Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Ninth Gate (1999) - Class and atmosphere galore in underrated Polanski thriller

10/18/2021

The Ninth Gate (1999) - Class and atmosphere galore in underrated Polanski thriller

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A dark and menacing poster for Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate

A New York-based rare book dealer is contracted to locate and authenticate two 17th century books, which legend says has a diabolical parentage.

The Ninth Gate is written by John Brownjohn (Tess (1979)) and Enrique Urbizu (Cachito (1996)), adapting the novel The Club Dumas/El Club Dumas (1993) by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (Falcó (2016)), and directed by French-Polish master filmmaker Roman Polanski (Knife in the Water/Nóz w Wodzie (1962)), whose 15th feature it is.

It is a dark and sprightly Gothic thriller about books and the devil. The story is a bit knotty but only to the extent which many other great films also are knotty. It is a gloomy and noir-like atmosphere that defines The Ninth Gate, like a modern The Omen (1976), and very Polanski.

Wojciech Kilar's (The Pianist (2002)) score is suspenseful with a tragic edge and masterful. On the performance side, Johnny Depp (The Tourist (2010)) does well as the intellectual, semi-alcoholic book detective protagonist; Frank Langella (Superman Returns (2006)) is somber as a satanical millionaire; and Emmanuelle Seigner (RPM (1997)) is ideal as a diabolical woman, who may be suspected of being Satan herself.

2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Carnage (2011) - Polanski castigates modern parents in great play adaptation
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
The Ghost Writer/The Ghost (2010) - A master at work
Chinatown (1974) - Polanski's masterpiece

Top 10: Best UK movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Film Excess' 7th birthday movie masterpiece: The Fearless Vampire Killers/Dance of the Vampires (1967) - Witness Polanski's incredible, underrated Gothic horror comedy
Cul-de-Sac (1966) - Edge-of-the-world island tale meanders at times, but is ultimately a winner
Two Men and a Wardrobe/Dwaj Ludzie z Szafą (1958, short) - Polanski's remarkable, surreal short

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 38 mil. $

Box office: 58.4 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.53 times its cost)

[The Ninth Gate was released 25 August (France, Spain, Belgium) and runs 133 minutes. Polanski had read Urbizu's script and then Pérez-Reverte's novel, liking both. Not a believer in the occult himself, he had Brownjohn rewrite the script and cast a persistent Depp in the lead in spite of suspecting him of being too young for the part. 10 companies collaborated in the financing and production of the film. Shooting took place from June - October 1998 in France, including in Paris, in Portugal, including in Lisbon, and in Spain. Depp met future wife Vanessa Paradis during the lengthy shoot. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release Mission to Mars, to a 6.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5) and grossed 18.6 mil. $ (31.8 % of the total gross). The film won a European Film award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2/4 star review, translating to 3 notches under this one. US co-producing company Artisan Entertainment sued Polanski following the release for absconding 1 mil. $ in VAT refunds from France; the conclusion to that suit is unknown. Polanski returned with Parisienne People by Roman Polanski (1999, short) and theatrically with The Pianist (2002). Depp returned in The Astronaut's Wife (1999). The Ninth Gate is rotten at 43 % with a 5.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Ninth Gate?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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10/18/2021

The Ninth Gate (1999) - Class and atmosphere galore in underrated Polanski thriller

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