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The horror of Roman Polanski 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. For a while it looks like The Ninth Gate, adapted from the novel The Club Dumas by Arturo P'8erez-Reverte, might recapture the beautiful uneasiness of such masterpieces as Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby. 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 cowritten 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 center 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
| uuid: |
6AEA4AD4-B7ED-4888-948D-29C4484EC4F8 |
| upc: |
0012236607472 |
| title: |
The Ninth Gate |
| theatricalDate: |
10-03-2000 |
| stars: |
Johnny Depp
Frank Langella
Lena Olin
Emmanuelle Seigner
Barbara Jefford
Jack Taylor (II)
José López Rodero
Tony Amoni
James Russo
Willy Holt
Allen Garfield
Jacques Dacqmine
Joe Sheridan
Rebecca Pauly
Catherine Benguigui
Maria Ducceschi
Jacques Collard
Dominique Pozzetto
Emanuel Booz
Lino Ribeiro de Sousa |
| purchase date: |
06-09-2006 |
| publisher: |
Lions Gate |
| published: |
18-07-2000 |
| price: |
$9.98 |
| net Rating: |
3.5 |
| MPAA Rating: |
R |
| minutes: |
133 |
| last lookup time: |
179280992 |
| genre: |
Mystery & Suspense
Spain
Amateur Sleuths
4-for-3 Art House & International
4-for-3 Horror
4-for-3 Science Fiction & Fantasy
4-for-3 All DVDs |
| fullTitle: |
The Ninth Gate |
| features: |
Anamorphic
Color
Dolby
Widescreen
NTSC
2.35:1 |
| director: |
Roman Polanski |
| currentValue: |
$4.43 |
| created: |
179280992 |
| country: |
us |
| aspect: |
DVD |
| asin: |
6305897786
|