The Ninth Gate Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Every book has a life of its own...
Leave the unknown alone
The only thing more terrifying than searching for the Devil... is finding him.
Basada en la novela de Arturo Pérez Reverte: El Club Dumas.
The sleazy book dealer Corso (Depp) is hired by the obscure obsessive Balkan to find the only other two copies of his rare book in existence. The book is called 'The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows', and Balkan wants to authenticate his copy of this 17th century occult work, said to have been written by the devil. And thus begins an almost 'Angel heart'ish (remember that one with Rourke and De Niro) escapade, filled with physical and supernatural catalysts and obstacles
| Johnny Depp | Dean Corso |
| Frank Langella | Boris Balkan |
| Lena Olin | Liana Telfer |
| Emmanuelle Seigner | The Girl |
| Barbara Jefford | Baroness Kessler |
| Jack Taylor | Victor Fargas |
| José López Rodero | Pablo & Pedro Ceniza/1st & 2nd Workmen |
| Tony Amoni | Liana's Bodyguard |
| James Russo | Bernie |
| Willy Holt | Andrew Telfer |
| Allen Garfield | Witkin |
| Jacques Dacqmine | Old Man |
| Joe Sheridan | Old Man's Son |
| Rebecca Pauly | Daughter-In-Law |
| Catherine Benguigui | Concierge |
| Roman Polanski |
6.50 out of 10 (34884 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Review for The Ninth Gate
posted on 08 Aug 2009The Ninth Gate promises to be a really good film.That,s only if you,ve seen the trailer.The movie had nothing that the trailer promised.The film dragged on and on,Johnny Depp,s talent was wasted and the film was boring.I should have had my head checked for paying 8 dollars to see this crap.Truly,in my opinion,the worst film ever made.
Jungian Approach
posted on 04 Aug 2009I watched the film last night and strangely enough, I had exactly the same impression as someone else here (the one who took the girl as Lilith) when watching the sex scene in front of the burning building. I guess this theory may be supported by a few other clues too; for example we know that Lilith could run so fast, maybe that's why the girl can manage to be almost everywhere throughout the film, AND when she asks Corso about the meaning of his name and he explains it means "run" and she says, "you don't look like a runner to me" again the same myth is referred to: Adam could never run as fast as Lilith. The final sex scene again provokes the same images of Lilith' myth: During having sex with Lilith in a cave, Adam loses consciousness due to the extreme ecstasy he feels. This is most evident in the film if you look closely to the facial expressions of Corso lying down on the ground. He too is on the verge of losing consciousness. Plus, just like Lilith, the girl seems to be made of fire (her glowing eyes, her ability to fly) and this is again reinforced through the sex scene in front of the burning building... On the whole, I guess the easiest way to interpret the film is to take it as it is: Corso is a man, he is vulnerable, he has no extraordinary feature. He is CAPABLE of the evil, though. Plus, he doesn't seem to believe in anything but himself. The girl, on the other hand, seems to be supernatural (maybe that's why she has no proper name). I tend to think that she is somehow relevant to the evil side, because I guess the plot would make sense in no other way. One important thing you shouldn't forget is that the Devil is very wise, and at the same time beautiful. I guess in western culture Devil is assumed as masculine. That may seem obvious, but don't forget in many other cultures Devil is assumed as a feminine force. Actually, Devil is the biggest projection of the unknown in almost all cultures… Being a student of English literature myself, I noticed that this film easily yields itself to some sort of Jungian Critical Approach: The whole film is a Quest for Corso to be Initiated. The girl is some sort of Guru anyway. She can even be taken as Corso's Anima (Jungian sense) and Corso becomes fully united with her through the symbolic intercourse in front of the fire. That's why he can finally possess the ninth key and passes through the gate, i. e. the light. He gets united with himself at the end and enters the realm of the Unknown. I am not to claim if this is just what this film means. This is just a psycho-literary way to look at it, and a film (or a novel) is considered "good" only when it yields itself to many logical interpretations. I guess this film does so and thus does worth watching.
boring
posted on 27 Jul 2009Well, though this movie did have good acting and Pacing it was quite boring.Unlike the last review left in this place that mentioned plot twists, I can not say as there were any. There was no feeling of tension that a thriller should convey. This movie was more like a Drama, a well paced but boring drama.I watched the film a second time to see if there was perhaps something I missed that was more subtle, but I couldn't see anything more.Though the acting was well done, the plot and intrigue were stale.This is a movie that when finished you will sit wondering why you watched it, no message was really conveyed, other than perhaps, Seek and Ye shall find.
Can Roman Polanski make a bad film?
posted on 21 Jul 2009This movie isn't close to the brilliance of Polanski's earlier horror/thrillers, yet it still delivers. It has solid atmosphere, interesting characters, and an intriguing plot. The first hour keeps you very interested, than it slows down for an hour before the fascinating ending scenes. Though most critics disapproved of the final shot where the screen fades to white, I found it a great way to end the film. We didn't have to see exactly where Johnny Depp's Character was going to and we didn't have to find out the truth behind the mysterious lady. We can imagine where he's going and who the lady is (in my opinion she's sent from Hell). I love when films end like that and make you really think about what happens next.
disappointing ending to an otherwise engaging movie.
posted on 11 Jul 2009I thought the movie kept me interested in the story. It laid out the plot in a fairly clear direction. You knew what the purpose of the characters were. However, the ending left me with my jaw hanging. I was very disappointed that they ended the movie where they did. It was a let-down. Otherwise the movie was suspenseful, creepy at times, and thought-provoking.
Big Disappointment
posted on 29 Jun 2009Roman Polanski's latest film is major disappointment. It has all the ingredients of a morbid and suspenseful thriller but it never reaches the lofty goals it aspires to. The first half of the film sets up some intriguing situations involving a search for some Satanic books. But after that the film begins to meander aimlessly and eventually takes a nosedive and climaxes with a thud. Johnny Depp heads the competent cast and Polanski still manages to create a few inspired directorial moments but these few positives can't save this basically lame movie. The best part of the film is the opening credit as the camera swoops through nine different doors. This is no Rosemary's Baby.
Although I could not understand many things I recommend watching this movie
posted on 03 Jun 2009I watched this movie a few days ago but I postponed my comment hoping that I would be able to understand more through reading more about it. Principally I really liked it and I recommend watching it. Concerning photography and music it was very well made. I can say one thing about its rhythm. During the movie I was attracted to the events but at the end I felt that the movie lasted longer that it really does (2 hours). Most of the actors fitted in their roles as I can personally see. I am only a little bit skeptical about the role of 'the girl'. Generally she played ok but there was something missing. I could not identify whether it is because of her mysterious role or because of misinterpreting it.I did not read the book, consequently I cannot compare the movie with the book but I think that I have to read it in order to understand more what happened. Either I have to watch this movie once more or I have to read the book in order to be able to answer some questions!Some of the scenes reminded me of 'Eyes Wide Shut' although the plot is quite different. >
Pretty wierd....
posted on 28 May 2009This movie is a good thriller with nice effects but the problem is that hardly any of your questions are answered. My brother and I watched this almost-2.5 hour film and we hardly understood most of it. The ending is the worst, where it just ends; you would need to watch it a second time to fully grasp the concept of the film. For the great effects (such as the fire and acting), this film gets points, but the film didn't answer any questions at the end. 6/10.
Terrible just terrible..
posted on 24 May 2009What a terrible film, please do not watch this with any expectation of being remotely entertained. It's slow from start to finish with wooden acting and old plot ideas, no direct or depth of story or character. The basic plot idea of the film was good and could have been a excellent film but perhaps the transition to the screen simply didn't work. The Ending - If you can call it that was hugely disappointing but still not surprising as it merely continued on the tone which the rest of the film had set. Perhaps it was badly edited to keep it from hitting the 3hr mark I don't know. I feel disappointed and annoyed at the loss of my 2hrs which I spent watching it - do yourself a favour and don't make the same mistake I did, leave it in the box where it belongs. Terrible! How do we give negative scores on this site??
A pact with the Devil
posted on 20 May 2009***SPOILERS*** Looking completely serene without a care in the world Andrew Telfer,Willy Holt, after finishing a number of letters and sealing them in their envelopes calmly steps on top of a footstool and puts a rope, fastened to a chandelier, around his neck taking one last step beyond by kicking it away and hanging himself. This horrific and insane act on Telfer's part leaves the audience wondering what exactly was the reason to make him do this self-destructive act. You get the answer soon enough when New York rare book dealer the anything for a quick buck Dean Corso, Johnny Depp, comes on the scene within minutes after Telfers demise.For some strange and unexplained reason Telfer had sold this rare book about Satanism to rare book collector Boris Balkan, Frank Langella, who's a closet Satanist himself. Getting in touch with Corso Balkan Balkan tells the greedy and unethical book dealer that he wants him to track down the other two remaining copies of "The Ninth Gate to the Kingdom of the Shadows", the book that Telfer sold him before his suicide. Balkan wants to find out if the copy that he has is the only one of the three that's authentic.Things starts to go downhill for Corso almost as soon as he agrees to work for Balkan when his friend rear book store owner Bernie ,James Russo, whom he gave Balkan's book for safe-keeping ends up murdered. Feeling a bit strange in what he's involved with Corso also ends up getting attacked by Mrs. Telfer Liana, Lena Olin, who want's her dead husbands book back and almost ends up scratching his eyes out after trying to make like she want's to have an affair with him.Going to both Portugal & France where the two other "Devil" books are located Corso is confronted with a double murder of the two people Victor Fargas & Baroness Kessler, Jack Taylor & Barbara Jefford, who own those two ungodly manuals of the Black Arts with them being burned beyond repair. This leaves only Balkan's book being the only one of the three left and obviously the one that's the real McCoy not a cheap and powerless imitation. It turns out that Lena has been following Corso all through his travels in Europe and the first chance that she gets in finding Corso not having the book with him has it lifted from right under his nose out of his hotel fridge where it hid it.Corso soon realize that the book is what's needed to conjure up the Devil himself by this Satanic cult that Lena heads and in return have him, the Devil, gives them all his powers that are far beyond the imagination of the human mind. Corso and a mysterious girl, Emanuelle Seigner, that he met back in New York, who like Lena followed him back to Europe track down Lena & friends in this French mansion outside Paris. It's there where their having a Satanic powwow to bring their master, from hell, back here on earth. It turns out that all the chanting and praying on the part of Lena & Co, through the power of the book for Satan to come back to life, from the world of the dead, and reveal himself is all for nothing. As all this is going on Balkan crashes the party and after strangling Lena chases the Satanists who did nothing at all to stop him from murdering their leader out of the place. Balkan then takes off with the book to secretly use it himself, in an abandoned monastery, in order to give himself the evil powers that Lena couldn't give them or herself.Gut spilling ending that has a totally crazed and happily insane Balkan put, or so he thought, the puzzle of the book "The Ninth Gate of the Kingdom of the Shadows" into place. Balkan by fitting together the books nine mysterious illustrations and then by chanting out a secret Satanic prayer he feels that he'll become as powerful as Satan himself. It just couldn't have happen to a nicer guy then Balkan, who by now seemed to have completely lost his mind, as he tempted both the fates and laws of nature in trying to prove his invincibility only to show to himself, and the startled movie audience, what a first class jackass he is. Balkan in dousing himself with a can of gasoline and then setting himself on fire to show himself and Corso, who tracked him down in the monastery, just how invincible he really is. Instead Balkan end up as one of the Devils many slaves who were insane enough to think that he'll reward them with eternal life by foolishly doing his bidding.As for Dean Corso he just about had enough of the rare book business, after what he went through in the movie, and decided to do his best to forget the whole thing by getting away from it all and and going legit in opening up a bed & breakfast in out of the way Key West Florida.
boring and far too obvious
posted on 16 May 2009But the worst thing about it was the comedy music. The bit when he discovered his mate hanging upside down I thought the mate was suddenly gonna shout 'Boo!' and it would all be a bit joke. Not sure if this was deliberate or just dreadfully misjudged Also the little Johnny Depp inevitable black comedy moments.When he put his smashed glasses back on and when he got out of the car and stood in the river I could almost hear Waa waa waa waaaaah! The worst bit (apart from the 'plot') was the rubbishly filmed backgrounds in certain scenes, so obviously digitally added - the view through the plane window was bad enough but the worst was sky behind the castle at the end which looked like something off Knightmare (it some how also managed to gleam through the windows of an enclosed turret too).Total rubbish.
Near Perfect Gothic Mystery
posted on 10 May 2009Johnny Depp is perfect as an acerbic, bookish, cynical, morally corrupt book dealer. There is a great cast of occultist characters who are way over the top and enjoyable all the way. Frank Langella as a giant, power hungry cult leader and Lena Olin as an evil she-devil woman are superb. The script is perfect, and every line has meaning and resonance. The director does a good job at allowing the viewer to experience the mystery contained in those old books first-hand. I think the filmmaker had a vision, didn't compromise and made the exact film he wanted to make. It is a mature, ugly, interesting film with a lot of class but it probably won't be enjoyed by a lot of people out there.
Some people don't know what "thriller" means...
posted on 28 Apr 2009I was quite taken aback by some of the highly negative comments about this excellent supernatural thriller. After a bit of reflection, I noticed they seemed to fall into two groups:1. People who thought that a "thriller" is a similar genre to an "action movie". This movie contains no explosions, only three on-screen deaths, and only one high speed chase which lasts all of about 10 seconds because the chasee gets away. It does have sex, mystery in a very Sam Spade-esque sense, unusual camera techniques to heighten tension, plausible levels of violence, and a very spooky supernatural element. That last deserves some amplification too: with modern CGI, you might be expecting some breathtaking "apparition" effects. And you'd probably be thinking, "Nice CGI, but it's really kind of cheesy". Not in this movie; the supernatural element is so subtle it nearly makes your skin crawl. In fact at quite a few points you nearly start thinking they're all just crackpots and nothing is really happening, but then Seigner's "thing" happens again and makes it clear that All Is Not Well.2. Some people were annoyed by the lack of an explanatory ending. I admit I am not sure what happened, but I've a couple of theories and enjoyed discussing them with others after the movie. What's wrong with that, for heaven's sake? It's a bit of a sad indictment that people feel cheated if they don't get everything spelled out for them. For those who want my theory, MILD SPOILER ALERTIt's not shown because it's irrelevant. The film is about Corso's journey of discovery and seduction; he is transformed from faithless and selfish to openly embracing evil. Does he gain what he seeks? The question is unimportant, what mattered was his decision, for one way or another he is now surely lost.END OF SPOILERMy only gripe: I was actually kind of interested in the puzzle, but they never showed it clearly enough or long enough to get to grips with it. Maybe this is to force me to get the DVD 8^(
The Thinking Mans Horror Film
posted on 20 Apr 2009One of the ones I Had To get on DVD!Frankly I have found that Roman Polanski is one of those people who when you look at one of their films you either love it or hate it, and this one I most certianly L O V E D as right up to the end it kept you guessing about everything!Up to and including the fact that almost to the end I was still guessing was this really a quest for the favors of the DEVIL or not just some mad dash in all directions by a bunch of overly rich Insane People that were looking for the ultimate thrill.
Interesting premise, but flawed at times.
posted on 20 Apr 2009What Roman Polanski excels at is creating character driven stories, and the problems that arise
from the characters needs. Johnny Depp is a book detective sent out into the world by Frank
Langella to authenticate a book that is allegedly co-written by the devil himself. Strange things
occur as Depp gets closer to his goal, and he is aided along the way by a mysterious, unnamed
girl. Problem is, there are other forces working against Depp, and anyone who has come in
contact with the book, or its companion volumes, has met with a ghastly fate. What I liked
about the movie was the way Polanski suggested that the devil need not be made of flesh and
blood, but rather manifest himself in man. Through man, the devil does his dirty work. He
lies, steals, cheats, kills, all the good stuff. The film is shot well and we get lovely views of
European locales, but the overall package is a mixed bag. There were scenes that had me stifle a
laugh, and I'm sure there was no comedic intention. The ending left me a bit confused, and I
can't say anymore or I'll spoil it for those who want to see the movie. I had mixed feeling about
this movie, some good things mixed in with some not so good things.
For the sake of humanity, give throw Roman to the lions.
posted on 14 Apr 2009Having endured this movie for over two hours has given me new insight into what hell must be like, Roman Polanski must be sitting on the right shoulder of satan himself laughing at the poor souls unfortunate enough to stumble into the nearest cinema and buy themselfs a return ticket to the ninth gate of the nether world. Even the ending looks as if the author wrote himself into a corner and gave up finding a way out, and thus scribbling hastily a few words and putting down a dot in the right place he finished what can only be described as two hours less life to live for those of us unlucky enough to see it. To sum things up I can only say "For the love of (witch ever spiritual being you yourself choose to believe in) don't rent this unless you're a female American over fifty living with ten cats or more.
Typical Polanski
posted on 06 Apr 2009A typical Polanski film: dark, intelligent, good casting, and good storytelling. What struck me the most was Polanski's use of certain characters that were either comical or were perfect casts. For instance, Depp does a wonderful job at playing hopeless wimps. He is no macho man, and rarely is cast as one. This movie was a wonderful precursor to his performances in Sleepy Hollow and From Hell. Another example of a comical character were the "brothers" who ran the rare book shop in Spain (I didn't realize it at the time but they were played by the same man, AND later when the brothers "shut down operations," the workmen tearing down the store were also the same person as the person who played both brothers). The ever-beautiful Lena Olin played her part well, a nasty bad-tempered woman who got what she wanted. Nepotism never impresses me, but I have to admit that Polanski's use of Seigner, his wife 36 years his junior (Polanski still loves 'em young) was a very good cast. Seigner, with her rare beauty, played a perfect "Devil." Her face and eyes can really put a man into a daze, even without the special effects. Finally, Polanski always tells a compelling story, which in this case was the story of three mysterious prints of a book, which were "almost" identical to one another (you will have to see the film to learn what I mean by "almost" -- this storyline made the film). Rating: 8/10.
All I can say is "huh?".
posted on 04 Apr 2009This is a weird one. It was slow, yes very slow. Some parts were funny... I was never on the edge of my seat. Much of the editing and scene selection just made me say "What the hell was that about?". Visually I suppose the movie is pretty cool, but I just couldn't recommend it to anyone in good faith. It wasn't just me either, 2 other folks I know saw the film and each was very confused as to the point of the film. Sometimes it had humorous elements like the opening on Hitchcock's Psycho, but it felt out of place. Dialog was just silly in some places. And the ending.... The movie and script seem almost pointless at times. I just didn't know what this film was trying to be (Thriller, comedy, intellectual exercise).See something else first. Maybe the Elmo movie ;)
THE NINTH GATE (DIDIER BECU)
posted on 19 Feb 2009What is wrong with Roman Polanski? One year he makes a masterpiece like "The pianist" and then he makes stuff like "Pirates" and this one... Heheheh, what was supposed to be a horrormovie bored me to death. Not that I was awaiting to see heads fall or bats coming out of the roof but this was just like "Buffy the vampire slayer" with a more talented director, or must I say a great Johnny Depp as after all he was the only reason why I didn't fall asleep completely. And yet the story begins so great, a millionaire who collects old books wants to have the one that is written by Lucifer himself. Three of them exist and it's Depp's job to find out which one of the three is real and which ones are fake as after all there is only one real book. We don't tell the plot but the end will be different nontheless... Why is it so bad then? Hmmm too many unanswered questions, Polanski think it's important to start digging out some details but further in the movie it's like he has to give them an abrupt end (and no this movie is already too long so...) and the end itself just reminded me of "Angel heart", you see we saw it all before and for a moment I thought it'd be a brilliant movie if Johnny Depp only had to search for a rare book that wasn't written by the devil as the movie would have been much better without the cheap horrortricks (you aren't frightened one second if you wanna know...you even can use a clock just in case the eyes are closing down).
The Richness
posted on 18 Aug 2009the evocation of rich, mystical European history. Narrow European alleys, archaic, ancient. Dark crooked cobblestones. Rain coming in at an angle, wetting the cobblestone streets, laying down a glisten over them—the world looks washed in the morning light, and I, in the words of Filter, "feel like a newborn" Mystery surrounding literature—Polanski must have ignored what the public/critical consensus was going to be for this film, because he's seemed to have made something out of personal impressions and reasons…I think that all great art is personal, but also not personal simultaneously……… ……….. Dark crooked cobblestones. Rain coming in at an angle, wetting the cobblestone streets, laying down a glisten over them.