IN THE HAND OF DANTE
(director/writer: Julian Schnabel; screenwriters: Louise Kugelberg, novel by Nick Tosches; cinematographer: Roman Vasyanov; editors: Maqrco Spoletini, Louise Kugelberg; music: Benjamin Clementine; cast: Oscar Isaac (Dante Alighieri/Nick Tosches), Gal Gadot (Gemma Dinota/Giulietta Tosches), John Malkovich (Joe Black), Gerard Butler (Louie/Pope Bonifacio VIII), Al Pacino (Uncle Carmine), Jason Momoa (Rosario), Louis Cancelmi (Lefty/Guido Da Polenta), Franco Nero (Don Lecco), Martin Scorsese (Isaiah), Sabrina Impacciatore (Dr. Susanna Pulice), Benjamin Clementine (Mephistopheles); Runtime: 153; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Gabriele Bebe Moratti, Jon Kilik, Robert F. MacLean, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Olmo Schnabel, Viton Schnabel; DreamCrew; 2025-UK/USA/Italy/Chile)
“At least it wasn’t dull.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The absurd crime drama/art film is filled with too many ideas that don’t work and an obtuse story that defies comprehension. It’s based on the 2002 novel by the late hipster NYC writer Nick Tosches, a poet and journalist. The unconventional metaphorical film, split into two different timelines, from the 14th and 21st centuries, is directed and written by the painter/filmmaker Julian Schnabel (“At Eternity’s Gate”/”The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”) and is co-written by Louise Kugelberg. The 21st century is shot in monochrome, while the 14th century is in color. Its visuals are terrific, which is the best thing about this delirious mind-fuck film.
“In the Hand of Dante” transports to the screen from a metafictional conceit of the book that the modern-day academic journalist Nick Tosches (Oscar Isaac) learns from the mafia that a mysterious group of priests possess the original 14th century handwritten manuscript of Dante’s poem “The Divine Comedy,” in the Vatican cellar, which no one knew really existed. The NYC mob enforcer Louie (Gerald Butler), a sociopath killing machine, is ordered by the crooked art collector mob boss Joe Black (John Malkovich) to go to Italy and steal the valuable manuscript with the help of the author Tosches, whom the boss recruits to authenticate if it’s real.
Isaac has a dual role of playing a fictional version of Nick Tosches and as Dante Alighieri in the 14th century. As Dante he’s locked into a loveless marriage and has a mistress he loves. The Israeli Gal Gadot listlessly plays both the lovers of Dante and Tosches, Jason Momoa comes by towards the end dressed in a white suit as the new crime boss in NYC seeking the manuscript. Al Pacino plays Nick’s mobster uncle when he was a kid in New Jersey and needed some sound advice after killing a school bully. Marty Scorsese has a rich small part playing Isaiah, the Catholic Dante‘ Jewish spiritual adviser.
The bizarre film is overlong and incoherent. It’s a pretentious and campy arthouse film that doesn’t translate well into poetry or as a heist film, but at least it wasn’t dull.
It played at the Venice Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 12/6/2025 GRADE: C-
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