There's something iconic about The Ninth Gate. Johnny Depp plays the greasy book sleuth Dean Corso, who really knows his rare books and has committed certain illegalities to acquire them for various clients, including Frank Langella's Boris Balkan, who has spent a lifetime gathering the world's premiere collection of Satanic tomes (for his own nefarious purposes, it turns out). Depp plays the amoral acquisitions expert with aplomb (though any book aficionado would stand aghast at his incessant smoking while thumbing through a million-dollar copy of The Ninth Gate). Emmanuelle Seigner is sexless yet sexy with her green eyes and fearless demeanor in her enigmatic role as The Girl (who is later revealed as more than just an employee of Balkan, and even more than an angelic protector, but the one who sends emissaries herself). The (literal) climax and denouement are alternately revealing and puzzling, since the final scene is unclear as to what happened or why. (The book holds clues, others tell me.) My favorite scenes are where Langella's character crashes a coven meeting, killing the would-be priestess and disbanding the followers with a "Boo!" but later failing in his quest, despite his own supreme confidence of success. Indeed, who can know the truth when they ally themselves with the Prince of Darkness? The answer is, perhaps only when the Prince of Darkness chooses to ally himself (in any form he chooses) with you. Five stars.
