The Ninth Gate Directed by: Roman Polanski Starring: Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, Lena Olin, Emmanuelle Seigner, Barbara Jefford Running time: 132 minutes My rating (5 star scale): ***
Corso (Depp) is an unscrupulous dealer in rare books, hired by Balkan (Langella) to track down the remaining two copies of The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of the Shadows. Balkan owns the third copy but believes two of the books are fakes. He wants Corso to compare them. First Corso visits the widow (Olin) of the former owner of Balkan's copy - a man who commits suicide after giving up the book. And things start getting complicated.
Corso doesn't trust Balkan, who may be following him. He's definitely being followed by a mysterious woman (Seigner), who seems to have supernatural powers. And people keep turning up dead. Meanwhile the not so grieving widow seems to be lurking in the background. And Corso is beginning to wonder whether the legend of the book, that its coauthor was Satan, is true. And he begins to fear what will happen when his mission is completed.
Polanski likes making movies about morally ambiguous people who find themselves slowly drawn into evil. So slowly, that it becomes difficult to determine exactly when the irreversible step was taken. Characters like that can be seen in films like Chinatown, Death and the Maiden, and Macbeth. Corso is one of those characters. No one would mistake him for a saint, he begins the film by cheating a family on the value of a rare book, but he does have some morals. He says he loves money, but at times he is willing to give up the chance at big money just to get out of this macabre deal he has struck. But something keeps pulling him back. Curiosity, lust, the desire for revenge, maybe even fear - there's always something.
Depp is excellent, always stopping just this side of the brink of parody. Langella and Olin are both suitably mysterious and frightening. Seigner gives a surprisingly strong performance. The direction is reasonable (weak for Polanski). A few scenes, like the opening sequence and the titles stand out. But compared to most horror films, this is brilliant stuff. Unfortunately, the story is the weak point. While the characters are interesting, the story verges on dull. Not much happens and nothing is resolved. I don't need to be spoon fed a resolution, but this film doesn't even give you any decent hints.
I paid full price for this film and didn't feel cheated. Horror fans (and fans of Depp or Polanski) will find it well worth the price. For the rest of you, wait for the video.
-- Allan Jenoff Check out my web page at http://www3.sympatico.ca/jenoff/
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