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THE NINTH GATE Send This Review to a Friend
Greed in the trading of rare books and the mystique of worshipping the devil is meshed in a silly, eerie tale made to look more interesting than it deserves to be, thanks to the directorial know-how of Roman Polanski, who applies his skills like the cinematic virtuoso he is. But neither God nor the devil could rescue this odd tale, co-written by Polanski with Enrique Urbiz and John Brownjohn, from the depths of banality.
Ruthless collector Boris Balkan (Frank Langella) uses manipulative dealer Dean Corso (Johnny Depp) to hunt down copies of a 17th century work called "The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of the Shadows," supposedly adapted from a book written by the devil himself. The collected illustrations of engravings supposedly hold the key to entering the kingdom of the devil. Got it?
The story isn't worth the trouble, although Polanski imbues it with intriguing camera work and an atmosphere enhanced by the strange presence of beautiful Emmanuelle Seigner as a mystery woman, Lena Olin as a conspirator and assorted weird goings-on, including a series of deaths and chases. It only works if one is an uncritical sucker for this sort of gibberish. An Artisan Entertainment release.
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