Nick Duguay On my second rewatch I upped this film half a star. It's genuinely pretty entertaining, and I think the first time that I saw it, I wasn't quite expecting such a "commercial" film. I think I was right on the tail end of finishing Venus in Fur in fact, so I was looking for something more... art-house. At any rate, this film is highly entertaining, a slow burning thriller, the type that Polanski is so damn good at. As always, beautiful, beautiful sets, lighting, and camera work. I have no idea why people say that Depp was miscast, I thought he was fantastic.

nokios-13499 Try to forget about the name Polanski, and watch the film.The plot is not different from any light stupid entertaining story of a B category film.Just because of the name of the director, people thought it has a great artistic, esoteric or philosophical value...It has not.It is good to watch especially for those who are interested in religion, history, old books and culture in general..By the way, Lucifer is described in the Bible as a very beautiful angel and Polanski knows this for sure. This is why I was shocked by the different comments wondering about the "girl" (Seigner)..No doubt at all, she is Lucifer.TSorry to say it, this only shows the low level of culture and knowledge of some commentators that praised the film and found esoteric and philosophical ideas and more bla bla bla that necessitated watching it many times !!..If you paid for the DVD, I can understand, but otherwise, it is a loss of time. Watch another movie with something new! Conclusion: Good entertainment...No real value.

one-nine-eighty Johnny Depp plays a book specialist, Dean Corso, who's hired to by Frank Langella's Boris Balkan to authenticate an occult books called the Ninth Gate. With one of only three remaining copies of this book to hand, the others being destroyed over time by the Church and religious fanatics, he travels to Portugal and France to compare the book against the other two surviving copies. He comes to the conclusion that all three remaining copies share a secret but before he can investigate fully he's thrust into an adventure he isn't ready for which exposes him to a dark underworld he wasn't aware of. Not everything is as it seems, and not everyone is who they suggest they are.This is an underrated and brilliantly intelligent film which shows that you don't need glitzy special effects to make a film which audiences will enjoy. A good story and some suspense with occasional mystery will trump Hollywood CGI any day (although I have to admit that there is some elements of CGI in the film but for the most part it's low key and not too obvious). This film probably isn't for the fast-food film fans of today, it's not an action film and if you have a brain you can see lots of layers to the film - unlike modern films which are 'what you see is what you get'. Directed by Roman Polanski and primarily filmed in central Europe (due to being wanted for crimes in America) the audience is kept on tenterhooks as it follows Depp's character on his journey of discovery and danger. The film is based on the book "El Club Dumas" by Arturo Pérez-Reverte which looks at secret satanic societies attempts to meet with the Devil himself (or herself). I'd lump this film in with other supernatural/occult films, the likes of "End of Days" (although there is a lot less action), "Stigmata" (but slower in pace), "Don't look now" (without the threat of a serial killer), "The Wicker Man" (without the orgies). It feels like an updated version of late 70's and early 80's supernatural/ occult films, maybe even some of the later Hammer House films which dealt with the Devil rather than monsters in the night. The audience learns information at the same time as Corso does so although it isn't a fast paced spectacle it is engaging, more in line with classic mystery films unlike modern ones where audiences have advanced knowledge of events, this is film 'school' not film 'kindergarten' after all. There is a lot more to this film than what you see on screen, it's like an onion with various layers of content, but some of it is a little too clever for modern audiences (sorry but it's true, especially when I read some of the reviews here which missed the point). I'm loving some of the reviews and theories found here and it's warming to see that despite the idiots who didn't get this there are some people who really did get a grasp of it, bravo to you. I enjoyed this and I'd happily watch it again. I'm giving this a 8 out of 10.

willclayburn the film is great when the protagonist begins the journey. reluctantly taking on the task of locating a book nearly lost to time but all copies are being collected. nefarious cults and a mysterious helper cloud his mind as he faces death and if forced to do what he doesn't wish to do. seriously there is a jump off a cliff in the end i recommend shutting the movie off when the green eyes make sense. all that comes after is a crappy cartoony light and castle i admit a good ending to this film would have been difficult an Polanski didn't meet it.Depp is great in his role