The Mystery of Dante


The Mystery of Dante is a 2014 Italian independent film written and directed by Louis Nero that explores The Divine Comedy though a documentary-style look at the life and philosophy of Dante Alighieri.

Production

The film was shot in the basement of the Macello's Castle and in Turin. The film includes cultural references from Shakespeare, the Sufis, and including Luigi Valli, Gabriele Rossetti, René Guénon, Miguel Asín Palacios, and also religious origins of literature, reaching from Muslim, Jewish, and Indian traditions back to the Epic of Gilgamesh. Inspired by the work of Gustave Doré, the animations are set to express the esoteric world with respect.

Plot

The film investigates the life and philosophy of Dante Alighieri through a series of interviews with intellectuals, artists, masons and men of faith who guide the viewer in discovering a little-known side of the man considered the father of the Italian language. This includes analysis of the cardinal points of The Divine Comedy and references to the Western tradition of initiation, secret lodges, membership or not, which accompany the viewer in a different approach to the study of Dante Alighieri. The film's first ten minutes are presented in a found footage format, before seguing into a series of interviews interspersed with occasional animations.

Cast

La Stampa called the film an ambitious project, and a meeting with the potential heirs of the Fedeli d'Amore."
Sentieri Selvaggi wrote that the film is full of both symbolism and pathos, offering an over-the-top popularization that is an overly emotional prophetic mission which carries an amazing truth. They offered that the best way to describe Louis Nero's efforts would be as ambitious, with the flavor of maturity. They noted the inclusion of references to the works of scholars, including Valerio Massimo Manfredi, Gabriele La Porta, Silvano Agosti, Robert Jacob, and Franco Zeffirelli, transferred into a series of interviews accompanied by certain fictions, in a sort of mockumentary in which the principals are summoned by the secret community "The Brothers of Love", whose representatives have decided to release a witness. The film is accompanied by music composed by Steven Mercurio and Ryland Angel.