Cheap The Ninth Gate (DVD) (Johnny Depp, Frank Langella) (Roman Polanski) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Ninth Gate

An eerie delight
It has been a while since Roman Polanski has created a good movie. In the Ninth Gate Polanski shows us that he still has the knack for turning out an attractive and interesting film. The Ninth Gate is a neat razor cut out of a wonderful but convoluted book, The Club Dumas. The concept of a banned book from the 17th century slowly emerges out of a quest to authenticate a part of The Three Musketeers.
In the Ninth Gate our mercenary "hero" played by Johnny Depp is immediatly put in harm's way with a charge to authenticate a book supposedly co-authored by the devil. Polanksi skillfully leads us into a suspensful mystery that mid-way through begins to get atmospheric and supernatural.
What the movie does not do is toss buckets of blood into the viewer's face as a idiot's version of horror and suspense. What the movie does do is lead one deeper and deeper into a eerie and scary world of ruthless people and the creepy thought that the book might actually be written by the Devil. The music is at once beautiful and atmospheric. The supporting cast is perfect, especially Frank Langella who is haughty and villanous. We are also treated to Emmanualle Seigner who let us think she is an angel, or a demon, or a familiar.
The DVD version has a voice over commentary by Polanski who explains the ins and out of the film. There is also a feature that singles out the music. The DVD edition is crisp and clear.
Some have said that The ninth Gate displays Hitchcock style. It actually shows Polanski style with a nod to Val Lewton. It show us a character who increasingly has to look over his shoulder for fear of some dread fiend behind him. But the fiend is allowed to live mostly in the viewer's mind and not in the viewer's eye.

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one of Polanski's best (and most underrated)
Rewatching this movie recently I was struck by how much it improves upon subsequent viewings. The subtle nuances of Johnny Depp's performance reveal themselves only to confirm that he is definitely one of the greatest living actors working today.

It's easy to see why mainstream audiences stayed away from this movie. There is an uneasy mix of playful, black humour and serious dread throughout that constantly keeps the viewer off balance -- in a good way. Also, Depp plays a decidedly unlikable character -- right from the start, where he screws a hapless family out of rare, expensive books, establishes that he is an unscrupulous book dealer only in it for the money. However, Depp's own natural charisma maintains interest in his character and even makes him kinda sympathetic in a weird way as he gradually realizes that he is in way over his head.

The use of European locations is excellent and effectively establishes an atmospheric vibe that gets me every time. It doesn't hurt that the film is shot by DP extraordinare, Darius Khondji (Seven). Every frame of this movie is beautifully shot.

The DVD itself is pretty good. The extras are a bit on the slim side with a superficial (and extremely brief!) Making Of featurette but the real crowning touch is an audio commentary by the man himself, Roman Polanski. He starts off a little slow but once he gets going, offers quite a few interesting tidbits and views on filmmaking (and, of course, the movie itself) and is definitely worth a listen for Polanski fans.

This is an underrated film that is definitely worth a look if you like something a little different in your films. It doesn't hold your hand like most Hollywood fodder does and this a refreshing change.

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The Worst Movie I Ever Viewed
I made the mistake of seeing this in the theatre...DO NOT BUY THIS MOVIE! It is far and away the most disappointing movie experience of my like.