Lives run in parallel in Julian Schnabel’s ode to art and the ineffability of creativity as Oscar Isaac takes on the dual roles of 14th Century poet Dante Alighieri, who is agonizing over his Divine Comedy, and 21st century author Nick Tosches, who is tasked by a mafia don to steal a handwritten manuscript of the poet’s masterpiece.


In the 21st century, writer Nick Tosches is hired by a Mafia don to confirm the authenticity of — and then steal — a priceless manuscript believed to be Dante Alighieri's original “The Divine Comedy,” written in his own hand. In the 14th century, the great poet agonizes over his epic masterpiece. Elegantly alternating between Nick's modern-day New York and Dante's renaissance world in parallel, In the Hand of Dante reveals how greed, faith, desire, and the hunger for meaning and beauty repeat themselves across time as Nick's search for the manuscript becomes a search for his own identity as author and poet.

Visually stunning and uniquely structured, In the Hand of Dante marks the return of renowned auteur Julian Schnabel (Basquiat, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly). Part muscular crime movie, part spiritual odyssey, part tragicomedy, the film turns a thriller about a stolen book into a meditation on immortality and the transcendental power of art and love. Oscar Isaac, in a wonderful dual performance as both Tosches and Dante, anchors an extraordinary ensemble that includes Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Gerard Butler, Al Pacino, John Malkovich and Martin Scorsese.—Jason Gutierrez

After the Premiere: A Q&A with Julian Schnabel, Oscar Isaac, Al Pacino, Louis Cancelmi, Sabrina Impacciatore, and Ibrahim Elouahabi, moderated by Paul Dano.