The Ninth Gate (1999)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1999
	Director: Roman Polanski (The Pianist)
	Actors: Johnny Depp (Dead Man, From Hell), Frank Langella (Robot & Frank), Lena Olin (Chocolat), Emmanuelle Seigner
	Country: E, F, USA
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 03.09.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Dean Corso (Depp) is expert in ancient books and is hired by a millionaire to compare one of his books about the devil to the two other existing copies, located in Europe.
Review:  A 15-year old movie that I haven't seen in ages but from which I keep a good memory, mostly of the ending! But that didn't prevent me from wanting to see it now in the better conditions that offer the Blu-ray technology. Unfortunately, the current edition of the movie dates back from 2009, and I was dissapointed by the image quality (a high level of blue noise is present at the top of the images during dark scenes). Luckily the sound quality is excellent, which is important as music plays a large role in setting the atmosphere of the movie, and the atmosphere is everything. The director confirmed it in the otherwise useless 2-minute making-of documentary on the Blu-ray. The atmosphere of slow investigation by the manipulated Corso is great. The locations (Spain, Portugal, France), the colors and Polanski's perfect camera motions also help creating that special mood. The special effects are sparse and discrete but used for the best effect (the green eyes of the girl, the unreal sky above the castle). I loved seeing Johnny Depp playing differently than what he did in the last 10 years, reminding me the good actor he can be. Emmanuelle Seigner is brillant in the casual way she roams about. Frank Langella is also great, I love his character and how he plays it. The most remarkable scene is when he enters the castle towards the end in his impeccable darks grey striped suit like he owns the place, and snatches the book out of the priestress' hands while teaching a contemptuous lessons to the speechless audience. Thanks to all of this, it is for me very hard to find a negative point to this movie. It is a great horror movie without being one, showing us the dark side of human nature in a sober yet haunting way surprising for the year 1999, as I usually associate those qualities to movies of the 70's-80's like Dressed to Kill. I am now tempted to watch more Polanski movies starting with The Pianist.
Rating: 9 /10