frazer, solely about Rossetti, prompted Russell's change of plan. He thought that a story about a man who exhumes his dead wife and then is haunted by the deed was highly dramatic and marketable.

Gene D. Phillips Gene D. Phillips, S.J. (March 3, 1935 – August 29, 2016) was an American author, educator, and Catholic priest. Life and career Phillips was raised near Springfield, Ohio. He received his A.B. and M.A. (1957) degrees from Loyola University of ...

, ''Phallic Frenzy: Ken Russell and His Films'', p. 54 ff Russell cast many of his friends and used amateur actors, including the pop artist

as Millais and the poet Christopher Logue as Swinburne." Much of the location shooting was done in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

Reception

''Dante's Inferno''s visual style is taken mostly from the Pre-Raphaelite paintings themselves, many of which, such as Millais' ''Ophelia'' are filmed in the actual locations where the paintings were created. Russell also uses imagery inspired by silent comedy and

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

horror films. ''Dante's Inferno'' has been described as "bit of a mess" despite moments of "inspired lunacy". Russell's biographer Joseph Lanza takes the view that its moody black-and-white photography makes the locations in the English Lake District seem like

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

. Joseph A. Gomez argues that its chaotic appearance hides a sophisticated structure,

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dante's Inferno (1967 Film) 1967 television films 1967 films British biographical films Biographical films about painters Biographical films about poets British television films Films directed by Ken Russell Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in popular culture Cultural depictions of 19th-century painters Cultural depictions of British men 1960s English-language films 1960s British films