Johnny Depp plays Dean Corso, a rare book dealer who gets pulled into a hunt for the last two copies of a 17th-century text that can summon the Devil. That setup sounds like a great hook. What follows is a film that spends its runtime chasing its own tail instead of delivering the horror it promises.
Trailer, via Lionsgate Movies.
Corso and the Book That Summoned the Devil
The Ninth Gate opens with Corso being hired by wealthy collector Boris Balkan. Balkan has bought a copy of The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows, a book by 17th-century author Aristide de Torchia said to be able to summon the Devil. Balkan believes only one of the three surviving copies is authentic, and he hires Corso to travel to Europe to inspect the other two.
Corso’s job is simple on paper: look at the books, check the signatures, report back. The execution is not. The film spends most of its 133 minutes on Corso’s travels across Europe, his encounters with various book sellers and collectors, and his growing suspicion that someone wants him dead. The mystery is supposed to build dread. Instead it builds confusion.
Green Eyes and the Widow’s Seduction
A mysterious woman, nicknamed “Green Eyes,” shadows Corso throughout his journey. She appears at odd moments, disappears just as quickly, and never quite explains why she is following him. Her presence is meant to be unnerving. Mostly it just becomes a running thread that the film never resolves.
Liana Telfer, the widow of Andrew Telfer, is a bigger problem. Andrew Telfer sold Balkan the copy of The Nine Gates that Balkan now owns. He killed himself shortly after the sale, leaving Liana behind. When Corso interviews her, she seduces him, hoping he will sell the book to her. Their encounter is tense, and Corso refuses. The next morning, he finds the man to whom he had entrusted the book hanged in his shop, in a way depicted in one of the engravings in The Nine Gates.
That death is the film’s first real scare. It sticks. The rest of the scares do not.
The Cenizas and the Signed Engravings
Corso travels to Toledo, Spain, to speak to the Ceniza Brothers, book restorers who owned Balkan’s copy before the Telfers. They show him that of the book’s nine engravings, only six are signed “AT.” The other three are signed “LCF,” for Lucifer. That distinction is central to the whole plot. Corso’s job is to determine which copy is the authentic one, and the signatures are the key.
The film treats this discovery with solemnity. It should have treated it with dread. Instead it treats it like exposition, a list of facts to be explained rather than a threat to be felt.
Fargas and the Drowned Collector
Corso travels to Sintra, Portugal, to meet Victor Fargas, who owns a copy of The Nine Gates. Three of the engravings in Fargas’s copy are signed “LCF,” and the ones signed this way have subtle differences from those signed “AT.” Corso relays his findings to Balkan, who orders him to acquire Fargas’s copy. The next day, Green Eyes takes Corso to see Fargas, but they find that he has been drowned.
That drowning is the film’s climax. It is also where the plot finally clicks into place. The book is dangerous. People die around it. The Devil is real, and he is waiting at the ninth gate.
Balkan’s Secret and the Final Twist
Balkan is the film’s villain, and he is played with menace by Frank Langella. He hires Corso, but he is not a straightforward employer. He knows more than he lets on about the book’s history. His obsession with finding the authentic copy is not just about collecting. It is about power, and about something darker.
The film’s final act reveals Balkan’s secret. He has been hunting the book for decades, and he has been willing to kill to get it. The ending is dark, and it fits the tone the film has built.
The Problem With the Middle
The problem is the middle. The film spends far too long on Corso’s travels, his meetings with minor characters, and his repeated encounters with Green Eyes. These scenes are meant to build tension. They mostly build filler.
The pacing drags. The mystery stalls. By the time the film reaches its final twist, the audience has forgotten what the stakes were.
A Cult Classic That Missed Its Mark
The Ninth Gate is a flawed film, but it is not a bad one. Polanski directs with his usual precision, and the production design is excellent. The locations in Europe are atmospheric, and the scenes set in bookstores and libraries feel lived-in. The actors all do competent work, and Depp is particularly good as the skeptical Corso who slowly realizes the danger around him.
The film was released in 1999, and it was compared unfavorably to Polanski’s earlier supernatural film Rosemary’s Baby (1968) at the time. That comparison is fair. Rosemary’s Baby is tighter, scarier, and more focused. The Ninth Gate is a bigger, more ambitious film, but ambition does not excuse the slow middle.
The film was commercially unsuccessful in North America. It earned a worldwide gross of $58.4 million against a $38 million budget. That is a modest success by any standard, and the film has since been described as a cult classic.
The Verdict on The Ninth Gate
The Ninth Gate is a film that gets better with each viewing. The first time through, it is frustrating. The middle stretches on, the mystery stalls, and the scares arrive late. The second time through, the pieces fall into place. Balkan’s motives become clearer. The book’s power becomes more terrifying. The film earns its reputation as a cult classic, but only after you have sat through its weakest hour.
The film is not a waste of time. It is a film that asks for patience. That patience is rewarded, but only partially.
Key Facts
- Runtime: 133 minutes
- Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Horror
- Directed by Roman Polanski
- Written by Roman Polanski, John Brownjohn, Enrique Urbizu
- Premiered at San Sebastián, Spain, on 25 August 1999
- Worldwide gross: $58.4 million
- Budget: $38 million
- Score: 4.4 out of 10
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