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Summary
The Ninth Gateending explained an otherworldy and mysterious climax that , while not conclusively pointing to something supernatural , is much too coincidental for that reading not to be considered . guide by Roman Polanski , The Ninth Gatestars Johnny Depp in one of the more unmarked movies of his retentive filmography . Dean Corso ( Depp ) is a rarefied book dealer take by the wealthy and eccentric Boris Balkan ( Frank Langella ) to find all the copy ofThe Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows , a centuries - old Holy Scripture say to be capable of summoning the Devil .
Dean ’s globetrotting journey , one he make cynically for money alone , turns into a suspenseful and psychologically stick undertaking that change his perspective and the hearing ’s . There were three decades betweenPolanski ’s mind - bending and unsettlingRosemary ’s Babyand this 1999 film . WhileThe Ninth Gatedoes not have quite the same dread atmosphere and deep philosophical reading as that film , it ’s still an acute look at spiritual fervor and opinion . The Ninth Gate ’s end has often been criticized , but a deeper look reveals a more thought - elicit slant to the film .
If something tragic or strange happens before , during , or after filming a revulsion movie , it will be find fault on a execration , even if it can be explain .
Boris Balkan Tries To Summon The Devil
The Nine Gates Are Supposedly A Portal To Hell
As Dean move on his journey to develop the two other copies of the book for Boris to complete his appeal , he realizes that in each book he ’s found , three engraving are bless " L.C.F. " while the other six are signal , " A.T. " for Aristide Torchia , the original author of the book of account . Boris alleges that the Devil helped Torchia drop a line the Good Book , and Dean gain , though not in full believes , that " L.C.F. " fend for Lucifer . When Dean trip to Portugal , he finds the last of the books but also discovers Boris has been following him the whole time .
Boris interrupts a diabolical rite using the playscript . To Dean ’s shock and revulsion , Boris murders the premature owner of one of the copy . When Boris elude with the three books , he travels to a remote church to perform the Satanic ritual himself . Dean run after him , and whether it is to hold on him , face him , or mention him is indecipherable . Dean has become to the full ensnared in a cabal he had no idea he was a part of . Boris crucify Dean and forces him to watch as he performs the rite using the nine engravings signed L.C.F.
The Ninth Gateis based on the novelThe Club Dumasby Arturo Pérez - Reverte .
These nine gates appear to grant Boris the power and length of service he seekswhen he brushes his hands over a fire , whole . As the circle of flames he make in the old church service dance toward Dean , stuck in a cakehole in the flooring he ca n’t attract himself out of , he challenges Boris to prove he has the might of Satan . Boris obliges and douses himself in gasoline , fire up himself on firing . His laugh of triumph turn to thigh-slapper of pain in the ass as he suddenly realize his ritual did n’t form .
As Boris burns , Dean frees himself from the floor and grabs the nine engravings , sticking around just a present moment longer to take a gunman and put Boris out of his misery . In the background knowledge ofThe Ninth Gate , Boris has been in secret angling to make a plenty with the Devil , never listen who he hurts or employ . Despite his powerful belief , Dean ’s understanding of the world seems to win out . The Devil can not be marshal , a man can not walk through fire , and it ’s a bullet train that has the office of life and death .
The Girl Is A Biblical Figure
An Unnamed Figure May Not Be Human
A unusual character inThe Ninth Gateis a adult female , played by Emmanuelle Seigner , who is only refer to as " the Girl . “Dean meets the Girl during his travels , and she seems oddly willing to help himsearch for the books . After Dean escape the burning castle , the Girl reappears in his car and buss him . Despite everything he ’s been through in the last few minute , Dean and the Girl cease up throw sexual activity on the priming in a magnetise scene of the duad wholly lose in blissfulness with the burn castle in the backcloth .
They leave the castle grounds andthe Girl remarks how the ritual could have turn , butone of the engravings is a forgery . Dean does n’t give this much mind , but when he parks at a relaxation stop consonant , she go away . On her rear end is a tone telling Dean to chaffer an abandoned shop class where Dean find the final engraving , which falls from behind a cold bookcase . It limn a woman , who looks remarkably like the Girl , sit au naturel atop a firedrake - like beast in the same status she and Dean were just in .
It ’s the biblical Whore of Babylon from the Book of Revelations in the Bible and the ninth etching to complete the ritual . Dean realizes that he has been unknowingly sweep up into a ritual himself and now may be responsible for something he not only did n’t specify but did not trust was potential .
What Is The Ninth Gate?
It’s The Final Key Needed To Open The Gates Of Hell
After Dean finds the concluding etching , he now has everything that is presumably necessary to complete the Satanic ritual that the rage and Boris both failed to discharge . On the engraving behind " Babylon the Great " is the same outside castle that Boris set alight , with the Dominicus top out through the towers .
With this final piece of the puzzler , Dean return to the remote castling that looks remarkably like the one in the engraving . As he approaches , a blind white luminance engulfs him , and the movie ends . Whether this signify the existent Ninth Gate has been open or if Dean ’s idea has been opened to the possible action is left equivocal .
The Real Meaning Of The Ninth Gate’s Ending
Fanaticism And Skepticism Are Two Sides Of The Same Coin
Some considerThe Ninth Gateto be a film where theend actively ruin what was a good movieup until that point in time . While it ’s true that the end of the film does shift the eery tone into something more supernatural and sacredly epic , it ’s still in line with the pic that add up before it . The Ninth Gateis about skepticism and fanaticismand how those two seemingly separate views on faith can drag someone to the same property . Dean spends the film as a non - believer .
He consider Boris ’s views on the Devil foolish and is only interested in the money he mean to incur . Even in the face of more and more supernatural events , Dean clingstone to his insensate logic , unwilling to think that there is something more out there . Conversely , Boris is not only unforced to take on that there are force beyond human knowledge , but that he personally can benefit from them . When Boris dies in the firing , it seems that all of Dean ’s suspiciousness are confirmed . God and the Devil are not real . Those who believe too fierily otherwise can expect a painful death .
The rootage novel referenced several Alexandre Dumas novel , but the movie disregard that aspect of the tale .
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However , things alter in the final second ofThe Ninth Gate . In quick succession , Dean has a sexual liaison that ’s almost a religious experience ; the Girl he ’s been move around with disappears , and he rule a new engraving that looks remarkably like the cleaning woman he just spent the film with . It ’s not the fanatical who is opt to open up the Ninth Gate of Hell ; it ’s the skeptic . Boris hero-worship the Devil and pray to him . There would be no challenge , nothing to profit for that evil to break itself to someone who is already an acolyte .
Dean is a far greater prize . He believes himself above prayer and religious belief , and therefore , the Devil . By making Dean , in particular , the key to start the Ninth Gate , his fall is much greater and the power of the Devil more unmistakable . The Ninth Gatestresses the grandness of being uncoerced to accept what otherwise may seem unsufferable without teeter over into fixation or unsighted obedience . Boris may have died , but Dean ’s sinister journey is just beginning .
How The Ninth Gate Ending Was Received
Most Complained About The Ending, But Some Referenced The Dark Humor
The Ninth Gatehas a low 43 % critic evaluation on Rotten Tomatoes , and the audience mark is only 58 % , showing that something about the movie just did n’t work for everyone . The legendaryRoger Ebertonly gave the picture two stars . He explain his letdown by saying that " all through the first hour there is rationality for Bob Hope . " However , he said the motion-picture show never paid it off , and while it had good thing in it , he could only ask , " What ? " when he watched the final scene .
" It ’s just that a motion-picture show of such big themes should be about more than the portion of a few people ; while at the end I did n’t hanker for striking limited effect , I did wish for prominent information – something awing , not just a fade to white . "
Some critics who praise the moving picture , including Bob Graham of theSF Gate , recognized the dark bodily fluid ofThe Ninth Gate , which many of its biggest supporters praise . According to Graham , Polanski " has make out up with 75 percent of a very good picture but has a devil of a fourth dimension with the supernatural ending . " With that sound out , Graham said Polanski wanted the ending to be " ridiculous " in a " darkly funny celluloid . "
For fans , The Ninth Gatehas a 3.1 rating onLetterboxd , which lay it slightly above average . One reviewer comparedThe Ninth Gateending to Polanski ’s previous movies , writing,“the last 30 minute or so which deign into the dreamlike supernatural revulsion that Polanski had made so memorable with Rosemary ’s Baby and The Tenant . " However , they also say that it is a " big footmark down from those films . "
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Cast
The Ninth Gate follows a rare Koran bargainer who embark on a ball-shaped quest to authenticate a orphic text , The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows . As he delves deeper , he uncovers a menacing world of murder , deception , and occult practices .
The Ninth Gate follows a rare book dealer who embarks on a global quest to authenticate a mysterious text, The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows. As he delves deeper, he uncovers a sinister world of murder, deception, and occult practices.
