Dante 01

Marc Caro’s (co-director of ‘Delicatessen’ and ‘The City of Lost Children’) ‘Dante 01’ is a brooding, atmospheric thriller, with a unique vision worthy of other masterworks of Sci-Fi, such as Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’.

Saint-Georges (a chillingly, pitch-perfect Lambert Wilson) is the newest criminal to be dumped in Dante 01: doubling as both security prison ship and psychiatric research unit, reserved for only the most evil of criminals. Inmates are spared from death solely for the purpose of serving as medical guinea pigs for a new DNA altering serum.

George is thrust in with his fellow felons and instantly arouses suspicion because of his inability to talk. His muteness though is soon forgotten, not least because of his apparent, miraculous powers to heal his other inmates. When the ship’s navigational controls are hacked into by a crazed inmate, the scientists and guards are forced to take extreme measures.

Reminiscent of Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, not just visually but in terms of financing, Dante 01 also had it’s budget slashed in half (from 8 to 4 million euros which forcing Caro to change the ending). Yet like Aronofsky, Caro still manages to create a gloriously rich and believable aesthetic for his inmates, constructing a claustrophobic character piece, designed to invoke engaging theological and religious thought at every turn.