© Zani-Casadio
Music and cinema
Inferno 2021
a movie by Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo Padovan and Giuseppe de Liguoro (1911)
music and sound design Edison Studio
visuals Salvatore Insana
with Mauro Cardi, Luigi Ceccarelli
Fabio Cifariello Ciardi, Alessandro Cipriani live electronics
restored version by Cineteca di Bologna
Hordes of bat-like demons wielding sharp pitchforks; legions of Heaven’s pure souls floating in the sky; Paolo and Francesca gliding down from on high and then suspended in mid-air; Bertrand de Born holding up his severed head, and a gigantic soul-devouring Lucifer. In 1911, two pioneering directors adapted Dante and Virgil’s journey into the first full-length feature film in the history of Italian cinema, and they certainly spared no expense on special effects. Inspired by the famous engravings by Gustave Doré, the film was an unprecedented colossal: 3 years to make, a cast of 150, 100 sets and a huge box office success in Europe and the US. Edison Studio have now put their skills, expertise and live electronics technology at the service of a “perfect” soundtrack for the most visionary of Italian silent films.
