Way over most people's heads...

Well, you responded to my comment, so yes, I did assume you were talking about me...or at least including me in the generalization. I'm also not offended at all, it would take a lot more than that lol.

I made the argument not because I think people are dumb (though reading back at my original comment it certainly came off that way, and I apologize for that), just that after reading all 10 pages of threads on the movie it seemed that there were a lot of people who were confused about the movie, despite Scarlett basically explaining what was going on. I didn't say that understanding the movie fully would automatically mean they would like it, just that being familiar with Dante's work would clear up a lot of speculation many people seem to have, and yes, possibly mean they would enjoy it more.

The way I said it all was condescending, I realize that now, and again apologize (it was late and I had just read through all the posts from a lot of people who were very confused about the plot). I should have made the argument in a less caustic way. I was honestly getting frustrated because I came to the board figuring there would be some good discussion on the parallels between Dante's work and the movie, and was surprised that there was not only none of that, but an overall general lack of understanding. What I should have done (and what I might do when I have a bit of time) is create that kind of a thread.

As an American I'd expect a Brit to not be so intellectually stunted.

Good heavens.

Heh, fair enough. I was so switched off in science lessons that I still don't know much about science.

For what it's worth, Divine Comedy contains three sections:

1. the Inferno (Hell) - sins and punishments
2. the Purgatorio (Purgatory) - repentance
3. the Paradiso (Heaven) - redemption

Divine Comedy is about confronting yourself - the sins you commit, the fears you harbour, the flaws you have, the mistakes you make - as a way to purify yourself to meet the essence of life. Our hero is Dante, a guy in his 30s, who journeys through those three sections with Virgil (an old guy who's a famous poet) and Beatrice (a woman Dante loved and lost) as his guides.

Each of three sections revolves around a pattern of 9 plus 1, totalling 10:

- 9 circles of the Inferno with Lucifer (plus 1) at bottom
- 9 rings of Mount Purgatory with the Garden of Eden (plus 1) at top
- 9 celestial bodies of Paradiso with the Empyrean (fire) in the centre, which contains the essence of life (plus 1).

The first 7 of 9 rings in Purgatory are 7 deadly sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride) and we see how the committed of each sin are punished. For example, in the Malebolge (8th circle), some wallow in human excrement. Serpents writhe and wrap around men, sometimes fusing into each other. Bodies are torn apart. You get the idea, right. Dante witnesses, relives and/or experiences each circle until he gets to the Empyrean, the fire of life, that finally frees him.

The film - As Above, So Below - uses that concept loosely for its characters. The girl and pals travel into the darkness where horrors/sins prowl (Inferno), come out of the other side where they confront their 'sins' (Purgatory) as repentance, then the survivors make it to the top (Paradiso). It also has a scene of the girl looking at the hidden stone, which could be seen as the essence of life.

Since you read Stephen King's works, you're probably familiar with his favourite phrase 'abandon all hope ye who enter here', right? It comes from Dante's Divine Comedy:

Through me you pass into the city of woe:
Through me you pass into eternal pain:
Through me among the people lost for aye.

Justice the founder of my fabric mov'd:
To rear me was the task of power divine,
Supremest wisdom, and primeval love.

Before me things create were none, save things
Eternal, and eternal I endure.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.

Such characters in colour dim I mark'd
Over a portal's lofty arch inscrib'd:
Whereat I thus: Master, these words import.

Seriously, dude, if you like James Herbert and Stephen King, you'll like Inferno. It's full of crazy stuff. The sort you see in horror films and novels. No one pays serious attention to the last two sections (Purgatorio and Paradiso), which are more philosophical and lighter. Try reading any illustrated book of Inferno.

Or if you want to read the whole thing, try this book Dante's Divine Comedy In Plain and Simple English http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dantes-Divine-Comedy-English-Translated-ebook/ dp/B00BLXPDH0/. It's better to read Divine Comedy in modern English if you want a quick read. Once you get the idea of how the story goes, you can read the old-school English version with a companion book to explain each reference.

Yeah.

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch