The Ninth Gate
The Ninth Gate
R | 24 December 1999 (USA)
The Ninth Gate Trailers

An all-expenses-paid international search for a rare copy of the book 'The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows' brings an unscrupulous book dealer deep into a world of murder, double-dealing and Satanic worship.

Reviews
Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
sacratez It was one of Jonny Depps earlier movies. Acting and the cast were very good. Story line was beautiful written. At times it seemed it was going to be drawn out then to my surprise the director was right on queue. Now to go do some studying on the 9th gate and see where in the Catholic books it may be written at least about the 8th gate.
jaswarmm One of the greatest movie i have ever seen.In fact after shawshank redemption,i admire this the most.I was very curious about what happens next and so on throughout this.Johnny depp had a very mature character which suits to the plot of the movie
M34 I can't think of a film where I wanted so much for it to succeed yet witnessed absolute failure. The book, the Dumas Club: Ninth Gate, is comfortably between mass junk Da Vinci Code, and if you are not well read, the sublime but less approachable, Foucault Pendulum. And a book detective is a great set up. But the film is terrible. Firstly, I am sorry but Emmanuelle Seigner can NOT act. She just can't. Her sole skill seems to be that she has put up with Polanski as his wife. Lena Olin, Langela and Depp tend toward campy acting, but in the right circumstances can be terrific. In this case their camp is not subdued but amplified and the result is embarrassing. Do yourself a favor: With exactly the first half of the film and then switch it off never to return. Any idiot can imagine a better ending than the mess this descends into.
timotheyido I first saw this near it's release & was totally oblivious to it's subtle charms. Having re-watched it again, and again, with new eyes & consciousness I must say it's up there with the most cherished films in my collection. I won't give away anything in regards to plot/spoilers but I will say that the beautiful woodcuts in the film bear more attention than the camera gives them. For me The Ninth Gate is Polanski's love letter to the occult, far superior than his other films that dip a toe in those waters and are somehow held in much higher regard. Depp is so superb throughout I could almost forgive him for that Jack Sparrow nonsense (how many though, really?). The supporting cast are all on the money & the score by Wojciech Kilar (Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Pianist) is one to seek out in isolation. If you like the film it's also well worth checking the net for sites expanding & discussing it's themes- The Ninth Gate continues to be appreciated & inspire new audiences many years after it's release.