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Rating: The Devil: a concept not very "secular" but incredibly fascinating, at least for yours truly.
And not by chance, I believe that this The Ninth Gate is probably one of the best films on this subject.
A Thriller with Horror undertones that develops in a fairly linear manner, but not too much, and featuring none other than Johnny Depp, who has accustomed us to eccentric and flamboyant roles. The film represents one of Roman Polanski's best works, who had already tackled the subject in the masterpiece Rosemary’s Baby at the end of the 1960s (if I'm not mistaken), but this time, he plays it differently, focusing on the captivating atmospheres of various European capitals, where the entire film unfolds.
A sect with members all around the globe, and indeed, worshippers of Lucifer, possesses the key to invoking Satan in person: it will be one of them, Boris Balkan, to hire Mr. Corso (Johnny Depp), to evaluate the authenticity of a book that, according to many, written by the Devil himself, could open the door to the unknown and summon the Prince of Darkness, granting boundless powers to the adept who will use it for himself.
Corso, a non-believer strongly attached to money, gets tangled in a series of strange events, initially not fully understanding "the plan" in which he himself is involved, then coming to comprehend more and more the price to pay to reach Divinity, the promise of the Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows, through intrigues, false trails, murders, and a healthy dose of (self)irony.
As a non-cinema expert, I can say that the direction and set design are of excellent craftsmanship, the film, despite being "slow" and far from the clichés of a, let's say, Micheal Bay, works without too many hitches and the sometimes present "banality" of the plot is hidden by a great ability to engage the viewer who desperately wants to understand how the whole story will end.
Boris Balkan, one of the "baddies" of the moment, is charismatic and arrogant like all the character actors scattered throughout the film, who work splendidly to make the plot's development very peculiar: most notably, the sly and hypnotic character who "chases" Corso from all over the globe, also helping him in rather violent armed clashes.
The acting performances are superb, at least for yours truly, as are the music, perfectly adapted to the dense content of the film, which nevertheless flows quickly despite the complex and heavy subject matter.
Surely not a masterpiece like the old Rosemary's Baby, but a film of fine craftsmanship, which, amid occult quotes and the beauty of an esoteric Europe's landscapes, conquers without much effort and above all without boring, an important detail considering that the film relies more on hiding than on showing.
Stay away if you're looking for explosions, gunfights, monsters, and gore in abundance, for that, there's something else entirely: and above all, does the Devil show up at the end?
I can only say: silentium est aureum.
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