The Ninth Gate

*****
Ceniza: Even Hell has its heroes, señor.

Watching The Ninth Gate (1999), one of the top 5 films of mine in horror from the 90s, ridiculously critically walloped upon release, will no doubt to me continue to develop it's audience. Some who knee-jerked at it with their poisoned pen/keyboard might also eventually change position. I have done so myself and could imagine reevaluation for Polanski's '99 film would result in different perspective.

I don't know if it was intentional but a lot of smoking in the film. Those anti-nicotene advocates might condemn this on that alone.

The "book detective" aspects, like jetting off to Europe in research of a book in his possession and investigating it's authenticity against two others supposedly written by an author who was in league with Old Scratch, are why I dig it. The attention and affection towards rare, desirable books and the world of the likes of Depp's Corso who authenticate, buy, sell, and advise, often unscrupulously, also won me over. 

You have the Euro locations,  someone killing off the two owners of the other Aristide Torchia "Nine Gates" books and Corso finding their bodies, Emmanuelle Seigner as a peculiar and enigmatic company to Corso who has eyes that often carry a magic and seemingly able to move through the air in flight, Frank Langella as stuffy scholar commissioning Corso to authenticate his Torchia book and always checking in with his "investment" for details although it seems he's close to the situation, Lena Olin as a ferocious pursuer of the Torchia book in Corso's possession and her albino accomplice willing to use violence to get it, an order that dresses up in black robes and celebrates via orgies and chants from Torchia book at Olin's château, and Corso becoming so invested and fascinated by the investigation he feels compelled and drawn to see it through: I am lost as to why this was so condemned.

That and Langella is so good at the pompous, arrogant, self-important Devil authority, having appointed himself worthy to call upon his deity above all others...seeing him proved wrong, suffering for not being so right as he felt he was, is  joie de vivre. The conclusion is often the bone of contention with many because it doesn't give you details of Corso's supposed meeting with the one he sought as Balkan did. It pains folks expected a visual dynamo and getting nothing. I honestly don't think a presentation could have been filmed capable of elaborating what many would be expecting. The way the symbolism works, the images in the books and how they mimic the murders of those Corso communicates, the subtle differences in each book's pictures, and one last forgery that seals Bolkan's fate and secures Corso's was quite the film's grand design towards a fated journey...this was for Corso to experience alone. We are privy to the journey, following him, but it was his to see to its conclusion. I guess we, as Balkan was, unworthy.

They form a kind of satanic riddle. Correctly interpreted with the aid of the original text and sufficient inside information, they are reputed to conjure up the Prince of Darkness in person. - Boris Balkan