The Ninth Gate (1999)

Everyone's trying to get their hands on Satan's autograph

By: JWBM

Adapted from Spain's Arturo Perez-Reverte's historically abound novel "The Club Dumas," the film version is a chapter-by-chapter evolving experience in itself. It gives a taste of how far occult literature extends back for the past couple hundred years, and turns what was once heresy into a modern world of wealthy, shadowy characters shamelessly sipping on expensive bottles of human vice. A place where Latin is alive and woodcuts smell of freshly inked templates; dusty areas start to shimmer, strangers in the back shift to the forefront; quiet libraries ring alarm bells, and exquisite vacation spots for foreigners now cause them to requestion their next travel plans.

A collector of rare books commits suicide only a day after he sells his most prized piece. A wheeler and dealer, Dean Corso, gets hired by another book collector exclusively of the dark arts named Boris Balkan, who has since acquired "The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows," and wants him to varify its authenticity to the only other two known in the world. The man who authored them back in 1666 was burned at the stake for his blasphemous spoutings. Now in 1999, strange and tragic things start to happen surrounding those who come into its leather-bound, pentagram decorated path. The lingering question: Is it the cause and effect of the books or the unscrupulous people themselves? Or both?

"The Ninth Gate," from director Roman Polanski--"Rosemary's Baby"--presents a tried and true style of move-making that relies on basic but worked through mechanics to deliver the goods. From the gradual build up that gets more and more involved, to the slowly creeping camera angles, antique furnished sets, and who could forget good ol' distinctive orchestras to solidify the tone around it. The experience feels like stepping out of your door and into a more traditional European lifestyle over, say, a Hollywood affair with modern and trendy aspects of the year it came out. Compare this to a string of the millennia-approaching, end-of-times films back then, and you can see a noticeable difference of which ones aged.

There are some twists and turns to give this momentum and make it a memorable experience. However, a share of it has a purposeful simplicity to give room for believability when something outstanding does happen. In order to break into the idea of black magic cults and Lucifer supposedly being a low-key author, there is also a dry and somewhat playful tongue-in-cheek sense of humor sprinkled about. Depp's role, as Corso, is less eccentric than past films and stays closer to an everyday type of shady businessman. With the help of a tentative partner, Corso ends up from one accented person and scenic country to the next. You can imagine the book has passed hands for hundreds of years, yet it's a perfect way to enact survival-of-the-most-evilest in the current day world by enlisting the most greedy, back-stabbing people amongst us that are capable of taking it solely for their own gain. From lusty gold diggers to sign-the-dotted-line-or-die capitalists, the tale makes everyone who gets in its path a victim of their own lust and desires.

"The Ninth Gate" will make one glance at formerly uneventful places in a darker light: a secretive-like atmosphere that is cloaked in enough shadows that the general person is oblivious as to what lurks around them. It also has a certain amount of mystery that gives room to unlock Easter eggs and hidden theories on additional viewings from not outright handing everything over to the viewer. The story and concept itself is intriguing  enough to anticipate what comes next, though underneath, the momentum is guided by an unphysical, somewhat unlikeable book swindler; you get reactions and mundane habits similar to an everyday person who could be your neighbor Bob if not for a sly characteristic and a penchant for a shoulder bag. It's logical why it's set up that way on paper, though watching the experience play out isn't always thoroughly compelling. It's still a well-done and an esteemed film for its cumulative qualities, though hoping for more layers--such as all the musings and step-by-step thoughts in the book version--from the lead on further viewings comes to a stand still at points.

In one respect, the next secluded mansion, not to mention the next time you pass by an antique book store, there will be a little reminder as to what it conceals rather than the usual yawning words and stiff aristocrats. Something that should be left alone or pursued? Well, I guess that choice is up to you and how far you are willing to push your luck to be just a little bit closer to the world below. If not by you, there's always another that will stop at nothing.

Rating: 7.5/10

Director: Roman Polanski (Chinatown, The Tenant, Death and the Maiden)
Stars: Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, Emmanuelle Seigner)
Info: IMDB

Trailer: Youtube link