Customer Reviews

Ninth Gate (Widescreen)

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(40)
2 star:		(35)
1 star:		(42)

 

 

i loved this movie.i bought it on DVD with really no expectations.boy,
was i pleasantly surprised.the performances were excellent, the music
was perfect for the film. Depp gives an understated performance which
kept me riveted for the whole movie.Frank Langella is brilliantly cast
as the bad guy.Emmanuaelle Seigner was particularly effective as the
mysterious girl who always seems to show up where Depp's character,
Dean Corso happens to be to lend a helping hand. but of course all is
not as it seems, as the ending reveals.the ending reveals just enough
to tease the viewer.i can find no fault with this movie.many people
complained about the ending, but i thought the ending was as it should
be, leaving the viewer to wonder what might happen next, which was, i
think the point.all of the deaths in the movie were very creepy and
eerie.i had not seen a Polanski movie before,but he really impressed me
with this effort.I have watched this movie several times and loved it
each time.to those people who hated this movie, all i can say is"to
each their own"and maybe it is an acquired taste.this movie is
definitely in my top ten.

i really loved this film.i had no expectations going in,so i was pleasantly surprised.i thought all the performances were great.Frank Langella was brilliant.but is it Johnny Depp in the lead role who was really impressive.Depp puts in another quietly understated performance.the music was also perfect for this movie.it really brings out the suspense and creepiness factor.i thought the move was very stylistic and atmospheric.the tone is very dark,which is good,because the movie delves pretty deeply into dark territory.all i will say about that aspect is that it involves the occult.but the movie also has some substance and certainly raises some questions.it's certainly thought provoking.most of all,though,it's just entertaining.i don't always like Roman Polanski's movies,but he really impressed with this one.i highly recommend it.my vote for the "The Ninth Gate":5/5

This film is well done but it takes on far too deep themes for what it is; a film noir. This film does an excellent job of capturing detective film noir cliches, but because the mystery involves such grand ideas as satan coming to earth and good vs evil that the detective genre cannot do these themes justice. We have an excellent cast filling out all the classic characters of film noir detecive intrigue. There's Johnny Depp as Corso, the vice-ridden detective who ends up playing all sides to the middle. There are a couple of femme fatales with their own agendas. And there is the mysterious millionaire who hires the private dick to perform a seemingly simple task, but with an alterior motive. If this was just a story about a grimy P.I. who plays a bunch of greedy schemers against each other and walks away with a fistfull of dollars it would have been fine, but he walks away with the power to summon the devil. This movie never really deals with the dark ideas which its plot is based around, but that does not stop it from being amusing, it just never ends up as satisfying as 'Devil's Advocate', or 'The Exorcist'.

je trouve interressant de commenté ce produit car je suis fans de johnny depp et plusieur autre acteur que j'ai en filmographie dans mes dossiers

This poorly publicized film would garner more attention and far better ratings were it honestly tied to the book that inspired it. Polanski or the producers must have had a spat with Perez-Reverte. I certainly understand why Depp accepted the part.

I'm currently watching the TRIO channel's disgusting butchery of this film as apart of their "month of flops" promotion. The only FLOP I see is their editing of essential footage. They have condensed the movie to under 2 hours...and have subsequently made certain scenes appear as "stupid" (for lack of a better word).

This movie grew on me. I was not intially impressed, but after viewing it with friends and family, I have become a big fan of its haunting yet calming persona. The subject matter deals with Satanic idolatry, but the movie is in no way "goth". It's the kind of film you could watch with your children and not worry about them being scarred for life.

As far as comedy, Johnny Depp's bad luck with women is hilarious. His facial expressions (even while killing "the albino") are a hoot.

As for the ending, after many viewings I believe Depp went to hell where he was praised for being the human father of the anti-Christ. All along, the lady in the sneakers was Satan.

The absolutely creepy yet sublime direction of this Polanski endeavour makes it a worthwhile watch. Almost Kubrick-like, wide angle shots and lax-paced screenplay and all.

I was riveted. Riveted, that is, right until the somewhat confusing fire and cobblestone ending, which admittedly leaves you with very little to chew on and instead of appearing clever and ambiguous, as it perhaps wanted to, mostly comes off as complacent.

Yet, the point of a mystery noirish film is to keep you intrigued through out, and the movie manages to do that quite successfully. The sleuthing process is almost done in tandem with the audience, which is fun. Johnny Depp is immaculate in his potrayal of a detached book detective and all others contribute richly. The music is tacky in bits, but not too distracting.

Recommended rental for haunting cinematography of Portugal and France, and a fabulously captivating atmosphere in general.

Boris Balkan (Frank Langella), a publisher and collector of rare books with Satan as the protagonist, hires Dean Corso (Johnny Depp) a rare book appraiser to investigate the last three surviving copies of The Ninth Gate to discover which copy is genuine. The original Ninth Gate was purportedly co-authored by Lucifer. His human co-author was burned during the inquisition.

Depp travels to Europe to examine the other volumes and encounters a mysterious blond (Emmanuelle Seigner) with mystical powers. He ultimately discovers that each book contains a part of the ritual needed to bring forth Satan. Balkan has competition in the Order of the Serpent, a coven of Satan worshippers who meet every year on the anniversary of the author's death. Balkan has a very low opinion of them, despite having once been a member, he calls their rites and practices "mumbo jumbo" and confronts them during one of their rites.

For a rare book appraiser, Depp's character sure acts irresponsibly around the books by smoking, eating and handling them without gloves.

I loved the obscure ending most movies about Satan contain clique endings and are boring! Depp has some comedic moments he's wonderful with his facial expressions! There aren't a lot of special effects this is mainly a horror thriller. I recommend it because it was something a bit different than the ordinary.

By skimming the huge number of reviews, you'll quickly see that viewers tend to either really like or really hate this movie. There are apparently plenty of reasons to do either, and both. But the truth is that this is an intensely layered story, and it assumes that members of the audience are either going to catch a lot of its subtleties or they are just going to see it as a flick on satanic intrigue that offers only mediocre thrills and chills.

As to the satanic veneer of this story, it is more a metaphor for how mainstream culture views the gnostic, mystical, or magical path, while also snickering at those who take satanism too literally. All the satanists in this movie are shallow buffoons, and it is the one guy who has no metaphysical pretensions (Dean Corso/Johnny Depp) who actually acquires the end that all the others were either seeking in vain or had despaired of ever finding.

Now let's dive beneath the surface to understand that it's a kind of dark "Don Quixote". The first half-hour of the movie is almost saturated with images and even references that establish the parallel. The major difference is that Corso isn't intentionally setting off on a noble quest, and instead thinks of himself as nothing more than an opportunistic and somewhat unethical businessman. His quest is inititally just for money, but in the process he demonstrates a passion for solving mysteries. There is no turning back for him once he realizes that he is on the trail of perhaps the biggest and most significant mystery of existence, even if it takes his life.

Much of the movie's hidden messages and meanings are revealed through obscure symbolic references. Without a knowledge of Kabbalah, Tarot and alchemy, much of it will be quickly glossed over as occult imagery and "mumbo jumbo". The first key is the whole idea of "nine gates", which can easily be thought of as a Kabbalistic allusion to an ascension of the Tree of Life. The ancient book that serves as the central prop of the story contains nine engravings, each of which has elements that are instantly recognizable to those already familiar with the imagery of Tarot and alchemy.

One layer that a number of other reviewers have found is the theme of the guardian angel. There is a great deal of Gnostic and Hermetic significance in the way this theme is played out between Corso and "the girl" with blond hair and green eyes. Perhaps it suffices to say that initially Corso only catches fleeting glimpses of her and is distrustful, but in time their relationship builds to one of cooperation, trust, and intimate compansionship. He comes to see her as his guide, protector, and lover.

The entire story could also be analyzed in terms of Jungian psychology. Corso is of course the persona, the girl is his anima, and his shadow is played by a Black man with white hair, fitting in its reversal of Depp's white skin and black hair.

We could go into a lot more detail on each of the various layers already examined, but then what would be left for you to discover? ;-)

The only reason I gave this movie 4 stars instead of 5 was because I would have liked just a little more exploration and explanation of the story's depth for those who don't have an extensive background in esoteric, occult, and mystical studies.

An amoral dealer in rare books (Johnny Depp) is hired by a wealthy collector (Frank Langella) to track down and compare the only three extant copies of a book supposedly written by the Devil himself. Of course, the purpose behind this is not immediately clear, and the major strength of this film is the way in which it follows Depp as he begins to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Director Roman Polanski shoots this in a way that allows us to make the discoveries right alongside him. By the end of the film, however, numerous details have accumulated without amounting to much. I was left in the dark about the true nature of Depp's mysterious female guardian (Emmanuelle Seigner), and the significance of the film's final shot was lost on me. What began as an intriguing mystery ends as a confused mess.