"The Ninth Gate" (1999)

[Abishai100]

This finely-tuned and somewhat odd Roman Polanski film starring the quirky Johnny Depp colorfully presents the divination paranoia story of an ethically questionable rare book rater who is employed by a strange pundit to recover valuable copies of an enigmatic book (supposedly written by the Devil himself) which sends him on a bizarre quest for self-evaluation.

The film alludes to an actual book studied and cherished by practitioners of the occult, and the story in the film references modern age fascination with social etiquette inquisition and ornamentation, a fascination which ironically perhaps reveals the demand for Hollywood (USA) movies such as "Celebrity" (1998).

If you are a fan of the spiritually unusual, then you will like Roman Polanski's controversial but wispy "The Ninth Gate" (1999).