author, / the sole maker from whom I drew the breath/ of that sweet style whose measures have brought me honor." (Inferno, Canto 1, Lines 82-84). Also, no longer is Virgil a detached influence to Dante, separated by hundreds of years, he is now a true friend to him. This is demonstrated in Canto 23 as Virgil and Dante are attempting to escape the Fiends. Virgil lifts Dante and " - as down that hill / my Guide and Master bore me on his breast,/ as if I were not a companion, but a son." (Canto 23, Lines 45-47). In their travels through hell a close relationship hasgrown between master and student.Aside from similarities and differences in the nature of hell and the relationships of the characters, there are also similarities and differences in the specific levels of hell dictated by Dante. While the film does not go through all the levels Dante created, probably for the sake of time, there are images of hell in the movie that directly mirror Dante's.Chris and the tracker travel to hell on a small boat under a gray sky that carries naked bodies twisting on the winds. These figures swell from the water beneath the boat as well and overturn it, dragging Chris and Albert on to their descent into hell. When they surface they have washed up on a beach with bodies littering it similar to clans of seals. A more broad view of the terrain shows shipwrecks clustered, inhabited by the damned and engulfed in unending flames. Sighs and wails of pain become deafening. In one scene, the hull of the most prominent shipwreck bears the word: CERBERUS. Chris and Albert have come to the entrance or vestibule of hell. While Ward has most definitely borrowed the image of swirling figures in the sky from Circle two of Dante's Inferno, there is no indication that this is the punishment for lust that Paolo and Francesca suffer in the Inferno. It is merely for the sake of cinematography.When Dante and Virgil make their entrance into hell, they do it on foot and en...
