DANTE'S INFERNO

This morning I heard from my brilliant source at http://www.theearthlyparadise.com/ that the DVD of the BBC's Ken Russell film DANTE'S INFERNO is going to be available at last as part of a box set entitled 'Ken Russell at the BBC'.  This film is not to be confused with Dante Alighieri's Inferno, but the comparison was drawn by Russell because Rossetti was obsessed by his namesake and even translated his own version of Alighieri's masterpiece. 

The website quotes a price and date for the US, but I will find out what Amazon has to say and try and add it to my Amazon recommended list - at the moment you can only sign up for when it becomes available and no date or price is quoted.  This film is about Dante Gabriel Rossetti's life and his own personal hell.  The brooding and vulnerable Oliver Reed plays Rossetti in the film which was made before Russell became infamous and is reputed to be the perfect combination of the talents of Russell and Reed.

This painting of Rossetti was by Holman Hunt and certainly does bare some resemblance to the young Oliver Reed.