“Winged vulture leads the way with brightest
light in darkest day.”
“Underneath the heaven’s reign
what is lost
shall be regained.”
“Halfway twixt the darkest gate
and this tablet laid
atop a paird fate.”
As Above So Below is a 2014 American film directed by John Erick Dowdle. The film centers around Scarlet, an accomplished archeologist professor and alchemy scholar, who is continuing her father’s hunt for Philosopher’s Stone. After a series of clues, she understands that her quest needs to take her deep inside the catacombs of Paris. Thus, she and an ad-hoc crew enter the secret tunnels of the City of Lights and start exploring some corridors which were completely off-limits. It is interesting that the municipality of Paris actually allowed for filming to take place in the real catacombs of the French capital.
As the team of adventurers dives deep in the unknown, little by little we get to understand that there is more than strange architecture luring in the underground. The characters begin to see that the tunnels hide not just physical mysteries, but that they also act as a mirror of their sins. Thus, it is not long before the mental and physical pressure is felt and the characters enter into a type of personal hell. The characters decide that they need to continue their quest, without actually knowing how they would escape or whether they would make it, but understanding that “The Only Way Up is Down”.
The film features many references to mystical practices and to the occult and the characters share many similarities with Dante’s Inferno. In both works, the characters enter hell, traverse its nine circles and see sinners punished according to their sins. In some instances, the dialogues mirror lines from Dante’s guide Virgil and, in the end the characters escape through a portal where gravity is reversed – the final scenes being extremely fascinating.
In Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, we find out about the Nine Circles of Hell, known as Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud and Treachery. In As Above So Below, there are nine floors which correspond to these levels. In the first floor, the characters find La Taupe, who is in a state of limbo and wonders forever in the dark. On the second floor, Lust, a deafening sound of a vortex is heard, as described in Dante’s book. On the fourth floor, a treasure that cannot be obtained is found and on the seventh floor the characters face extreme deadly violence. On the ninth floor, Treachery, the characters see Satan on a throne.
Of course, the most important part of the film is the fact that the Philosopher’s Stone is found within the spirit of Scarlet, which she can obtain only after going through hell and back and after discovering it in herself. This is why, when she goes back to the place she had found the original stone, she only looks at herself in the mirror and goes back. The real Philosopher’s Stone is something that can be found within oneself. Its power lies in the belief of the stone and the belief in oneself and the faith in divinity. This story and concept have had many variants, such as Odin’s Discovery of the Runes.
The reception of the film was not overall an extremely positive one, which is both surprising and not. On the one hand, it is expected that such a complex film not to be understood, especially by audiences who see it as a cheap Blairwitch Project, but on the other hand, it would have been great to have more people grasp the deeper concepts presented in the movie, as it is a film with a lot to say.