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Review by Susan Granger
1½ stars out of 4
Problem is: when Roman Polanski directs and Johnny Depp
stars, you expect more than you get in this grim, third-rate horror
mystery. Returning to his Rosemary's Baby roots, Roman Polanski helms
this thriller, casting Johnny Depp as an unscrupulous antique book
dealer who is hired by a wealthy New York publisher, Frank Langella,
who has just acquired a rare 17th century Venetian text called The
Nine Gates of the Kingdom of the Shadows. Langella is a demonologist
who believes that this tome, along with another two, are manuals of
satanic invocation. Legend has it that if the engravings in the books
are assembled properly, Lucifer will be released from Hell. Depp's
assignment is to locate the other two volumes in France and Portugal
and to ascertain their authenticity. Interesting concept. Only what
comes next makes little sense. Depp goes to Europe and develops what
he terms a "growing obsession" with his mission. Predictably, there's
a femme fatale, Lena Olin, along with Polanski's wife, Emmanuelle
Seigneur, who serves as Depp's mysterious guardian. Based on the novel
El Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte, it's been adapted for the
screen by Enrique Urbizu, John Brownjohn, and the director who make
the quest remarkably incoherent and quite lacking in
suspense. Cinematographer Darius Khondji does remarkably sinister
camera work, and production designer Dean Tavoularis creates a
convincing replica of Manhattan since Polanski, who is considered a
fugitive, could not film in the United States. Curiously, if you saw
Eyes Wide Shut, you may find the secret sect of robed society people
interested in the occult vaguely familiar. On the Granger Movie Gauge
of 1 to 10, The Ninth Gate is a blithering baroque 4. Scary?
No. Silly? Yes.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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out of 4
