Xixax Film Forum

I just saw this movie and I really enjoyed most of it. But I didn't really understand the ending. I can't figure out whether it does have a meaning or not. Therefore I don't really know what to make of this movie... :?  

Would some helpful soul explain it to me, or show me a place where I can read about it?

Which part specifically?  I haven't seen it in a while but maybe I can help

by the way, I thought this movie was just okay

I also thought it was "just okay".

I didn't get 3 things about the ending:

1: What's it suppose to mean when that "mysterious girls" face is changing, while they are having sex outside that castle?
2: Why is the "mysterious girl" on the 9. "drawing"?
3: Who is that girl anyway? :?

I'd say the woman is satan herself.

I actually just wrote a couple paragraphs on how Roman Polanski always makes dark and evil films, but I deleted them because this is a thread on The Ninth Gate, not Roman Polanski. Basically, in a nutshell, what I wrote was that all his films deal with evil, corruption, ambition, greed. Specifically, I'm talking about Rosemary's Baby, MacBeth, Chinatown, Frantic, Pianist, and Ninth Gate. These are the only ones I've seen, MacBeth being the last (caught it on cable a couple weeks ago). It wasn't until MacBeth that I realized that all his films deal with this common thread. Has anyone else made that distinction, or am I just being an asshole and stating the obvious?

With the way my day is going, someone is going to respond by telling me that he's directed a couple episodes of the Smurfs, or the Sesame Street. Imagine that, Roman Polanski's Sesame Street.

I hate that, making an interesting statement, then being contradicted a minute later. I can't think of an example, but I'm sure one day I'll think of one.

Yes, the woman is some sort of dark force (see:  flying down a staircase) maybe Jezebel or the antichrist?

ninth gate = great!!

There are also some strange symbols that I've yet to understand, like the bulldog outside the Parisian Baronness' burning apartment.

Two symbols that signal turning points are shoes and glass. Think a moment on how many times there was broken glass in the film: when Corso is beaten along the Seine and the spirit-girl saves him and he steps on his own eyeglasses; in the Baroness' apartment there is broken glass on the floor; searching behind the minibar in his Paris hotel room for the stolen book; the window at the chateau when Corso and the girl enter the second floor window; and the final step is when the Girl leaves the note under with windshield at the Shell station. The message all theses symbols send collectively is that Corso is breaking through to a new clarity of understanding of the universe and his role in it. He wears the broken glasses for awhile, then inexplicably finds another pair (with horn-rims, get it?).

hey sigur, where did you get that eyecandy avatar of yours. it kicks. did you edit it yourself? brilliant stuff.

Quote from: Phil Marlowehey sigur, where did you get that eyecandy avatar of yours. it kicks. did you edit it yourself? brilliant stuff.

Yeah, it's eyecandy.....prime stuff!!!  :shock:

I just have to go on record stating that I hated "The Ninth Gate" with an all-consuming passion.  Thank you.

Quote from: cecil b. dementedninth gate = great!!

Finally! Someone likes this film, I think is so well crafted, another 99 gem.

I've always thought that Depp's character has a similar journey as Cruise in EWS, searching/discovering different things, but facing similar obstacles trough it.

Quote from: Fernando

Quote from: cecil b. dementedninth gate = great!!

Finally! Someone likes this film, I think is so well crafted, another 99 gem.

I've always thought that Depp's character has a similar journey as Cruise in EWS, searching/discovering different things, but facing similar obstacles trough it.

I agree. I felt the same way about Depps character.

i saw the first half hour or so but then i fell a sleep. from what i saw, i saw a nice looking film, mybe with some good ideas but with pretty uninterresting caracters and dark satanic tones that seemed a bit silly and old in the not cool way.

I state the following:

the movie was enthralling and the acting was solid i must say however the change in our hero i sudden and unexplained. he goes from ruthless book dealer to wanting to raise satan. the movie does not adequately address this change secondly the ending is horrible leaves everything in the air and the ninja demon chick is not fully explained. maybe my need for a nice finale is killing this movie for me but it leaves too much unanswered.  :shock:

And to you Phil: "watch the hole movie and then comment on it!"

Quote from: Sigur RósAnd to you Phil: "watch the hole movie and then comment on it!"

i did not watch the whole movie, nor did i comment on the whole movie. i saw half of the movie and then i commented on what i saw, as stated above.

wasnt my meaning to sound arrogant if thats what youre saying.

Quote from: Phil Marlowe
wasnt my meaning to sound arrogant if thats what youre saying.

No, I was the one sounding arrogant!  :-D

I hope we can all agree on one thing:  Emmanuelle Seigner is among the worst actresses who have ever lived.  Thank you.

yeah, but shes pretty.

Quote from: polkabluesI hope we can all agree on one thing:  Emmanuelle Seigner is among the worst actresses who have ever lived.  Thank you.

I didn't mind her in Frantic or Bitter Moon. :yabbse-undecided:

No one beats Madonna

I thought this was a mostly pedestrian film.  It doesn't end up with anything, and wasn't all that intriguing to me.

BTW, this was the first Polanski film I have ever seen.  I guess everything else he has made will now look even better.

Quote from: RaviBTW, this was the first Polanski film I have ever seen.  I guess everything else he has made will now look even better.

Not only that, after seeing "The Ninth Gate", the air will look bluer, puppies will be softer, and cereal will stay crunchy long after you pour the milk on, all because you're no longer watching "The Ninth Gate".

In hindsight, it was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.  It was bad.  Bad, bad, bad.  "Highlander 2" bad.  "Rollerball" remake bad.  I'm even more pissed off at Polanski for this movie than I am about his raping little girls.

my girlfriend saw this in the theatre and for years was under the impression that it was one of the worst movies she had ever seen, too.  but then for some reason i actually convinced her to watch it again with her brother and i and when we watched it we thought it was okay to good-ish.  nowhere near the catastrophe she had mentioned.  even she had to admit it was kinda good.  i think it is sort of a companion to Rosemary's Baby as far as the mood goes, this being nowhere near as good.

Wait, I agreed with your ranking of The Constant Gardener as being okay to goodish... maybe I don't agree with that after all.   :yabbse-wink:  :yabbse-wink:

I'll agree with Mod.  I guess I think it's a bit better than he does.  I think Polanski and Darius Khondji created an awesome moody feeling for the movie.  And I remember there being some cool foreshadowing.  Plus Depp.  No where close to Rollerball.  Def. check it out again.

We're talkin' about the same Ninth Gate right?

Quote from: polkablues

Quote from: RaviBTW, this was the first Polanski film I have ever seen.  I guess everything else he has made will now look even better.

Not only that, after seeing "The Ninth Gate", the air will look bluer, puppies will be softer, and cereal will stay crunchy long after you pour the milk on, all because you're no longer watching "The Ninth Gate".

i gotta see this movie.

Whoah! so much hatred... And I love this film so very much, and the novel too is very good.