Die neun Pforten (1999)

Die neun Pforten: Directed by Roman Polanski. With Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, Lena Olin, Emmanuelle Seigner. A rare book dealer, while seeking out the last two copies of a demon text, gets drawn into a conspiracy with supernatural overtones.

“Congratulations and thanks to Polanski u0026amp; Co. for making a truly enjoyable film.(and thatu0026#39;s something considering the kind of drivel that is available for our entertainment these days!) For those who keep moaning about being left-out of the ending or the meaning of the film-stick to your Disneyu0026#39;s Classics or else grow up, read more books and be more imaginative! These people probably need a on-line walkthrough to go to their own toilet and cant appreciate a little mystery or enigma! Letu0026#39;s face it-the worldu0026#39;s a mysterious place and you cant expect neat and convenient signposts! The film as I understood it: Unknown ages ago Satan had given mankind a u0026quot;manualu0026quot; describing how to acquire godly powers, in the form of u0026quot;Delomelaniconu0026quot;, a legendary scroll written by no other than u0026quot;Louis Cyphreu0026quot; himself! A Venetian demonologist, Aristide Torchia, acquired a copy of this work and adapted its text and engravings to a book he called u0026quot;The nine gates to the kingdom of shadowsu0026quot;. Torchia deliberately hid the true knowledge of the u0026quot;Delomelaniconu0026quot; in three variations of his book-a measure to weed out the lamebrains who read the book u0026quot;just for a Sunday eveningu0026quot;. Only three copies survived his torture and eventual burning at a stake.It is of these volumes that Balkan speaks of in the film. Corso is a cynic and only realize the true significance of the u0026quot;Nine gatesu0026quot; as he research for Balkanu0026#39;s assignment. In the end it becomes an obsession for him, too. As for the ending … seeing the last engraving Corso finally realises the true meaning of his quest and he is magically transported to the Devilu0026#39;s castle for an audience with Satan himself. From the choice of actors and the musical score to the locations, the use of SFX, visual metaphors … u0026quot;The ninth gateu0026quot; excels. Polanskiu0026#39;s vision is unique, to put it mildly, and the acting by Depp,Lagella and Jafford adds realism to the the quirky characters. Films of such delectable european flavour are indeed rare in these days of uninspired, talentless films. Please dont give us a sequel(u0026quot;Return to the ninth gateu0026quot;, u0026quot;The ninth gate-part 2u0026quot;) ! For those who found the film to be u0026quot;heavyu0026quot; – give up on the original story u0026quot;The Club Dumasu0026quot; by Arturo Peres-Reverte … you will be confused some more. As for the rest, please find a copy and enjoy since it is much more detailed than the story and have those cool engravings!!!!”