Comparison between Dante's Inferno and the film, Beyond Dreams The opening scene of the film alludes to Dante's life and the his brief courtship with Beatrice. Chris (Robin Williams) begins, "When I was young, I met this beautiful girl on a lake," just as Dante had met Beatrice when he was young. This lake is located right on the border between Switzerland and Italy, Dante's birthplace. Anna, Chris' love, finds him sitting on a hill overlooking that lake, and that scene will become the focus of the rest of the film. They believe they are soul mates and, unlike Dante and Beatrice, Chris and Anna get married and have two children. Set in modern times, a series of deadly tragedies unlocks a series of immortal adventures. As teenagers, the children die in a car accident and Chris dies four years later. Anna is grief-stricken for the rest of her life because she feels the death was her fault. As soon as Chris dies, an image begins to explain to Chris what his new situation is. Chris doesn't believe he's dead. Chris recognizes this image as Albert, a doctor he studied with during Med. school. As a guiding light on earth, she chose Albert to help after death. Albert (Cuba Gooding Jr.) explains to him that every time Chris stays on Earth trying to be close to Anna, he hurts her even more. Throughout the film, flashbacks to their time on earth occur frequently, and while Chris has just died, a painting made by his wife is shown. This painting seems to me like two figures standing in front of the Dark Woods of Error. Chris enters his private paradise, which Albert explains is a dream conjured from the deceased's imagination. In this case it is the painting that Anna drew of the place where they met in Italy. ... middle of paper ... in eternal danger to himself. Freud stays outside (as far as human reason can go), and Chris comes in and sees Anna (who is not a tree even though she commits suicide). He finally makes himself known to Anna, and of course their love is stronger than anything (blah, blah, blah), and they end up in paradise - a paradise - if you will - and live happily ever after with their children and their their Dalmatian. The Dalmatian seems to be an allusion to the leopard, a symbol of the fraudulent and the mischievous, but in the film he is a good dog. Additionally, Anna's red scarf often flies into the sky in a whirlwind. It's red, so it could symbolize lovers like Paolo and Francesca, but in a positive sense, or it could allude to the banner chased by opportunists, but I doubt it. It symbolizes Chris' love and inability to grab Anna while she was still alive, I think.