A man who has no knowledge of who he is suddenly finds
himself in a wooded area. Confused and scared, he panics. He runs but doesn't know where
he's going to. He stumbles onto another man who tells him that he is to be his guide. No
other answers are forthcoming. The man has no choice but to follow the guide.
They enter the realm of Hell. This is not limited to a
Christian Hell, it is the Hell that has existed since man's inception of it. Like the work
of Dante and Milton, it harkens to a Hell to a mythological age. It is not necessarily the
antithesis of the Kingdom of Heaven but rather the perceived notion of what Hell is.
As the two descend deeper into the bowels of Hell, the guide
explains what this "hell" is and differentiates upon the different Hells of
religion, fable, myth, legend, etc. It is all of these, yet none of these. The guide
reveals little, the man doesn't know what questions to ask. All he knows is that he is
embarking on a journey with a terrible trepidation of what awaits him at the finale.
The first level of Hell they come to is the Opportunists.
They were not for good nor evil, but only of themselves, thus they are not really in the
pits of hell, just on the outskirts. The opportunists spend eternity in a futile chase of
a banner which holds no meaning. Next, they must cross the River Acheron, guarded by the
boatman, Charon who guides the boat made of deadmen's fingernails into Hell proper.
As they enter the domain of Hell, the traveler is shocked. He
sees a beautiful setting, hardly what he expected. Here is Limbo, where those who never
had a chance to believe in the God (s) that defined Hell for they were born to early. A
clue is dropped as one of the members (who include Plato, Aristotle, Virgil, Homer, etc.)
ask the guide if he is to come back again.
The journey continues. The gluttons who feast ravishingly
forever, the hoarders and wasters who push a giant boulder endlessly in circles, the cruel
dichotomy of the Flying Dutchman and the Ancient Mariner, the tragedy of Prometheus, and
others until it is time to enter the very city of Hell itself, Dis.
The traveler pleads for understanding but the guide asks for
only patience. The journey itself is not the key but the end of the journey is. Of course,
the traveler is confused but he has no choice but to continue.
Within the city of Dis, they come to many
sinners such as the industrialists. The structure of Hell defies logic. From steaming
towers to desert like plains stretching to the horizons, each level of hell seems endless
and unrelated to any previous levels. Whether it is the endless circles of those who
abused themselves or the woods of the suicides, each fate has its own torment. The levels
of hell go from the common sinners such as thieves and envious to more overtly religious
ones such as fortune tellers and blasphemers. The traveler is surprised at the size of
Hell and stunningly, the guide informs him that these are but a few of the endless levels
of Hell. When the traveler asks the guide how much more Hell could possibly hold, the
guide simply responds, "enough, it can always hold enough."
As they descend to the final gates of Hell, the guide informs
the traveler that he can not open the gates of Hell, the traveler must do it. The guide
explains because he has already died and is not permitted to transcend the gates with his
own force. Through the endless spirals of religious choices and mankind's myths, the two
finally approach the very center of hell itself...the very core where Satan resides.
Upon entering the final domain, we see Satan captured exactly
as Dante illustrated him. A giant being flapping his great wings to send an icy chill
through out the fiery pit of Hell. This is the Dante version of the Devil.
Suddenly, the giant figure of the devil begins to crumble and
the whole area is cast in darkness. The guide has mysteriously disappeared and the
traveler is left alone.
Out of the darkness, the devil appears. He is in a constantly
changing form as he adopts the various guises he has been assigned through out the ages.
The devil explains that the guide had to disappear because the guide's imagination had
given the devil a particular look and his thoughts could go no further.
The devil gives his side. Dialogue about free choice, could
the devil ever truly have a free choice of an omnipotent god? What is evil? The devil
becomes almost a sympathetic character who has been forced to serve as mankind's focal
point of evil and darkness. The devil then becomes angelic and explains that he was once
the Prince of Light and his true appearance has not changed.
Whereas the guide's narration through out the series has been
to strengthen the belief in a god, the devil explains that if God is denied, then there
would be no need for the devil. That would mean, of course, that he would no longer exist.
As the devil disappears, he informs the traveler that he would welcome that thought.
The traveler suddenly finds himself out in the open and finds
the guide waiting for him. The guide tells him that this part of the journey is ended and
now the traveler is to go to his real destination. The guide reveals his true name and we
discover that it is Dante himself. That's why there is so much similarity to Dante's
Inferno and this Hell. This also drives home the point that what the traveler has just
seen is Dante's version so whether there is a true Hell is not clarified. As the guide
places the traveler in the River Lethe (the river of forgetfulness), the sun's strong
light blinds the traveler.
Closing scene is of a powerful light and as we pull away, we
see a doctor holding up a baby that was just born.
Now the true journey begins...
