From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Ninth Gate
The Ninth Gate
The Ninth Gate Language English
French
Spanish
Portuguese
Latin
Budget $38 million
Box office $58,401,898
The Ninth Gate is a 1999 horror film directed, produced,
and co-written by Roman Polanski. It is a neo-noir, occult
mystery thriller involving the rare book business, where-
in rare-book dealer Dean Corso (Johnny Depp) is hired
by bibliophile Boris Balkan (Frank Langella) to validate a
seventeenth-century copy of The Nine Gates of the Kingdom
of Shadows, by Aristide Torchia, and what he encounters
en route. The Nine Gates is an imaginary book, but is heav-
ily inspired by the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili.[1]
The film, based upon Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s 1993
novel El Club Dumas, comprises three genres, and was co-
written by director Roman Polanski. The premiere show-
Theatrical release poster ing was at San Sebastián, Spain, on 25 August 1999, a
Directed by Roman Polanski month before the 47th San Sebastian International Film
Festival; in North America, it failed critically and com-
Produced by Roman Polanski mercially, because, reviewers claimed, it was a lesser ef-
Screenplay by Roman Polanski fort than Rosemary’s Baby (1968), his best supernatural-
John Brownjohn theme film; nonetheless, The Ninth Gate earned a world-
Enrique Urbizu wide gross of $58.4 million against a $38 million budget.
Based on El Club Dumas by
Arturo Pérez-Reverte Plot
Starring Johnny Depp Dean Corso (Johnny Depp) is a New York City rare-book
Lena Olin
Frank Langella dealer motivated solely by financial gain. Wealthy book
Emmanuelle Seigner collector Boris Balkan (Frank Langella) hires Corso to au-
thenticate his recently acquired copy of the seventeenth-
Music by Wojciech Kilar
century author Aristide Torchia’s book The Nine Gates of
Cinematography Darius Khondji the Kingdom of Shadows, reputedly a version of a book
whose author was the devil himself. The book contains
Editing by Hervé de Luze
nine engravings that, when correctly interpreted and the
Studio Canal+ legends properly spoken, will summon the Devil. Since
Distributed by Bac Films (France)
two other copies exist, Balkan suspects that the book
Araba Films (Spain) might be a forgery, and he asks Corso to travel to Europe
Artisan Entertainment (US) to determine whether his or any of the other two are
genuine and, if so, to acquire them for Balkan, at any cost
Release date(s) August 25, 1999 (1999-08-25)
or by any means.
Running time 133 minutes Balkan’s copy of The Nine Gates had previously be-
Country France
longed to bibliophile Andrew Telfer, who committed sui-
Spain cide soon after selling the book to Balkan. Moreover,
United States Telfer’s widow, Liana (Lena Olin), wants the book back,
as Telfer originally bought the book for her. Liana se-
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Ninth Gate
duces Corso, but she fails to re-acquire her book. Mean- flames, puts Balkan out of his agony with a shot and es-
while, Corso’s business partner and rare-book shop own- capes the fire.
er, Bernie (James Russo), whom Corso had asked to hide
the book, is murdered, and his corpse disposed to reflect
one of the engravings in The Nine Gates, which, as in the
image of The Hanged Man Tarot card, shows a man
hanged by one foot upside down.
Corso travels to Toledo, Spain, to talk with the Ceniza
brothers (José López Rodero), twin-brother book restor-
ers, who point out to him three of the book’s engravings
signed "LCF", which, with their prompting, Corso un-
derstands means that Lucifer himself designed and cut
them. Corso next goes by train to Sintra, Portugal, and
visits Victor Fargas (Jack Taylor), whose copy of The Nine
Gates Corso compares with Balkan’s. To his surprise, Cor-
Boris Balkan (Frank Langella) shows his 17th-century copy of
so discovers that the signature "LCF" is, in the Fargas The Nine Gates to Dean Corso (Johnny Depp).
copy, found in three different engravings, which vary in
detail from their counterparts in the Balkan copy. The Outside the building, The Girl appears to Corso and
next morning, a mysterious young woman (Emmanuelle seduces him by the light of the flames. She tells him
Seigner), who has crossed paths with Corso since Balkan that Balkan failed because the ninth engraving Balkan
summoned him for this assignment, awakens Corso and had used was a forgery. Corso, following her directions,
leads him back to Fargas’s house to find the old man mur- returns to the Ceniza brothers’ shop. Upon arriving, he
dered and the engravings ripped out of his copy of The finds the store gone and the last piece of furniture being
Nine Gates. Later, The Girl displays supernatural abilities removed, from the top of which falls the authentic ninth
in rescuing Corso from Liana’s bodyguard (Tony Amoni). engraving, which includes a likeness of the mystery girl.
In Paris, Corso visits the Baroness Kessler (Barbara With the last engraving in hand, Corso returns to the cas-
Jefford), owner of the third copy of The Nine Gates. The tle it depicts, and crosses the threshold of the Ninth Gate.
Baroness initially refuses any contact with Corso once
she realizes who his employer is, but Corso returns and
intrigues Kessler—a lifelong devotee of the study of the Cast
book—with evidence that the engravings differ across • Johnny Depp as Dean Corso
the three copies. Having gained access to Kessler’s copy, • Lena Olin as Liana Telfer
he records three further differences. Later, Kessler is • Frank Langella as Boris Balkan
killed, and the engravings from her book also ripped out. • Emmanuelle Seigner as The Girl
Now, believing that each copy of The Nine Gates is gen- • Barbara Jefford as the Baroness Frida Kessler
uine, Corso suspects that the secret to opening the nine • Jack Taylor as Victor Fargas
gates is a combination of the "LCF" versions of each of the • José López Rodero as Pablo Ceniza and Pedro Ceniza,
nine engravings, distributed across all three copies of the and 1st and 2nd workmen
book. Liana steals Balkan’s copy from Corso’s hotel room; • Tony Amoni as Liana’s bodyguard
he follows her to a mansion and witnesses her using it in • James Russo as Bernie
leading a Satanist ceremony. Suddenly, Balkan interrupts
the ceremony, kills Liana, takes the engraving pages, and
his own, intact copy, then flees. Production
Corso pursues Balkan to a remote keep, which was Roman Polanski read the screenplay, an adaptation by
depicted in one of the engavings and in a postcard that Enrique Urbizu, of the Spanish novel El Club Dumas (The
Corso found in Kessler’s copy, and finds Balkan preparing Club Dumas, 1993), by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, So impressed
to open the nine gates. After a struggle, Balkan manages with the script, Polanski read the novel, liking it because
to trap Corso in a hole in the floor, thus immobilizing he "saw so many elements that seemed good for a movie.
him and allowing Balkan to perform his summoning rit- It was suspenseful, funny, and there were a great number
ual unmolested—but with Corso as a ’witness’. Balkan re- of secondary characters that are tremendously cinemat-
cites a series of phrases related to each of the nine en- ic".[2] Pérez-Reverte’s novel, El Club Dumas features inter-
gravings, then douses the floor and himself with gaso- twined plots, so Polanski wrote his own adaptation with
line and sets it alight, believing himself immune to the his usual partner, John Brownjohn (Tess, Pirates and Bitter
flames. Balkan’s invocation, however, appears to fail, and Moon). They deleted the novel’s literary references and a
Balkan begins screaming in agony as his body starts to sub-plot about Corso’s investigation of an original man-
burn. Corso frees himself and, with Balkan engulfed in
2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Ninth Gate
uscript of a chapter of The Three Musketeers and concen-
trated upon Dean Corso’s pursuing the authentic copy of
The Nine Gates.[2]
Polanski approached the subject skeptically, saying,
"I don’t believe in the occult. I don’t believe. Period";[3]
yet he enjoyed the genre, "There [are] a great number
of clichés of this type in The Ninth Gate, which I tried to
turn around a bit. You can make them appear serious on
the surface, but you cannot help, but laugh at them".[3]
The appeal of the film was that it featured "a mystery
in which a book is the leading character" and its en-
gravings "are also essential clues".[4] In reading El Club
Dumas, Polanski pictured Johnny Depp as "Dean Corso",
who joined the production as early as 1997, when he met
Soundtrack album by Wojciech Kilar
Polanski at the Cannes Film Festival, while promoting
The Brave, his directorial début, then in festival competi- Released November 16, 1999
tion.[5] Recorded April 1999
Initially, he did not think Depp right as "Corso", be-
cause the character was forty years old (Depp at the time Genre Soundtrack
was only 34). He considered an older actor, but Depp per- Length 53:58
sisted; he wanted to work with Roman Polanski.[6]
The film press reported creative friction between Label Silva
Depp and Polanski, reported around the time of the Professional reviews
North American release of The Ninth Gate. Depp said, "It’s
the director’s job to push, to provoke things out of an The reviews parameter has been deprecated.
actor".[6] Polanski said of Depp, "He decided to play it Please move reviews into the “Reception” section
of the article. See Moving reviews into article
rather flat, which wasn’t how I envisioned it; and I didn’t space.
tell him it wasn’t how I saw it". Visually, in the neo-noir
• Allmusic link
genre style, rare-book dealer Dean Corso’s disheveled • Filmtracks link
grooming derives from Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chan-
dler’s quintessential literary private investigator.[3] The main theme of The Ninth Gate is based upon Ha-
Polanski cast Frank Langella as Boris Balkan based vanaise, for violin and orchestra, by Camille Saint-
upon his performance as Clare Quilty in Lolita (1997), di- Saëns;[citation needed] some of the score is a vocalise by
rected by Adrian Lyne. Barbara Jefford, as the Baroness Korean soprano Sumi Jo.[7]
Frida Kessler was a last-minute replacement for the cast 1. Vocalise: "Theme from the Ninth Gate" – 3:56
German actress who fell sick with pneumonia, and after 2. "Opening Titles" – 3:31
a second actress proved unable to learn the character’s 3. "Corso" – 3:24
dialogue; with only days’ notice, Barbara Jefford learned 4. "Bernie is Dead" – 4:31
her part, spoken with a German accent.[2] The Ninth Gate 5. "Liana" – 3:03
was photographed in France, Portugal, and Spain in sum- 6. "Plane to Spain" – 4:48
mer of 1998. Johnny Depp met his long-time partner 7. "The Motorbike" – 1:18
Vanessa Paradis during the shooting. 8. "Missing Books
1. "Blood on His Face" – 1:13
Soundtrack 2. "Chateau Saint Martin" – 4:05
3. "Liana’s Death" – 2:38
The Ninth Gate (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) 4. "Boo! / The Chase" – 4:29
5. "Balkan’s Death" – 3:52
6. "The Ninth Gate" – 1:13
7. "Corso and the Girl" – 3:20
8. Vocalise: Theme from the Ninth Gate (Reprise)
Reception
The premiere screening of The Ninth Gate was in San Se-
bastián, Spain, on 25 August 1999; in North America, it
3
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Ninth Gate
appeared in 1,586 cinemas during the March 10th, 2000
weekend, earning a gross income of $6.6 million, and
References
$18.6 million in total. Worldwide, it earned $58.4 million [1] http://www.philipcoppens.com/ninthgate.html
against a $38 million production budget.[8] [2] ^ Hartl, John (March 5, 2000). "The Ninth Gate Marks
The majority of reviews for the film were mixed to Return for Polanski". Seattle Times.
negative, with objections to the film citing a slow pace, [3] ^ Howell, Peter (March 3, 2000). "Polanski’s
trivial subject matter, and an uneven tone. Most movie Demons". Toronto Star.
reviewers said that the suspense in The Ninth Gate was less [4] Arnold, Gary (March 11, 2000). "Polanski’s Dark
than that of Rosemary’s Baby (1968), director Polanski’s fa- Side". Washington Times.
mous supernatural-themed film. The Ninth Gate holds a [5] Archerd, Army (February 10, 1998). "Polanski
40% rating at Rotten Tomatoes (26% among "Cream of opens Gate". Variety.
the Crop" critics) and a metascore of 44 on Metacritic. [6] ^ Schaefer, Stephen (March 10, 2000). "The Devil
Roger Ebert said the ending was lackluster, "while at the and Roman Polanski". Boston Herald.
end, I didn’t yearn for spectacular special effects, I did [7] Phares, Heather. "The Ninth Gate". allmusic.com.
wish for spectacular information — something awesome, http://www.allmusic.com/album/r443717.
not just a fade-to-white".[9] In his review for The New York Retrieved 2007-05-18.
Times, Elvis Mitchell said the movie was "about as scary [8] "The Ninth Gate". Box Office Mojo. May 18, 2007.
as a sock-puppet re-enactment of The Blair Witch Project, http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/
and not nearly as funny".[10] Entertainment Weekly rated ?id=ninethgate.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
the film "D+", and Lisa Schwarzbaum said it had an "aro- [9] Ebert, Roger (March 10, 2000). "The Ninth Gate".
ma of middle-brow, art-house Euro-rot, a whiff of decay Chicago Sun-Times.
and hauteur in a film not even a star as foxed, and foxy, http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
as Johnny Depp, himself, could save".[11] In the Los Ange- article?AID=/20000310/REVIEWS/3100302/1023.
les Times, Kenneth Turan said the film was "too laid-back, Retrieved 2007-05-18.
and unconcerned about the pacing of its story to be satis- [10] Mitchell, Elvis (March 10, 2000). "Off to Hell in a
fying", because "a thriller that’s not high-powered, is an Handbasket, Trusty Book in Hand". The New York
intriguing concept, in reality it can hold our attention for Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/
only so long".[12] In the Village Voice, J. Hoberman said the fullpage.html?res=9A05E6D81F38F933A25750C0A9669C8B63.
film was "barely releasable hokum, stuffed with cheesy Retrieved 2007-11-09.
blah-blah".[13] [11] Schwarzbaum, Lisa (March 17, 2000). "The Ninth
In Sight and Sound magazine, Phillip Strick said it was Gate". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/
"not particularly liked at first outing — partly because ew/article/0,,20176772,00.html. Retrieved
Johnny Depp, in fake grey temples, personifies the odious 2009-04-09.
Corso of the book a little too accurately — the film is in- [12] Turan, Kenneth (March 10, 2000). "The Ninth Gate".
tricately well-made, deserves a second chance, despite its Los Angeles Times. http://www.calendarlive.com/
disintegrations, and, in time, will undoubtedly acquire its movies/reviews/cl-
own coven of heretical fans".[14] movie000309-35,0,1097825.story. Retrieved
In Time magazine, Richard Corliss said that The Ninth 2009-04-09.
Gate was Polanski’s most accessible effort "since fleeing [13] Hoberman, J (March 14, 2000). "Missions
the U.S. soon after Chinatown".[15] Impossible". Village Voice.
In the San Francisco Chronicle, Bob Graham said that http://www.villagevoice.com/2000-03-14/film/
"Depp is the best reason to see Polanski’s satanic missions-impossible/2. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
thriller", because "Polanski’s sly sense of film-noir con- [14] Strick, Philip (September 2000). "The Ninth Gate".
ventions pokes fun at the genre, while, at the same time, Sight and Sound. http://www.bfi.org.uk/
honoring it".[16] sightandsound/review/544. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
On his website Groucho Reviews, web critic Peter [15] Corliss, Richard (March 27, 2000). "The Ninth Gate".
Canavese called the film "an insinuating trip into devilish Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/
darkness" and a "sorely underrated occult mystery".[17] article/0,9171,996488,00.html. Retrieved
After the release of The Ninth Gate, Artisan sued Polan- 2009-04-09.
ski for taking more than $1 million from the budget, re- [16] Graham, Bob (March 10, 2000). "Summoning
funds of France’s value-added tax that he did not give to Silliness". San Francisco Chronicle.
the completion bond company guaranteeing Artisan En- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/
tertainment a completed film.[18] 2000/03/10/DD108488.DTL. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
[17] http://www.grouchoreviews.com/reviews/3537
[18] Shprintz, Janet (July 18, 2000). "Artisan Sues
Polanski, Alleges He Took Money". Variety.
4
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Ninth Gate
http://www.variety.com/article/ • The Ninth Gate at AllRovi
VR1117783846.html?categoryid=22&cs=1. Retrieved • The Ninth Gate at Box Office Mojo
2007-05-22. • The Ninth Gate at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Ninth Gate at Metacritic
External links •
•
Texts, engravings and formatting of the book
"Satanic Verses" article from American
• The Ninth Gate at the Internet Movie Database Cinematographer magazine
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Ninth_Gate&oldid=462212935"
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