About the new bestseller American writer
The title of this novel was a trade secret and was kept secret for a long time. Of course, the excitement and anticipation of the public, “hooked” on Dan Brown’s bestsellers, only increased and, finally, with the release of the novel in the USA and Canada in May of this year, it was transformed into circulation figures. The publisher promised that the first circulation of the book would be 4 million copies, and the target would be one million copies new novel"Inferno" surpassed the first five days of sales.
“Inferno” is the fourth part of the book series by the world-famous American. First - "Angels and Demons" (2000), then - the scandalous novel "The Da Vinci Code" (2003) and "The Lost Symbol" (2009), translated into 51 languages and selling 81 million copies. These three books, too, immediately rose to the top of the bestseller list in the very first week they appeared on the market. In general, the current novelty about the symbologist and art critic-Professor Langdon quickly occupied not only the book space, but also settled in the heads, including those of our compatriots. I have in my hands a book published by AST with a circulation of 150 thousand copies. Not a little.
But this is all just a saying. The fairy tale will be ahead.
World player
Brown's readers are young, and therefore his book can be seen as a message to them, and therefore a message to the future. In the network of what message does the American catch millions of people in our world?
The author of “Inferno” knows how to read the tempo-rhythms of perception of the world modern man; this means that he knows how to create a plot that keeps the reader’s attention in suspense from beginning to end, while simultaneously subordinating it to more complex semantic tasks; this means that he uses the techniques of an intellectual detective and draws the reader into the novel, turning him into an active player: together with the main characters, he travels through cities, countries, museums, everywhere reading signs and symbols that bring him closer to the final solution. The reader is precisely the player drawn into the action. At the same time, behind the short 104 chapters, flashing like frames in a movie, there is a real luxury of the culture of the Renaissance. Great Italians. I'm tired of glamor. The reader loves real.
The titanic figure of Dante, the constantly quoted lines of the “Divine Comedy” with pictures of “the nine circles of hell (inferno)”, detailed description old architecture (museums, palazzos, palaces, caves, etc.) presented in a symbolological and demonological key, but also woven into modernity with intrigue, create the illusion of a serious “philosophical novel”. However, reading the novel is easy... Yes, it couldn’t be otherwise - after all, we are talking about a mass publication and about the reader who (most often) did not read Dante... And the page of acknowledgments, which the author expresses to a bunch of different specialists, speaks, indeed, of great and hard work.
For Dan Brown, the past actively works for the present. The history of the past - culture, power, and even the horror of history - appears through time, dwells in the present day, and it actualizes this spirit of other times through intrigue and reading symbols. And it works interestingly. Unfortunately, this is practically absent in our Russian culture. We can't do THAT. Our incredibly talented writers live like hermits and do not hope for understanding by their contemporaries, or, on the contrary, they create unthinkable stories, but at the same time have no relation to reality. And, finally, we are not accustomed to reading and disseminating our “today” - we do not have authoritative literary agents and literary agencies whom we trust and who would be really interested in broadcasting our own ideas to the world.
Perhaps all this is happening because we no longer think of ourselves as global players? But now we are reading the American writer Dan Brown, who certainly belongs to the caste of world players.
It is no coincidence that even on the cover of the Russian version after the title “Inferno” it is written: “The book that the whole world has been waiting for.” America is true to itself here too: confidence in its “mission for the world” is also transmitted through culture.
The world was waiting. And I waited...
Don't be fruitful, don't multiply...
I won’t tell you the intricacies of the plot: the point is that all the heroes of the novel are pulled into a single knot of intrigue by one idea belonging to the genetic engineer, “father of embryonic manipulation” Bertrand Zobrist, “brilliant and insane.” Here is his idea: “... the future rushes towards us with the inexorability of Malthusian calculations... Our ability to reproduce is so much greater than the ability of the earth to feed us that premature death in one form or another becomes inevitable for humanity. An active and powerful factor in population decline is human vices. They serve as harbingers of the awakening of enormous destructive forces and often complete the deadly work themselves. If they fail to victoriously end this war of extermination, epidemics, pestilence and plague take over, sweeping away thousands and tens of thousands of people along the way. If this is not enough, famine follows and with one mighty blow brings the population into line with food supplies... If humanity is not controlled, it develops like cancer. To sit with folded hands is to welcome Dante's hell, where we will all wallow in sin, starve and suffocate from overcrowding...And I dared to take on the challenge.
Some will recoil in horror, but salvation is never given for free. Someday the world will appreciate the beauty of my sacrifice. For I am your Salvation. I am Shadow.
I open the way to the Posthuman Era."
Zobrist, having disappeared from the world with the help of an organization that provides such services for a lot of money, during a year of solitude invents a virus that quietly, without pain, without thousands of deaths and suffering (as was the case with the Black Death - the plague) is introduced into genetic code man and...makes man barren... Gradually, without suffering, humanity begins to decline (the limit of reduction was initially set by the specifics of the virus).
And Zobrist himself will effectively, almost like an opera performance (fortunately, it takes place mainly in Italy), will arrange the last days of his life: suicide will occur on the day when the whole world will be infected with his virus.
And on the same day, already in Istanbul, once in Constantinople of the Byzantine Empire, from where the madman determined to spread the virus, the most famous work Liszt's "Dante Symphony", inspired by Dante's images of the descent into hell and the return from hell. Zobrist will throw himself from the Badia Tower in Florence. This is his sacrifice to the post-human era. This is the countdown day for the future death of most of humanity. Apotheosis, so to speak.
I dare to insist that it is the idea of the correctness of Malthus’s calculations (fertility from excess childbearing and terrible crowds) that is transmitted to all of humanity and the young men who eagerly read Brown. This is his main message to the masses, that is, to humanity. Moreover, the feeling of terrible crowding in the world (the image of a crowd of thousands appears elegantly more than once in the novel), its terrible congestion is present in the novel in full artistic images: the darkness of tourists wandering around Florence, Venice, Istanbul is described with unobtrusive accented skill. Moreover, the author clearly relies on our personal experience of encountering space congestion, familiar to almost every resident of large cities and even a little traveler around the world...
Meanings and technologies
The theory of Malthus (the English mathematician and demographer, who in the 19th century spoke of the impending global overpopulation of the planet) is now superimposed on the newest ideology of transhumanism (or posthumanism). But what comes AFTER a person?
Thus, our domestic radical Ilya Kormiltsev (1959-2007), head of a number of Ultraculture projects, for whom the world of consumption caused protest, said: « You can only move forward. Following the “death of God” must inevitably come the “death of Man.” In this case, “posthumanism” turns out to be something else, where there is no longer a place for traditional man with his warmth, his tragedies and tears, and this means that man himself must be transformed into something - and not even into a Nietzschean superman, but into posthuman: remake yourself . A new branch has recently emerged in posthumanism, which is called transhumanism, that is, “humanism plus” or “more humanism.” A common feature transhumanism and posthumanism is the prediction of some new intelligent species into which man will evolve. This the new kind must replenish (or even replace) humanity. Transhumanists are focused on the future – the posthuman (like Brown’s hero). Actually, Brown very consistently, only with beautiful historical scenery, presented their views: continuous technical progress by 2050 it will make it possible to create a post-human who will have exceptional abilities, relying on genetic engineering, molecular nanotechnology, and the creation of direct computer-brain interfaces. Aging and death will be eliminated, and, on the contrary, the mental and physical capabilities of a person will be increased.
Much will disappear: the old dichotomy of “pure and unclean”; Such concepts as “history”, “development” or “evolution” will disappear from everyday life, as people will learn to control genetic processes. Millions of posthumans will genetically modify themselves several times a day by swallowing colorful pills. Every day in the world “new races, orders, families and kingdoms of living beings will appear and disappear, just as today, imperceptibly for us, this happens with colonies of bacteria...”. Man, like a bacterium, receives unimaginable controlled universal simplicity.
Virus plus
In the novel “Inferno,” the author adds significant “details” to transhumanism related to the possibilities of human control. Bertrand's technology, says his student Siena, is a genetic viral vector that infects huge masses of people - the most powerful weapon ever created. It paves the way for horrors we cannot imagine, including address biological weapons.
Imagine a pathogen that attacks only those whose genetic code contains certain ethnic markers. This will be large-scale ethnic cleansing at the genetic level!
And finally, another thesis of transhumanists: they say that modern schoolchildren forced to live by the harsh standards of the 19th century. They are being prepared for life in a society that no longer exists. This is a hierarchical and strictly regulated society, reminiscent of a never-realized social ideal from The Difference Machine. Modern society is informational, but it is not total and not hierarchical; therefore education to meet reality today's life will be forced to abandon any stable values and canons (and we see that this is already being done). The world of the future will be permeated with networks and technology.
And the last conclusion of posthumanists. So, they say, we are able to understand our own limitations and abolish ourselves, consciously rising to the next level. And for this you need to “get down from the tree of humanistic civilization.” And Brown’s hero “teared” - he jumped from a tower in Florence (this happened in Dante’s homeland - his descriptions of hell, biography, and even his death mask are skillfully woven into the intrigue of the novel).
Until recently, we believed that the term “technology” was only applicable to technical areas. However, today, in the era of networks and Google, we see that technologies can be both political (social) and humanitarian. In itself, such a concept as humanitarian technology causes us some caution, which is quite fair, because we understand that this is not about the “search for truth,” but about serving someone else’s interests, that is, we are talking about “cultural hegemony” (A. Gramsci) of certain expert groups. The modern humanitarian situation in the field of culture is such that it constantly demonstrates to us the power of cultural and intellectual fashion - fashionable writers, for example, whose names have turned into brands (but even the brightest domestic writer-brand, like Pelevin, cannot compare with the scale of influence of Dan Brown ). We are talking not just about mass literature, but precisely about mass-circulation literature - that which claims to dominate, because it believes that it is precisely this that best represents the situation of our time.
What are these meanings and the techniques that serve them in Brown's new bestseller?
The most catchy technique of self-affirmation modern culture can be called aesthetic sabotage or aesthetic provocation. In a certain sense, Dan Brown's novel is exactly like that.
He, as before, is provocative towards Christianity.
Christianity in the novel is presented as a beautiful and irrelevant antiquity... Nothing more. The author handed over Christianity to the museum. Yes, there is even little irony towards Catholics in the novel: the author is simply not interested in the meanings and values of Christianity.
But with great artistic feeling it talks about museums, Doge's palaces, and the architecture of old cities as places of power, fame, money and power. The author talks about the mosaics of the baptistery, the Hagia Sophia temple in Istanbul, the basilicas of Florence and Venice; he admires museums created by Christians, picturesque masterpieces, the glow and shades of architectural masterpieces... He sees the Christian world from the perspective of a tourist (and partly a professional - the main character knows Christian symbology well, but is at the same time a shabby Darwinist with world fame).
Dan Brown's novel is culturally provocative.
The author describes with great taste the sacred and infernal places of antiquity. The emphasis on Dante's Inferno (inferno), images of shadows, black death (doctor in a plague mask) play an important meta-poetic role in the text and ends with Zobrist's statement that “the Black Death was Europe’s greatest success”: “many historians note the favorable socioeconomic consequences of the European mass extinction in the fourteenth century. Before the Great Plague, medieval Europe suffered from overpopulation, famine, and economic hardship. But then the terrible Black Death appeared - and, having effectively “thinned out the human herd,” created an abundance of food and opportunity, which, according to many historians, became the main catalyst for the development of the Renaissance.”
Controlling with surprise and fear – This is a very ancient technology, already familiar in antiquity. Classical philologist E. Avdeenko says that ancient tragedy was a folk theological action, and the horror of the tragedy was a life-affirming beginning. But, in fact, for this to be so, the creator of the tragedy must be able to “stand at the limit,” be able to “keep the limit” and see it as the final measure of weighing, as the basis of morality. All this is very difficult, all this requires a lot of training to have such a worldview.
The novel “Inferno” also offers training, but in a different worldview: the reader gets a kind of “high” from immersing himself in the terrible - the horror of the inevitable death of a crowd of millions; and at the same time a certain horror-relieving satisfaction from involvement in world problems that the novel gives. After all, the young reader is addressed directly: “It’s not surprising that Zobrist was immediately attacked from all sides,” Siena continued. - Politicians, priests, the World Health Organization - everyone ridiculed him as a madman who was predicting the end of the world simply for the sake of causing panic. They were especially infuriated by his assertion that the children of today's youth, if they wish to produce them, will literally witness the destruction of humanity.
Zobrist illustrated his thoughts with the “Doomsday Clock” - they show that if the entire history of mankind on the planet is compressed into one single hour... then we are now living out its last seconds.
The novel “Inferno” shows with great enthusiasm that Christian values have already been replaced by the anti-values of magic, and what the protagonist proposes only looks immoral, since no one can understand his brave pronouncement of the truth: “Bertrand’s Inferno is a long-term solution, a solution forever... . transhumanist decision... He gave humanity access to the process of evolution, gave it the opportunity to work on its species properties, so to speak, in broad strokes.”
We, of course, understand the difference between the author and the hero, but, nevertheless, we note that if the spring of intrigue was initially compressed (everyone tried to fight the hero, including the real-life World Health Organization - in the person of Sinskey’s heroine), then to At the end of the intrigue, she - the main fighter against the mad genetic engineer - admits the truth about the overload of the earth with population, and having learned that all of humanity is infected with the infertility virus, she says that maybe we WILL NOT do anything... No one in the novel disputes the main Malthusian idea about overpopulation of the earth as the cause of the soon-coming death of humanity. It is remarkable that in Brown’s fictional work he uses graphs, tables, figures, that is, documentary techniques (as well as introducing into the context of an organization such as the WHO, which in reality is concerned with the problems of contraception and family planning). This is how technology works: voluntarily, with a document and a schedule in hand, or involuntarily convincing of what needs to be convinced...
Well, and such “reservations” as the one that vices and sexual perversions (gays, for example) are the WAY to salvation from overpopulation - such accents against the background of everything else seem no longer so “terrible” (Brown here appears as an obvious agent of globalism). By the way, the evil genius Zobrist had love affairs with both male and female students.
Followers of transhumanism, as the novel claims, are everywhere: in private closed enterprises that provide secret services to states, governments and very rich citizens; there are among fantastically gifted intellectuals, among professionals of the highest standard. But they are all alone and misunderstood. They are all exceptionally talented and have a special vision that the crowd person lacks.
And one more observation: in the novel, which ends with a picture of the total defeat of all humanity by the infertility virus, there are NO children, NO families.
The main character, art critic Langdon, is comfortably alone, as well as surrounded by students, but has no family; his antipode is the inventor of the virus Zobrist; his student Siena Brooks (a naturally gifted person) is lonely and childless; the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Elizabeth Sinsky, is lonely and has long been infertile (and she knows it and is sometimes sad); in the cold luxury and neat solitude of a super-expensive yacht, the merchant of lies and deceit, the Chief (he has no name), spends his life... THEY ARE ALREADY INFERTILITY THEY ARE ALREADY CHILDRENLESS, and therefore cannot perceive as a tragedy either their infection with the virus, or the fact that all of humanity is infected with it ...And very weakly, barely, with a modest dotted line, the emerging human warmth is outlined in the scene of the final parting of Langdon and Siena...
American culture is often forward-looking. The future in the novel is controlled by the Inferno virus. A message is broadcast to millions of readers about the overpopulation of the earth, which has only one “salvation” - infertility.
Special for the Centenary
The year that is coming to an end has become extremely busy with films that, for one reason or another, did not live up to the expectations of the audience, including mine. In my opinion, such annoying moments, to a certain extent, can be compared to fraud. Judge for yourself. You spend your time, your money, have certain hopes for the upcoming session, trying to enjoy what you see on the screen, but in the end you leave the hall disappointed and upset, with an overwhelming feeling that somewhere you were deceived, having been given a “Chinese” version instead of the expected original. fake copy.
Today we will talk about the film “Inferno”, which fully corresponds to similar films, and the arrogance of the screenwriters and director of which, in fact, put an end to the story of the adventures of Professor Langdon.
From the very beginning, it is worth noting that I read Dan Brown’s book of the same name literally in a few days, depriving myself of free time and excess sleep. I have been a long-time fan of his work, and I find his novels extremely exciting, interesting, and, to a certain extent, educational. Actually, I will evaluate the film precisely from the point of view of a person familiar with the literary original, and judging by the popularity of the work in Russia and the world, I am far from alone in this approach.
From the moment the film was announced, I was immensely glad that the same team as the previous works took on the film adaptation of Brown’s next novel: Ron Howard took the director’s chair, and Hans Zimmer was appointed responsible for the soundtrack. The main role, naturally, went to Tom Hanks, who, it must be admitted, has lost his temper in recent years. However, nothing is surprising, because seven years have passed since the release of “Angels and Demons”!
But I couldn’t even guess that people who are familiar firsthand with the work, the characters, if you like, the philosophy of the book series could ruin it so much. Perhaps the next paragraph will seem like a spoiler to many, so I do not advise people who are not familiar with either the film or the novel to read it. For connoisseurs of the original work, it will be interesting to know how it could have been distorted. I think that many will remember that the main “villain” Zobrist and the virus he created made a significant part of humanity infertile in order to avoid overpopulation of the planet. Forget about it! Zobrist is a terrorist who wants to kill half the world's population.
Let's continue. In the book, Zobrist and his assistant Sienna managed to finish what they started by deceiving Langdon and WHO. In the film, everything ends with a happy ending and everyone is happy and satisfied. Perhaps these moments are the most critical in the script. But we shouldn’t forget that the desire to cram a voluminous book full of details into a decent running time forced us to get rid of not only many plot twists, but also well-developed ones. interesting characters, which we’ll talk about separately. I was especially offended by Felicity Jones's short line from Sienna Brooks. If my memory serves me right, then in the novel Dan Brown paid special attention to her, writing not only her storyline, but also filling the hero with history and motivation for his actions. In the film, we are a stupid little girl in love, not really understanding what and why she is doing and trying to bring the work of her favorite “villain” to the end, unlike the same book, where she tries to help Langdon in every possible way.
It is completely unclear why it was delivered love line between Langdon and Sinskey, because according to the literary work they were only well acquainted, but certainly not lovers, whose union was destroyed by their own plans for their future life
What's the most important thing about films based on Dan Brown's novels? That's right, a mystery! In past films, by trial and error, they found answers to the questions posed, simultaneously introducing viewers to certain architectural monuments, telling the history of people, buildings and things. In Inferno this component is not present. The heroes, like a locomotive, move forward, not particularly paying attention to details and historical facts, which would probably be useful and interesting to viewers. But what can we say if Dante, who is one of the characters in the book, was given minimal time in the film?
All these moments have an extremely negative impact on the plot, slowing down the main action so much that I almost dozed off in my chair. Well, the biggest omission is the exclusion of the topic of childlessness from the plot as such. Returning to Zobrist, I note once again that he did not intend to kill anyone, but only planned to make most of the population infertile in order to avoid overpopulation and do without blood. Why was Ron Howard afraid to touch this important and current topic? Big question.
To summarize all of the above, I note that I sincerely hope that the script for “The Lost Symbol” will remain gathering dust on the shelves in the archives of the film studio, although the remade ending of “Inferno” clearly hints at possible continuation, in contrast to the literary original, which logically completes the story of the adventures of Professor Robert Langdon, who lost in his last battle.
My rating is 4 out of 10.
Read the latest film reviews and articles about Penza catering establishments on the website
In October 2016, the third film about Professor Langdon, “Inferno,” was released first worldwide, and a week later in Russia. If the previous two films, “The Davinci Code” and “Angels and Demons,” as well as the Dan Brown books themselves, on the basis of which they were based, are a tangled tangle of embedded ideas and meanings, then the main message of the novel and the film “Inferno” lies on a surface. What is surprising is that the main ideas promoted by the work in print and on the screen are completely different, which became the cause of dissatisfaction not only among ordinary viewers who had previously read the book, but also among Western film critics, who gave the film an extremely low rating. Why both were dissatisfied will become clear from this article.
The plot of the book describes the story of billionaire scientist Zobrist, who came to the conclusion that the current rate of growth of the planet's population will inevitably end in a global catastrophe caused by a lack of resources. To save the future of humanity, a scientist who is an ardent admirer of Dante’s work has invented a virus that can quickly reduce the “excess” part of the population. Throughout the entire novel, the reader, watching as Professor Langdon and the nurse Sienna who saved him try to prevent a disaster, is simultaneously immersed in a detailed description of all the horrors that will begin in the near future on our planet due to a lack of resources. All this is projected into the reader’s consciousness through the symbolism and imagery of Botticelli’s painting “Map of Hell”, illustrating part of Dante’s “Divine Comedy”.
As a result, by the last pages of the novel, most Dan Brown fans already come to the conclusion that the scientist, in fact, is not a villain, but a real savior, and begin to sincerely empathize with the idea that he is promoting. Reformatted readers will also find a kind of “happy ending” in the form of the fact that Zobrist’s plans come true, the virus spreads, and the main characters, in the end, themselves agree that it will be better for humanity. In addition, it turns out that since the scientist loved people very much, he decided to reduce the population without killing anyone, but by making a third of all humanity infertile with the help of the virus he created.
That is, Dan Brown's novel "Inferno" confronts the reader with a false choice of two evils - a global catastrophe or a sharp decline in population, and leads the reader to the lack of alternative to the second path in its mild form (through sterilization, and not through murder). If anyone doubts the reality of the problem raised in the novel, or the presence of influential supporters of radical methods for solving it, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with two videos.
In the first video, Anatoly Chubais, speaking at the International Forum on Nanotechnology in 2011, talks about how serious groups of scientists predict a reduction in the planet's population to 1.5 billion by the end of the 21st century (5-11 minutes of video). Making such dire predictions, the unsinkable Anatoly Borisovich is campaigning to more actively develop medicine, energy and industry in Russia in order to prevent pessimistic future scenarios. Judging by how much of the budget it has absorbed and what achievements the Rusnano corporation headed by him has achieved in this field in recent years (*virtually none), he personally is quite satisfied with the reduction of the population “that does not fit into the market” by 3-4 times.
In the second video, the head of the Kurchatov Institute, Mikhail Kovalchuk, speaking at a meeting of the Federation Council in 2015, talks in detail about modern technologies management of population reproduction (promotion of perversions, childfree ideology, GMOs, etc.) and already used methods of forming a breed of “service people”.
Now let's return to the film "Inferno". The message of the book, although it is openly destructive, is at least quite logical and clearly reflects whose side the author of the novel is on. But the film itself turned out to be absurd, since the creators retained the main content, but completely changed the ending. The basis remains the same - the intelligence services and detachments of the World Health Organization are still chasing after Langdon and his girlfriend, pictures of hell constantly emerge in the professor’s imagination, the scientist Zobrist and his followers confidently and in vivid colors talk about the need to reduce the population, and so on - but in the final ... the main characters manage to prevent a disaster and isolate the virus.
As a result, the scientist from a genius, as Dan Brown tried to portray him (according to the book, Zobrist immediately sprayed the virus, and all the running around of the main characters was already meaningless, which the reader naturally learns at the very end), turned into a typical stupid villain who, instead of , in order to simply realize his plan, he came up with a pun with many interesting, but inappropriate riddles in the overall plot.
The problem of resource depletion, which served as the main reason for Zobrist’s activities, although it is raised in the film and even runs like a red line through most of the plot, in the finale it remains not only without any answer, but even turns out to be a discredited personality of Zobrist himself, exposed as a fool. The World Health Organization, which in the book ultimately supported Zobrist’s idea, and in reality promotes all kinds of programs for birth control (read “population reduction”), tolerance (indistinguishment between good and evil), sex education (child molestation), and protection of children’s rights (a platform for Juvenile Justice), in the film he is shown as a selfless fighter against evil, advocating only for the safety of citizens.
As a result, the film is, albeit dynamic, but meaningless chewing gum, viewing of which is unpleasant from the point of view of the illogicality of the events on the screen and harmful from the point of view of not only the absence of any constructive solution, but also the discrediting of an important problem. It cannot even be said that the film heavily promotes the book itself, since it serves rather as anti-advertising, which is why, apparently, it received such a low rating among foreign critics (20% positive, 80% negative reviews). At the same time, the very confusion in the ideology promoted by the book and film serves as a clear example of the fact that in Hollywood there are also “creative crises”, or that the above scenario does not suit everyone, and it is leaked according to the principle “they took the job and did it this way.” that it would be better not to do it at all.” The second option is more likely.
As for the main issue raised in the review, relying only on technology, as Chubais proposed, and even more so on the degradation of the masses promoted today, as the basis for their disposal (which Kovalchuk warned the parliamentarians about), humanity is unlikely to emerge from the global crisis will it succeed? It is necessary to change the concept of management, which has led humanity to this dead end, and with it the consciousness of society, which today is focused on consumer ideals and values. The Chubais and similar would-be managers will definitely not do this. And there are still very few others.
Drugs: None.
Sex: One sex scene without showing naked parts of the body.
Raped: Footage of brutal murders, including those carried out female characters. Realistic scenes of the apocalypse and hell that pop up in the mind of the main character.
“Abandon hope, everyone who enters here” (c) “ The Divine Comedy» Dante
Riddles for housewives - I read somewhere an assessment of Dan Brown's work. And for some reason everyone keeps saying that The Da Vinci Code was a bad movie. I do not agree with both definitions, and this must be taken into account in order to further read my review of the new film adaptation of the puzzle novel “Inferno”. The book, by the way, was the first one I read from Brown, and I found it interesting. And the first film adaptation I watched (I’m talking about “The Da Vinci Code”) gave me pleasure comparable to watching “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” Does this mean that I am unable to see the flaws in the film Inferno? No. I just don’t intend to tear to smithereens a picture that was created with only one purpose - to feed the viewer hungry for adventure cinema.
Genre action, thriller, drama, crime, detective
A country USA, Japan, Türkiye, Hungary
Director Ron Howard
Producer Michael De Luca, Andrea Jannetti, Brian Grazer
Cast Tom Hanks, Ben Foster, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Felicity Jones, Irrfan Khan, Omar Sy and others.
“Inferno” is strikingly different from previous novels and films in that it does not delve into the essence of religion and does not try to debunk age-old church myths. This film, on the contrary, is rooted in modernity and even aims at the future. And the traces of the past in it are only beautiful gestures that a very wealthy person - Bertrand Zobrist - can afford. It was he who developed the Inferno virus, which can destroy most of the human race. He developed it, chose a convenient moment to distribute it, hid the bag and... died. And now Professor Langdon has to look for all this. Along with his memory, which was lost to him. Because, as usual, his ability to decipher cultural codes is needed by both bad guys and good guys, and humanity as a whole.
The main question I asked myself after reading the novel was whether Hollywood bosses would be strong enough to leave the original book ending. Despite the cuddly narrative, there was a provocation in it. And I need this spoiler to explain why the film “Inferno” is still bad. The ending was not only changed, it was rewritten into an action movie, which looks completely out of place in a story about a doughy, albeit always running, scientist. And cowardly from the position of producers.
The dynamics in this film generally do not fit well with the state of Professor Langdon, who was either shot, beaten, or drugged, but the fact is that he is not okay. That is, even if you understand that this whole story does not look entirely believable, you still want to maintain at least a physical connection with reality in the form of fatigue, pain, the time that people spend getting from point A to point B. But there is nothing like that in Inferno. This is how the main characters ran on the poster, and this is how they will run until the very end in shoes of varying degrees of comfort, suits, wounded or simply hungry. Well, you have to save the world!
In saving the world, or more precisely, in the reason for which it must be saved, lies the great (now without sarcasm) meaning of the film “Inferno”. He asks the audience an unpleasant question: aren’t there too many of us on Earth? Haven't we polluted it too much with ourselves? And the answer is obvious. The topic, of course, is not new. Spicy. Painful. But here’s the problem: a box office movie should bring positivity to the masses. And in this sense, the film lost to the book simply because it was as gentle as possible due to the creation of the virus, the philosophy of the “killer” and the fact that the problem of overpopulation of the planet, whatever one may say, is real.
But then you no longer have to read “Inferno” while looking at photographs of the described places and works of art on the computer. The film fairly accurately retells the main plot, brushes aside details and honestly shows the audience Florence, Venice and Istanbul. And also Dante’s death mask, of course, not the original, and Botticelli’s engraving “Map of Hell”. I would like to talk about the engraving separately. If the entire film is a gallop across Europe and, in general, a picture for the public, then the picture that came to life in Langdon’s hallucinations is a real original work of art. It seems that Ron Howard escaped to this Hell when he got tired of this overly consumerist project. Stylish, a little scary, covering you. You want to look at it in detail, but at the same time you understand that its essence is chaos.
And in the center of this mess sits and is perplexed by the deliberately flabby Tom Hanks. Perhaps he is the hope for interesting adventure- the main supports of “Inferno”. Hope fades, Hanks plays the game to the end. Probably, if Ron Howard had cast someone else in the role of Professor Langdon 10 years ago, we would have eaten, gotten used to it and forgiven. But on the other hand, it was important to support entertaining cinema not just with a box-office actor, but with an actor who knows how to hold the audience’s attention. There is still a place for drama in Dan Brown's novels. Even in the adjusted action finale, Hanks resists the temptation to throw off his sissy suit and rather clumsily performs the minimum set of tricks required to heat up the action.
The same cannot be said about his partners. Film adaptations of Dan Brown's novels themselves required an international cast. Here too, the list includes a British, French, Indian, Danish, Romanian and Turkish. On the one hand, they are devoid of any national flavor, on the other hand, they are clearly placed in their places. As I already said, the characters are practically devoid of backstories: the director gives little solo performances Felicity Jones, Omar Sy, Irrfan Khan and Sidse Babett Knudsen, but only in order to quickly unravel the tangle of cause-and-effect relationships, which are not very difficult to calculate even without reading the novel. This is a normal consequence when you try to squeeze a thick novel into the script of a 2-hour film. There are no particular complaints, except, perhaps, for the very clumsy presentation of the characters. As I already said, “The Da Vinci Code” in this sense remains for me an exemplary adaptation of Brown’s work. It was interesting to look at the characters there. In Inferno, you want them to quickly reach their destination and disappear out of sight. Especially the hope of British cinema Felicity Jones. Obviously, the actress got into the project on the wave of her sudden popularity and, okay, she didn’t correspond to the bright character written in the book; she hardly fits the definition of “mysterious.” Or "desperate". Or "dangerous". It's probably easier to say that she's out of place in this film.
ABOUT THE FILM
For moviegoers, the adventures of Robert Langdon began with the exciting DA VINCI CODE in 2006 and continued with the release of the film in 2009. In total, the film franchise has grossed more than $1.2 billion worldwide. INFERNO will be the third installment in the franchise, which is based on Dan Brown's best-selling books. The book "Inferno" was recognized as a bestseller in 2013, clearly proving that stories about Langdon's adventures are still interesting and in demand.
The film once again brought together Ron Howard, who recently completed work on a documentary about the Beatles called Eight Days a Week: The Multi-Year Tour, and Tom Hanks, who returned to the role of the quick-witted and resourceful Langdon. Hanks explained why he believes the franchise remains popular to this day: “Dan Brown has found his literary niche and is diligently mastering it. Everyone loves interesting riddles, especially those that are solved one at a time. In Ron's films, this is precisely the structure of almost interactive cinema. And it’s been that way since the very first film THE DA VINCI CODE.”
Brown borrowed the title of the third book from the first part of Dante’s divine creation “Comedy” - translated as “hell”. Dr. Robert Langdon really faces a serious test - he has lost his memory. Overcoming severe migraines and trauma-induced distraction, the hero must figure out what happened to him and why.
"Langdon really feels like he's in hell," Hanks continues. “On the one hand, he is tormented by terrible headaches, on the other, he can’t remember where they came from.”
“There is no doubt that at the beginning of the film Robert Langdon finds himself in his own hell, in his personal Inferno,” confirms the actor’s assumption Dan Brown. “He wakes up in a hospital room, they’re trying to kill him, and he doesn’t have the slightest idea where he got the mysterious artifact. Langdon is forced to look for clues and evidence to understand who wants him dead and why. Ultimately, he realizes that there is much more at stake than his own life - the threat looms over all of humanity."
INFERNO will be the most spectacular film in the franchise. Scenes of Langdon's mysterious dreams will allow viewers to peer into his fevered mind and create a unique atmosphere that none of the previous films could boast of. This is what initially attracted Ron Howard to the franchise. Of the 23 films the director made over three decades, he only ventured into two sequels - ANGELS AND DEMONS and INFERNO. “There are a lot of characters that I love, including Robert Langdon, but I always wanted to try something new. It's much more interesting than repeating yourself. This is the beauty of all the films based on Dan Brown's books - each of them is different from the other. Each adventure is radically different from the previous one. INFERNO is also stylistically different. When I started working on it, I had to reconsider the first two paintings and find something new, more unusual and exciting.”
In the story of INFERNO, Langdon has to look for clues by studying Dante's epic poems. Howard explains, “Langdon's hallucinating brain endures the attacks of a man who is literally obsessed with Dante's work. The professor is forced to look for clues and follow a path that was destined long before him.”
"Dante defined our modern performance about hell,” says producer Brian Grazer. - Observing the fate of sinners, the writer poetically described divine judgment and punishment for crimes. This creation becomes the basis of the mysteries that Langdon solves in the film. Dante described hell; Botticelli depicted hell; but only Robert Langdon, famous professor according to religious symbolism, can prevent the reign of hell on Earth, which could occur if a criminal releases a deadly virus.”
One of the reasons for the incredible popularity of Brown's books is that the author was able to masterfully weave real-life mysteries into a gripping thriller that appeals to modern audiences. While working on the plot of Inferno, Brown drew inspiration from the first part of Dante's Comedy, Inferno. The great Italian poet of the 14th century described in detail the path of the soul to God, and the first step on this path should be the denial of sin. The main character of the poem is Dante himself, who walks through all the circles of hell and sees unrepentant sinners: fortune tellers, whose heads are turned back and do not see the true future; bribe takers with sticky fingers, bathing in boiling tar. Dante reserved the most painful punishment for the greatest, in his opinion, scoundrels in history: the three-headed Satan chews the souls of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, and Cassius and Brutus, who killed Julius Caesar.
Brown said his biggest challenge was painstakingly studying the poem, which has inspired readers and artists for 800 years, and searching for moments that would become key to the investigation of Robert Langdon. As a result of his research, Brown decided to imagine what a modern hell on earth would be like. Two main plot aspects came together: on the one hand, an overpopulated world and humanity, faced with the problem of a lack of basic means of subsistence; on the other hand, a fatal disease that can take half the world's population to the grave. To bring this hell to Earth, Brown used Dante's idea of justice: to punish humanity for overpopulation, exceeding the planet's capacity, the villain releases deadly virus, killing billions of people.
“I found the idea of a cunning criminal who estimates that the world's population has tripled in the last eighty years interesting,” explains the writer. - The evil genius has found his own radical way to cope with the problem of overpopulation. I read Dante in high school and college, but now I had to read his Comedy countless times to figure out how to bridge the epic poem and the modern thriller.”
Tom Hanks reprises his role as the Harvard symbolism professor. Howard claims that this role was literally created for him. “Many people who know Tom in real life claim that he is Robert Langdon,” the director smiles. - They are both incredibly curious, they have a very specific, dry sense of humor. When they find a mystery, they become literally obsessed with it. They still know how to admire the world around them, and their mentality allows them to notice and analyze what seems insignificant to everyone else. Need I add that Tom is one of greatest actors of our time and it’s a pleasure to work with him.”
Hanks happily agreed to turn back time and try on Robert Langdon's shoes again. The actor admitted that there is nothing more pleasant for him than trying to solve a puzzle. “Dan Brown described a character who is very easy to involve in any, even very dangerous game,” Hanks describes the character of his character, “it’s enough to tell him about some secret that would be interesting to study. Watching Ron's films is not only interesting, but also educational."
Dan Brown often sent his hero to different countries, and INFERNO will be no exception. On film set Tom Hanks leads a truly international cast. British actress Felicity Jones played the role of Sienna Brooks; Frenchman Omar Sy played the role of Christophe Bouchard; Indian film star Irrfan Khan will appear as Harry Sims; Danish Sidse Babett Knudsen starred as Dr. Elisabeth Sinsky. American actor Ben Foster played the role of bioengineer Bertrand Zobrist. “The heroes of Brown’s books travel around all countries of the world, and this gives us the right to recruit the most best actors, regardless of their nationality, explains Brian Grazer. - This is very important and necessary for us. After all, in order to believably tell Langdon’s next story, we need to surround him with realistic characters whose type and speech correspond to the country they represent.”
As in The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons, Dan Brown raises very pressing questions in Inferno. Speaking about Brown's books and the films based on them, Hanks notes: "Each work gives the reader or viewer a good basis for thought." INFERNO raises the issue of overpopulation of the Earth. “Are there too many people living on the planet? - continues the actor. - Is there a way to combat overpopulation of the Earth? Will our world become modern version the hell described by Dante?
Like previous films, INFERNO will truly become round the world adventure. “Doing a film like this gives any actor a significant bonus,” says Hanks. - Every time we find ourselves in amazingly beautiful places. While filming INFERNO, we went up to the roof of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice. This fact alone makes the filming truly unforgettable!”
“It's always nice to work when you get access to real locations,” says Howard. - Yes, sometimes our builders build incredible sets, computer scientists develop stunning visual effects, but nothing can compare with the true beauty of a real-life place. The grandeur of these monumental architectural monuments inspires everyone who works on site, both on and off camera.”
Dan Brown described events so that readers saw what was happening through Langdon's eyes. Viewers will also be able to feel like active participants in solving each of the film’s mysteries. The impressions from viewing the film promise to be unforgettable. “INFERNO will be a memorable event for viewers, as it combines drama, action, thriller, and a rich range of all kinds of human emotions,” Grazer is sure. - There was a place in the film for all conceivable elements of a thriller. Through the adventures of characters played by actors from all over the world, you will take an incredible journey around the world. You will see amazing exotic countries while the tireless Langdon, played by Tom Hanks, tries to solve his ingenious puzzles.”
Grazer notes that the film will become an important part of the franchise, but will also be perfectly perceived as an independent work: “Even if you haven’t seen the films THE DA VINCI CODE and ANGELS AND DEMONS for some reason, you will still like the film INFERNO. The events of the film are in no way connected with what happened to Langdon in the previous films. At the same time, it is a worthy addition to a great franchise."
Ben Foster regards the film as an integral part of the series: “I really like these films. You learn something new, the characters are wonderfully described and the appropriate actors are selected. While watching, you can fly around the entire Earth, and the dynamics force you to constantly sit on the edge of your seat. It’s very exciting to work on the set of such an exciting film.”
ABOUT CASTING
Filming in different countries brought together not only an international cast, but also a behind-the-scenes crew. “It’s wonderful when filming a film is so harmonious that literally everyone feels comfortable in it, regardless of nationality, skin color and native language" explains producer Brian Grazer.
The role of Robert Langdon was again played by. The actor claims that in the film INFERNO his character was fully revealed. “Viewers may have become accustomed to the fact that Langdon knows everything there is to know about symbolism, art, history, architecture, politics and cultural differences, Hanks reflects. - But at the beginning of the film INFERNO, he cannot answer even the simplest questions. He doesn't know who he is or where he is. The plot takes my character to Venice, Florence and Istanbul. In theory, he should know these cities inside and out, but that was not the case. Mysteries begin from the first minutes of the film - how did he earn amnesia? How did he end up in the hospital?
The Oscar®-nominated actress plays Dr. Sienna Brooks. The actress says there is much more to her character than meets the eye: “Sienna is an active environmentalist and adamant in her views on life. It’s not hard to guess that she’s hiding something, but it’s hard to immediately understand what exactly. One thing is obvious - it is somehow connected with the tangle of mysteries that Langdon must unravel in order to stop the spread of the deadly virus across the planet.”
Of what interested her in the role, Jones says, "It's a very modern story about paranoia, fear of government conspiracies, and who we can trust."
The actress drew inspiration for her role from the original source. “When I found out I was cast as Sienna, I read Dan Brown's book,” Jones recalls. - I really liked it, I made a lot of effort to break away from reading. Even during filming, I did not part with the book and constantly re-read the passages that described Sienna. I looked for the smallest details that described her past. These moments helped me understand my character better and play the role more convincingly. In a word, the book helped me a lot on the set.”
About the international team that worked on the film, the French actor Omar Sy, who played the role of Christophe Bouchard, says: “The British, American, Italian, Hungarian, French, Indian, Danish and Swiss worked on the set. We were all not at all embarrassed by the fact that we were from different parts of the world. We did one thing, moved towards a common goal, and gave all our strength to this project. It's a very nice feeling and I'm proud to be a part of this film."
The film INFERNO allowed Xi to play a dramatic role in the American action-thriller. This was especially valuable because the actor, popular in France, is practically unknown to American audiences. “I have enough comedic roles, I almost always laugh,” explains Xi. “Ron gave me the chance to play the tough guy in this movie, so I was very lucky.” I've always dreamed of something like this. In fact, it was not difficult - it was enough to wipe the smile off your face!”
He played the difficult role of Bertrand Zobrist, the main villain who planned a terrible terrorist attack. “I play a rather provocative role of a bioengineer who is too concerned about the issues of overpopulation of the Earth,” says the actor. “He intends to create a deadly virus and spread it throughout the planet for the benefit of the Earth itself.”
“Ron started our first meeting with unusual words,” Foster recalls. - He said that he did not want the audience leaving the cinema to have a very definite opinion whether my hero is good or bad. It was very important for him that each of them answer this question. auditorium answered himself."
The actor states that the role of Zobrist was very interesting. Despite the radical methods, the character's thoughts are quite consistent, and his arguments are convincing, if one can say so in relation to such a terrible act that he has planned. “We had a very difficult conversation because it was very important to Ron and the screenwriter David Koepp that all the statistics were accurate,” recalls Foster. - We operated with real numbers and facts so that none of the arguments looked far-fetched or far-fetched. We raise livestock, set up farms, cut down forests, cultivate land - we change the ecosystem to suit our needs. If you look at humanity from a different angle, the perception of the situation can change dramatically, and it becomes truly scary.”
Indian movie star Irrfan Khan played the role of Harry Sims, director of the risk management consortium. “Sims runs a company that initially defends the interests of one of its key clients, Zobrist,” says the actor. - At the same time, the World Health Organization guesses that Zobrist is seeking to develop a virus that can halve the world's population. WHO officials expect to question him to confirm or refute their concerns. My mission is to ensure that Zobrist’s insidious plan does not come true.”
Although the film was shot in a variety of colorful locations, Khan says his character is at his best on a sound stage: Sims' office on the consortium ship. “I really liked the office that the workers built for my character,” he says. - It is furnished with the latest technology and is incredibly cool. It is thought out to the smallest detail and suits my character perfectly. The director of the consortium is on a secret and dangerous mission, and this becomes obvious from one look at the furnishings of his office."
Danish actress Sidse Babett Knudsen played the role of Dr. Elizabeth Sinskey, head of the World Health Organization, who is doing everything to stop the spread of the deadly virus. “She follows the trail of the virus and realizes that she doesn’t have much time left before the infection breaks out and begins to mow down innocent people,” explains the actress. “In addition, some part of her past connects her with Robert Langdon.”
Babette Knudsen is familiar to American moviegoers from her leading role in the Danish television series “Government.” The actress says what attracted her to the role was the mystery of her character: “I really liked the fact that Sinskey was a mystery woman for some time. The viewer has no idea about her motives, but it is obvious that she pursues more than one goal, like the rest of the characters in the film. Play like this controversial personality always pleasant and interesting.”
On the set of INFERNO, Babette Knudsen tried acting in stunt scenes herself for the first time in her career. “I did an underwater scene in a tank myself,” she says. “I had to go underwater with my head, find the bag and put it in the container. This was a rather difficult procedure, since I could not see anything under water. But it was fun - I had no idea I could hold my breath for such a long time.”
The film does not clearly define which characters are good and which are bad, leaving this decision to the judgment of the audience. “This film is different from the previous two in that our heroes are in a race against time, which makes the film incredibly dynamic,” says Xi. - Besides, it seemed to me very interesting question about the expediency of our presence on the planet. I even wonder which side the audience will take.”
ABOUT THE LOCATIONS
In the background of the mystical thriller, viewers will see beautiful historical buildings. More than 70% of the film's scenes were filmed on real locations in Venice, Florence, Budapest and Istanbul.
Venice
Filming in the city began with a scene on St. Mark's Square. Clues lead Langdon and Brooks to Doge's Palace.
St. Mark's Square (or Piazza San Marco) is considered the symbolic heart of Venice and is sometimes called the living room of Europe. On one side the square is decorated with St. Mark's Cathedral, the Campanile rises in the center, and along the perimeter of the square there are elegant alcoves with famous coffee houses. On the waterfront is the Doge's Palace, a building in the Venetian Gothic style. As its name suggests, the palace is the seat of the Venetian doges, the supreme authority former republic Venice. Since 1923, the building has been turned into a working museum.
Florence
A chase through the streets of Florence leads Langdon and Brooks to expansive gardens. Palazzo Pitti, from where they escape through a secret door in the Boboli Gardens. A secret passage leads to Vasari Corridor, which leads the heroes to Uffizi Gallery. The heroes fail to capture the fugitive, and they meet with Sinsky and Bouchard in the courtyard of the palazzo.
Palazzo Pitti is a huge palace dating back to the 15th century AD. Construction was started by the Florentine banker Luca Pitti, the main supporter and close friend of Cosimo de' Medici. Subsequently, the palace became the official residence of the Medici family.
Behind the palazzo are flowering Boboli Gardens. Initially, the gardens were laid out at the direction of Eleanor of Toledo, wife of Grand Duke Cosimo I, and are considered the most striking example of landscape gardening art of the 16th century, inspiring many European builders. The gardens represent unique museum open-air with antique statues, Renaissance sculptures, grottoes and large fountains.
The bridge became a memorable Florentine building Ponte Vecchio(the so-called Old Bridge). It is unique in that along its edges there are many shops that act as kind of balancers. Over the bridge, the Vasari Corridor was built at one time, connecting the Palazzo Pitti with the Uffizi Gallery, one of the greatest architectural monuments in Europe. The first bridge on this site was built during the ancient Roman era. He was the only one in the city who survived all the bombings during the Second World War.
Following the clues they find, Langdon and Brooks find themselves in the mesmerizing Hall of the Five Hundred in Palazzo Vecchio.
Since 1299, the Palazzo Vecchio was a government building in which the priors met, and was called the New Palace. Currently, most of the Palazzo has been converted into a museum, although symbols of local authorities can still be seen on the facade. Since 1872, this building has housed the City Hall of Florence and the meeting place of the City Council. The INFERNO film crew worked at the Palazzo Vecchio for four days, following Langdon's investigation. In particular, permission was obtained to film in the Hall of the Five Hundred, in the Hall of Mappamondo, where the ancient map of the world is located, and in the courtyard.
After this, Langdon and Brooks follow the path that Zobrist left them, in Florence Baptistery, also known as the Baptistery of San Giovanni.
The Baptistery is located in Piazza del Duomo and is not only one of the oldest buildings in the city (construction began in 1059), but also one of the most significant religious buildings in all of Florence. The structure is famous for its bronze doors containing 28 panels with bas-reliefs on religious themes. Michelangelo Buonarroti called these doors the “Gates of Heaven.” Dante and many other significant figures of the Renaissance were baptized in this baptistery, as well as all Florentine Catholics until the end of the 19th century.
The octagonal building is tiled with white and green marble. The inside of the dome is covered with mosaic images of the angelic hierarchy, scenes from Genesis and other religious scenes. The center of the mosaic is decorated with the scene of the Last Judgment.
Budapest
The film crew worked in Budapest, where some outdoor and studio scenes were filmed. Considering the specific architecture, it is not difficult to find locations in the country that can be passed off as almost any European country.
For example, the scene in which Langdon and Brooks discover the disappearance of Dante's death mask in the Palazzo Vecchio was actually filmed in Ethnographic Museum in Budapest. The scene where Langdon and Brooks are shown the CCTV video was also filmed there.
The Budapest Museum is considered one of the largest and most important ethnography museums in Europe. The museum collection includes almost 200 thousand exhibits, including artwork, ancient scrolls, recordings of national music, photographs, clothing, accessories and jewelry from different eras. The museum is dedicated to the culture of not only the Hungarian people, but also other European and non-European peoples from primitive society to the present day.
Scenes in which Langdon and Brooks try to escape from pursuit in the medieval chapel of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice were actually filmed in the basement of the famous Museum of Kiscelli in Budapest.
The Kištselli Museum is located in a picturesque corner of Obuda and is a baroque monastery and church. For some time, barracks and then a hospital were located within the walls of Kishtselli. In 1910, the castle, on the territory of which the museum is located, was bought by the Viennese collector and industrialist Max Schmidt, who turned the purchase into a luxurious mansion. In his will, Schmidt gave this castle to the residents of Óbuda with only one condition - that it be turned into a public museum and park. Despite brutal bombing during World War II, the building survived and is now a museum and art gallery.
The horrific scenes, drawn from Langdon's fevered consciousness, were filmed on a picturesque street adjacent to Hungarian State Opera House.
The Hungarian State Opera was designed and built by Miklos Ibl, one of the leading Hungarian architects of the 19th century, and first opened its doors to the public in 1884.
The building is built in the neo-Renaissance style with some Baroque elements; the ornaments include frescoes and sculptures depicting famous figures of Hungarian art. In terms of its beauty and acoustic properties, Budapest Opera theatre considered one of the best in the world.
Hungarian National Museum was passed off as Harvard University in the scenes when Langdon tries to regain his memory.
The Hungarian National Museum is the oldest public museum in Hungary. Modern building The museum was built between 1837 and 1847 and is the brightest representative of the neoclassical architectural style. The museum is dedicated to the history and art of Hungary and is a unique symbol of the national pride of the Hungarians.
Istanbul
A small part of the film crew had a chance to work in the Turkish city of Istanbul, full of secrets and mysteries. Over the course of one weekend, the scene in which Langdon, Sinskey and Sims meet in Hagia Sophia.
The cathedral was once a working patriarchal Orthodox Cathedral, then a mosque, and was later turned into a museum. The first cathedral was built on the Augusteon market square in 324 - 337 under the Byzantine emperor Constantine I, but burned down in 404 during a popular uprising. The building was restored several times and again disappeared in the fire. In the form in which it can be seen now, the cathedral was founded by the will of the Roman Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century AD. This is the only building in the world that served three religions: paganism, Orthodoxy and Islam.
At the base of the building were three giant tanks. According to historians, the tanks were so large that they could accommodate a ship. These tanks were recreated by artists from the INFERNO film crew for the climactic scene of the film in the pavilion of one of the studios in Budapest.
ABOUT THE DESIGN
Although many of the Florentine scenes were filmed in Florence itself, some were filmed in Budapest. Filmmakers often resort to this trick - they shoot scenes in a completely different city, sometimes even in another country, camouflaging them as those described in the script. This task fell to production designer Peter Wenham.
Wenham began his work with careful planning for the transformation of one city into another. There were some obvious things, such as changing signs and license plates from Hungarian to Italian, and some that were not so obvious. “It was very important for us to change the street lighting,” says the production designer. - In Florence, the streets are illuminated by lanterns, which are mounted on the walls of houses on metal holders, and small lampshades predominate. In addition, we installed shutters on the walls, which are so common in Florence. Little things like that were very important to us."
Another illusion of Wenham was the transformation of the Budapest ethnographic museum into the interior of the Palazzo Vecchio, in which Dante's death mask was kept. Filming on a real location was impossible. Despite this, Wenham believes that filming in Budapest only benefited the film. “In the Palazzo Vecchio, the real mask is kept in a wooden case against a background of red silk,” says Wenham.
In Italy, filmmakers' hands would be tied for obvious reasons. The Budapest Museum, on the contrary, provided almost complete freedom of action. “The very space of the museum seemed to be created for us - wide corridors, intricate passages from one hall to another,” recalls the artist. The only thing that did not fit into the general concept was the neoclassical architecture of the city. “In Budapest you can find almost every architectural style except one - Italian,” Wenam smiles. To complete the transformation of the Budapest museum into an Italian one, the production designer and his team had to create a unique costume for the entire building. “We placed figures on the marble that were pre-made from foam, foil and latex,” says the production designer. “We secured and painted them, and after filming was completed, we removed and washed the attachment points so that not a trace remained. It’s like we’ve given the building a whole new removable façade.”
Budapest also successfully replaced Venice - during the filming of the scene in the dungeons under St. Mark's Cathedral. “Given the dynamics of the scene, we had to shoot either on a soundstage or in locations that were not as valuable as the Basilica itself,” he explains. - We filmed the scene on the balcony in Venice. When the heroes find themselves inside, the work of the film crew was transferred to Budapest. Especially for this, we built an exact copy of the location in the pavilion. In addition, in Budapest we found a museum, some of the premises of which suited us perfectly. We needed dusty rooms that literally smelled like antiquity. We laid new floors, applying exactly the same pattern as in the real dungeons under St. Mark's Cathedral. We then installed fences and built an altar on which we placed various religious artifacts.”
Wenham's team also created underground cisterns under the St. Sophia Cathedral. In order to be able to film, there was more water on the set than in the actual tanks. Additionally, Wenham estimated that his set was only 1/5 of the actual prototype. The set was covered with blue chromakey, and subsequently visual effects specialists completed the missing elements of the scenery on computers.
Among other things, Wenham participated in the design of Hell Street. The scene describes Dante's Hell as Langdon imagines it. “We created a very unusual set,” recalls the production designer. - We find ourselves neither in Europe nor in America. We wanted the location to look like an ordinary street with ordinary people, and you can only notice something strange if you look closely. All cars are black. The signs are painted to match the color of the houses. The road workers, swarming in the middle of the street, use not crowbars, but pikes, as in Botticelli's map of hell. We fit subtle moments into a seemingly familiar landscape, which becomes increasingly strange as Langdon’s consciousness plunges into a hallucination.”
- Zobrist's deadly virus called "" was "developed" by props. It consisted of 40% water, 30% vegetable oil and 30% from ketchup.
- Ron Howard enlisted the help of philosopher and futurist Jason Silver to create a realistic video, which Zobrist posted on YouTube. In it, the terrorist explains why the problem of overpopulation could lead to the extinction of all humanity.
- Prop masters produced a total of 15 death masks Dante, so as not to be empty-handed in an unforeseen event.
- While working in Florence, the film crew made a donation to the Palazzo Vecchio to restore the hall with Dante's mask.
- In one scene, Vayentha falls from the ceiling of the Hall of the Five Hundred. To protect the antique floor, the special effects team prepared a fake pool of blood made from red silicone.
- The mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, played a cameo role as one of the officials.
- The suits and shoes for Langdon and Brooks were made by Italian designer Salvatore Ferragamo.
- While in Florence, Ron Howard was honored to receive the Keys to the City from the mayor. In ancient times, this tradition was common in European cities and expressed trust and respect to those travelers who sought to enter the city in peace. Today the tradition has been preserved, but is purely formal.
- In one scene, Lagdon and Brooks are observed by a drone hovering over the Boboli Gardens. Film crew I had to launch two quadcopters at once - one was in the frame, and the other was filming the scene.
- Ana Ularu, who played the role of Vaienta, had never ridden a motorcycle before... The actress liked it so much that she plans to get a license and buy her own bike.
- To film Langdon's vision scenes, the special effects team purchased 9,000 liters of sugar-based fake blood.
Campanile - free-standing bell tower
