Mark Phillips' Pages: Workbook: 6/14/05: As a vision of Hell the film is in conflict with the mundanity it chooses to emphasize.

William H. Johnson, "Burned Out" (ca. 1943) — William H. Johnson, *Burned Out* (ca. 1943)

June 14, 2005:

As a vision of Hell the film is in conflict with the mundanity it chooses to emphasize. Evil without power is mundane. But Hell, traditionally, is Evil empowered. Visually the grotesques are superb. Yet in the end only Ellen Barkin's fine moment brings Dante into focus.