Tubi is a handy tool for the small-budgeted horror fan, and I recently took the opportunity to use it to re-watch The Ninth Gate (1999), starring Johnny Depp and Frank Langella. For one thing, this movie is one of the weirdest adaptations of a book that I’ve ever seen. It is based on Arturo Perez-Reverte’s book The Dumas Club. The book is about a book dealer who is sent out to confirm the authenticity of an original manuscript by Alexandre Dumas and also embarks on a side quest to investigate a rare tome that is rumored to be able to summon the Devil. The Ninth Gate’s director Roman Polanski focused on the devil subplot for the movie and left out Dumas completely; this is funny considering he paid scrupulous attention to adapting Rosemary’s Baby scene for scene. It was a good idea, though, because the separate plots of the book would have been better suited for a tv mini-series.
Dean Corvo (Depp) is a shady book detective sent to Europe by publisher Boris Balkan (Langella) to confirm the authenticity of an incredibly rare book The Ninth Gate (the short version of the title), rumored to be an adaptation of a book authored by the Devil. Corvo is to compare Balkan’s book to the other surviving copies. He is hounded by Liana Telfer (Lena Olin) who used to own Balkan’s copy. Corvo is also being followed and protected by a mysterious nameless girl (for the purpose of the review, I’ll call her Green Eyes) played by Emmanuelle Seigner. While on his journey, there are several attempts on Corvo’s life and the owners of the other copies of The Ninth Gate pick up a habit of dying and their copies being destroyed, but not before Corvo discovers the differences between the books and uncovers their secrets. We also confirm that Green Eyes isn’t human (she has the ability to glide in the air. Call me sheltered, but none of my dates could ever do that.) Because Green Eyes is guiding him, we are getting the impression that Corvo is being groomed to follow the path of studying the books and to eventually pass through the spiritual/metaphorical nine gates to eventually meet the Devil. We don’t know why and we don’t get to see what Corvo sees at the end. It’s probably better that way to maintain the subtle ominous tone of the film; The implications are usually more meaningful than whatever can be conjured visually. We never find out what becomes of Corvo except that he succeeds.
I didn’t appreciate this one when I first watched it around 2008 or 2009, but I like it much better after this viewing. For one thing, I have to appreciate the sense for the love of books and knowledge (even if forbidden). The bookstore owned by Corvo’s friend that we see in New York City is bound to catch any booklover’s attention and its wonderful mess is invitation to the likes of me to spend hours searching and leaving the place as dusty as can be. The personal libraries that Corvo enters are also bound to catch any bibliophile’s attention, although two of them are dedicated to Satanic lore, which is apt to make the religious type leery. I can’t credit either of the main characters as people who love books for their simple existence. Corvo and Balkan strike me as the practical types who see books as a means to an end, one as a way of making money, the other to acquire knowledge. Neither appear to be involved in the world of books for the love of reading.
Obviously, there is the theme of attraction of the forbidden. As a kid, horror seemed forbidden to me, and it had the allure of something that was (or appeared to be) transgressive and therefore all the more appealing. The same thing goes for Corvo, a knowledgeable but unscrupulous creep who is skeptical at first of what The Ninth Gate entails, but he becomes wrapped up in the mystery of the book’s engravings, which is where the differences between the editions lie. Coupled with the theme of the forbidden is corruption. At least that is implied. I have a hard time really considering this story one about corruption, though, because Corvo is who he is; he’s already corrupt and therefore is the lowest hanging fruit to become a damned soul. If corruption really was a theme in the film, it would have come off better if Corvo was more honest or sympathetic. If it’s not corruption, it is initiation in which Corvo is being prepped for a different purpose than being a sleazy book detective, but we can only guess what that is. That does beg the question of why Green Eyes wanted him to succeed. Yes, if there’s one word to describe this movie it is enigmatic.
Overall, the mystery of the movie makes it compulsively watchable. Like I said, the tone is ominous and because it was filmed by Polanski (ignoring his life outside of directing), the overall direction and cinematography are great. What also makes the film as visual treat is the fact that the movie was filmed on location in Portugal, Spain, and France (especially France). Depp’s performance is lowkey and perfect for the movie and Langella, as usual, sells his performance with that powerful voice of his.
I’m tempted to read The Dumas Club again because overall I find this movie fascinating and it keeps pulling me back. Yeah, I still have some mixed feelings about the movie, but to me it is a solid entry in Polanski’s horror work, alongside Rosemary’s Baby, Repulsion, The Tenant, and The Fearless Vampire Killers, but in a sense, this one is grimmer than any of them.
Written by Nick Montelongo
Dean Corvo (Depp) is a shady book detective sent to Europe by publisher Boris Balkan (Langella) to confirm the authenticity of an incredibly rare book The Ninth Gate (the short version of the title), rumored to be an adaptation of a book authored by the Devil. Corvo is to compare Balkan’s book to the other surviving copies. He is hounded by Liana Telfer (Lena Olin) who used to own Balkan’s copy. Corvo is also being followed and protected by a mysterious nameless girl (for the purpose of the review, I’ll call her Green Eyes) played by Emmanuelle Seigner. While on his journey, there are several attempts on Corvo’s life and the owners of the other copies of The Ninth Gate pick up a habit of dying and their copies being destroyed, but not before Corvo discovers the differences between the books and uncovers their secrets. We also confirm that Green Eyes isn’t human (she has the ability to glide in the air. Call me sheltered, but none of my dates could ever do that.) Because Green Eyes is guiding him, we are getting the impression that Corvo is being groomed to follow the path of studying the books and to eventually pass through the spiritual/metaphorical nine gates to eventually meet the Devil. We don’t know why and we don’t get to see what Corvo sees at the end. It’s probably better that way to maintain the subtle ominous tone of the film; The implications are usually more meaningful than whatever can be conjured visually. We never find out what becomes of Corvo except that he succeeds.I didn’t appreciate this one when I first watched it around 2008 or 2009, but I like it much better after this viewing. For one thing, I have to appreciate the sense for the love of books and knowledge (even if forbidden). The bookstore owned by Corvo’s friend that we see in New York City is bound to catch any booklover’s attention and its wonderful mess is invitation to the likes of me to spend hours searching and leaving the place as dusty as can be. The personal libraries that Corvo enters are also bound to catch any bibliophile’s attention, although two of them are dedicated to Satanic lore, which is apt to make the religious type leery. I can’t credit either of the main characters as people who love books for their simple existence. Corvo and Balkan strike me as the practical types who see books as a means to an end, one as a way of making money, the other to acquire knowledge. Neither appear to be involved in the world of books for the love of reading.
Obviously, there is the theme of attraction of the forbidden. As a kid, horror seemed forbidden to me, and it had the allure of something that was (or appeared to be) transgressive and therefore all the more appealing. The same thing goes for Corvo, a knowledgeable but unscrupulous creep who is skeptical at first of what The Ninth Gate entails, but he becomes wrapped up in the mystery of the book’s engravings, which is where the differences between the editions lie. Coupled with the theme of the forbidden is corruption. At least that is implied. I have a hard time really considering this story one about corruption, though, because Corvo is who he is; he’s already corrupt and therefore is the lowest hanging fruit to become a damned soul. If corruption really was a theme in the film, it would have come off better if Corvo was more honest or sympathetic. If it’s not corruption, it is initiation in which Corvo is being prepped for a different purpose than being a sleazy book detective, but we can only guess what that is. That does beg the question of why Green Eyes wanted him to succeed. Yes, if there’s one word to describe this movie it is enigmatic.
Overall, the mystery of the movie makes it compulsively watchable. Like I said, the tone is ominous and because it was filmed by Polanski (ignoring his life outside of directing), the overall direction and cinematography are great. What also makes the film as visual treat is the fact that the movie was filmed on location in Portugal, Spain, and France (especially France). Depp’s performance is lowkey and perfect for the movie and Langella, as usual, sells his performance with that powerful voice of his.
I’m tempted to read The Dumas Club again because overall I find this movie fascinating and it keeps pulling me back. Yeah, I still have some mixed feelings about the movie, but to me it is a solid entry in Polanski’s horror work, alongside Rosemary’s Baby, Repulsion, The Tenant, and The Fearless Vampire Killers, but in a sense, this one is grimmer than any of them.
Written by Nick Montelongo
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