The Ninth Gate Movie Review 1999

Less-than-scrupulous rare-book dealer Dean Corso (Depp) is hired by wealthy publishing mogul Balkan (Langella) to find and authenticate three copies of a 17th-century book that supposedly holds the secrets to conjuring up the devil. Naturally, he encounters many spooky and deadly people along the way. Depp is perfectly cast as the sleazy bookworm and every scene is appropriately atmospheric, but Polanski's glacial pace and lack of any dramatic tension keeps this flick from getting its due.

Distribution

Artisan Entertainment, 2700 Colorado Ave., Ste. 200, Santa Monica, CA 90404, Phone: (310)449-9200, Fax: (310)255-3730, URL: http://www.artisanent.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 127 minutes.
Originally from French, Spanish.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Satanism, Books & Bookstores, Femme Fatale, New York, New York, Devils

Screenplay

Roman Polanski, John Brownjohn, Enrique Urbizu

Cast

Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, Lena Olin, Emmanuelle Seigner, Barbara Jefford, Jack Taylor, James Russo, Jose Lopez Rodero

Cinematography

Darius Khondji

Director

Roman Polanski

Music

Wojciech Kilar

Producer

Artisan Entertainment