This film has two versions, narrated in English and recited in Italian. The Italian version is recited in primitive Italian and Dante Alighieri's own words as he wrote the poem.
Dante gets lost in a dark wood, his way is blocked and he is threatened by three beasts: a lion, a lynx and a she-wolf. Beatrice descends from Heaven into Limbo to ask the poet Virgil to go to Dante's rescue and guide him through Inferno and Purgatorio. The film depicts a chronological descent to the nine circles of hell by Dante and Virgil through the exit into Purgatorio.