Dante’s Inferno

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a 19th-century artistic movement founded in 1848 by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, and John Everett Millais. The film chronicles this artistic circle's rebellion against Victorian art conventions and their pursuit of beauty and truth in art. The Brotherhood's ideals directly shape Rossetti's obsessive artistic drive and the film's central conflicts between genius and personal destruction.

The film opens with Rossetti exhuming his late wife's body to retrieve buried poems, a dramatic act that encapsulates the Brotherhood's fixation with legacy.

The film is set in mid-19th century Victorian England, specifically the 1840s through 1860s. This was a period of significant artistic experimentation when the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood emerged as a radical response to Royal Academy conventions. The Victorian era's emphasis on beauty, poetry, and social reform provides the backdrop for the characters' artistic choices and personal tensions.

The film unfolds primarily in London studios and Oxford, where Rossetti and his contemporaries created their art. Key scenes also travel to the Holy Land and Iceland, marking significant turning points in the artists' ambitions and inspirations. These locations represent both the intimate world of the Pre-Raphaelite circle and their broader artistic quests for inspiration.

The artists' journeys to the Holy Land and Iceland reflect their search for authentic artistic vision beyond Victorian England.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (played by Oliver Reed) is the ambitious painter-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, portrayed as a passionate and volatile artist. He struggles with addiction and alternates between deep devotion to his muse Lizzie Siddal and numerous affairs. His fixation with image, fame, and artistic legacy drives much of the film's tension, leading to a self-destructive spiral.

Rossetti's obsessive nature is established early as he pursues beauty and perfection in his art, blurring lines between admiration and fixation.

Lizzie Siddal (played by Judith Paris) serves as Rossetti's primary muse and partner, modeling for the famous painting Ophelia and Rossetti's Joan of Arc. She struggles with chronic illness and becomes addicted to laudanum, partly introduced by Emma Brown to ease her pain. Her frail health and Rossetti's infidelities create ongoing strain, culminating in tragedy that haunts Rossetti's legacy.

Lizzie's struggle with illness and her introduction to laudanum foreshadow the destructive role addiction will play in the narrative.

The film explores how artists chase beauty and perfection, often blurring lines between admiration and fixation. Rossetti's relentless pursuit of Lizzie Siddal and other muses drives both creation and conflict. The Pre-Raphaelite circle becomes a crucible where brilliance clashes with personal cost, suggesting that genius can come at the expense of relationships and health.

The film depicts laudanum easing Lizzie's pain but damaging her health and agency, while chloral deepens Rossetti's dependence. Addiction isolates Rossetti and threatens his art, pushing him toward darker impulses. The narrative portrays substance use as both a symptom of the era's pressures and a catalyst for tragedy, showing how personal demons intersect with artistic ambition.

Emma Brown introducing laudanum to Lizzie marks the pivotal moment where addiction enters the narrative.

Romantic entanglements fuel jealousy, power dynamics, and heartbreak within the Pre-Raphaelite studio. Lizzie's frail health and Rossetti's infidelities fracture trust and lead toward tragedy. Relationships with Annie Miller and Jane Morris highlight gendered complexities in the male-dominated art world. The film demonstrates how love can both inspire greatness and destroy those who create it.

Patrons and peers influence the artists' careers and reputations, shaping opportunities and risks throughout the narrative. Christina Rossetti's commentary underscores tensions between patronage and artistic integrity. The plot references Howell persuading Rossetti to recover buried poems, linking memory and legacy to creative output. Fanny Cornforth's loyalty and Rossetti's evolving obsessions further complicate what endures after death.

Jane Morris (originally Jane Burden, played by Gala Mitchell) becomes a central figure in the Pre-Raphaelite circle, captivating Rossetti with her beauty. She later marries William Morris, and Rossetti's obsession with her weaves through the narrative. Her presence highlights the era's gender dynamics within artistic circles, where women served primarily as muses while men controlled artistic production and legacy.

William Morris (played by Andrew Faulds) is a fellow artist-poet who meets Rossetti in Oxford and becomes a key member of the Pre-Raphaelite circle. He later marries Jane Morris and embodies the ideal of the artist as a social force. His ambitions intersect with the group's artistic pursuits, and he contrasts with Rossetti's more volatile path, representing a different vision of artistic legacy.