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 The Ninth Gate (DVD)
 The Ninth Gate (DVD) ... / DVD released 23 April, 2001 at Vision Video Ltd. / Features of the DVD: PAL, Widescreen / For a while it looks like Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate, adapted from the novel The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, might recapture the beautiful uneasiness of such masterpieces as Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby. The horror of a Roman Polanski picture is not about spectacle and shock but a goose-pimply sense of evil lurking just outside the frame and hidden behind the faces of slightly unsettling characters. Here, a calm, almost sleepy Johnny Depp plays cynical, unscrupulous rare-book hunter Dean Corso, who's hired by demonologist Boris Balkan (Frank Langella) to authenticate a rare volume that, legend has it, was co-written by Lucifer himself. Dean leaves a Gothic looking New York (re-created in Europe by Polanski as a sinister city of shadows) for Portugal and Paris to compare Balkan's volume with the two copies known to be in existence and uncovers a mystery with unholy ramifications. He also finds himself at the centre of a conspiracy that involves Balkan, a widow who will stop at nothing to retrieve Balkan's book (Lena Olin, who gleefully bites and claws her way through the part), and a mysterious guardian "angel" (Polanski's wife, Emmanuelle Seigner) who shadows his every step. The Ninth Gate is full of rumbling menace and deliciously unsettling imagery, but Polanski's languorous direction and purposefully vague story render a film that's eerie without every becoming thrilling. It's perpetually on the verge of becoming interesting--right up to its obscure final image.-Sean Axmaker, Amazon.comOn the DVD: Roman Polanski provides us with his first ever DVD commentary here, and makes his eye for detail and atmosphere very apparent in talking about design and his use of the camera. He also announces his love for the quality of DVD since he's always hated VHS. You also see him briefly amongst other interviewees in a two-minute featurette. There's also a trailer, 10 pages of production notes, and generous cast and crew information. One novelty is a gallery of The Nine Gates books' spot-the-difference satanic drawings. Best of all is an isolated track of Wojciech Kilar's excellent score, which is as well preserved by this transfer as the rich palette of earthy browns used by Polanski to paint the screen. --Paul TonksNewest Review: ... with. Corso is gripped by this mission and starts to struggle with evil. He gets involved with a demonic girl to help on his ... more ... quest and finds there are others pursuing the book as well. He finds out that the book could open the gates to hell with murder and other vicious crimes commited along the way. The journey ends in a last man/woman standing battle in France.
Polanski's influence on the film is evident. It is very dark and the intensity of the film is there for everyone to see. It's mostly set in Estern Europe so there is great use of erie buildings and dark scenery.
Depp is fantastic as the mysteriously conflicted Dean Corso. He exce...more |
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The Ninth Gate [DVD] [2000]
For a while it looks like Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate, adapte ... Last Update 28.11.2009 05:47
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The Ninth Gate (DVD): Worshipping the devil (1002 words)
by - written on 14/04/09 (Very useful, 170 readings)
Rating:
Dean Corso is a ruthlessly ambitious rare book collector and seller, who will do anything to make money. Then he is hired by book collector Boris Balkan to hunt down the last remaining copies of a satanic manuscript, with the aim of then working out which of the copies is the authentic version. Corso soon realises that other people are after the copies and they will not rest until they have them. His hunt takes him to Europe, where he is shadowed by a woman who appears to be on his side, but then again, who knows? Strange, supernatural things are happening and Corso finds himself in over his head. Can he find the final copies? And when he has, will he realise what it all ... Read the complete review
On The Highway To Hell (945 words)
by - written on 14/09/05 (Very useful, 354 readings)
Rating:
Having experienced the dark world of Roman Polanski for the first time a couple of years ago on a friend's recommendation I didn't hesitate when I saw one of his more recent offerings, The Ninth Gate, in HMV. My first taste of Polanski was the excellent Rosemary's Baby and so I was quite looking forward to seeing his latest dance with the devil. Whether the Ninth Gate would be a film I'd enjoy as much as the later was still up in the air but add Johnny Depp into the mix and I was quite looking forward to seeing what the end result would be. Depp plays Dean Corso a New York book dealer who will go to any lengths to locate the books his clients are after. Quite ... Read the complete review
The Ninth Gate (DVD): Lots of foreplay but no climax (1353 words)
by - written on 02/11/01 (Very useful, 81 readings)
Rating:
I must state at the very start that Roman Polanski has always been one of my favourite directors. He has over the years, made some acknowledged classics (Repulsion-1965, Rosemary's Baby-1968, Chinatown1974) and a few under rated but nonetheless outstanding films (The Fearless Vampire Killers 1967, Tess 1979, Frantic-1988 and the strange Bitter Moon-1992). I was looking forward to this film but I'm afraid to say ultimately I was very disappointed. *THE CAST* Dean Corso played by Johnny Depp Boris Balkan played by Frank Langella Liana Telfer played by Lena Olin The Girl played by Emmanuelle Seigner Baroness Kessler played ... Read the complete review
Oh dear (816 words)
by - written on 21/06/01 (Very useful, 44 readings)
Rating:
On the list of my favourite films of all time this one is probably around the middle. It's certainly not the worst film that I've ever seen, but it's not going to sweep the board at the Oscars either! In fact, this film can only be classed as average in every way (in my humble opinion). To be honest I'd never heard of this film until last night when I came across it quite by accident whilst flicking through the film listings on Sky. It actually sounded very promising from the couple of lines devoted to describing it, as it stars a certain Mr J Depp who has been in some absolutely corking films in his time we bravely decided to give it a go. ... Read the complete review
The Ninth Gate (DVD): Unimpressive Devil-Dabbler (991 words)
by - written on 13/04/01 (Very useful, 45 readings)
Rating:
Roman Polanski is hardly a prolific director so when he does bring something new out you might expect it to be rather good.It usually isn't. Johnny Depp is a great actor, so when you see him in amovie you think that he may have been able to pick and choose a role in a great movie. He usually doesn't. It wasn't my choice to rent ths movie - if it were, I never would have touched it with a bargepole and I would have been damn right as well. Its a stinker. A horror/thriller set amongst the world of private book collecting...the mind boggles. But if it boggles a little more then there might have been a movie here worth watching rather than Polanski's ... Read the complete review
The Ninth Gate (DVD) : Oh dearfrom Shallow
21/06/2001
The Ninth Gate (DVD) : Unimpressive Devil-Dabblerfrom wampyrii
13/04/2001
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