History Film / TheNinthGate

Corso is hired by a collector, Boris Balkan (Creator/FrankLangella), to authenticate his copy of ''The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows''. Written in 1666 by Aristide Torchia, the book is supposedly an adaptation of another book, the ''Delomelanicon'', written by Lucifer himself, and it contains instructions on how to summon the Devil and gain great supernatural power. After Torchia was burned at the stake, only three copies of ''The Nines Gates'' survived to the modern day, but Balkan believes that only one is authentic and the other two are forgeries. He asks Corso to compare his copy to the other two and find out which is the real book.

** The Ceniza brothers, in the script at least. A deleted line claims [[spoiler: that they'd been dead for years when he returns to their bookstore.]] Ceniza means "ash" in Spanish. [[spoiler:They are both servants of Hell, "fire", and clumble to dust after Corso interacts with them.]]

** MissFanservice: Liana Telfer, played by the great Creator/LenaOlin, is a [[UglyGuyHotWife trophy wife]] GoldDigger in her early 40's who is ''also'' a member of a Satanic sex club and is not above trading sex for the book she needs in her rituals. Predictably, she has a sex scene and another fully nude scene from the back, and her last appearance in the movie can be seen as a mockery of this trope ([[spoiler: Balkan pushes her dead, virtually nude body away by kicking her in the crotch]]).
* ForbiddenFruit: The titular book can unlock the nine gates of Hell and grant whomever activates the ritual properly with extraordinary power. Sooner or later, everyone ([[spoiler: including Corso]]) wants to get ahold of the book despite its evil.

* GlowingEyes: The Girl's eyes noticeably glow on several occasions. [[spoiler: Given that she is quite possibly the Devil this may count as GlowingEyesOfDoom.]]

* HotAsHell: [[spoiler:The Girl is heavily implied to be the Devil, and is extremely attractive.]]

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: In the ensuing struggle for the book, [[spoiler: Liana Telfer gets strangled to death by Balkan with the pentagram from her necklace piercing into her throat as she chokes to death.]]
* ImpoverishedPatrician: Both Victor Fargas, the Portuguese owner of the second copy, and [[spoiler: Liana Telfer, who had to marry Andrew Telfer in order to save her ruined French aristocrat family.]]

* LosingAShoeInTheStruggle: In the struggle against Telfer's henchmen, Corso only managed to snag one of their shoes.
* MasterForger: {{Double Subver|sion}}ted when [[AntiHero Corso]] has to investigate whether a copy of an extremely rare book (which, according to legend, will allow [[TomeOfEldritchLore the person who deciphers it to summon the Devil]]) is legitimate or a forgery. When he discusses the possibility of it being a forgery with the [[CreepyTwins Ceniza twins]] (a pair of master bookbinders that once owned that copy of the book), the twins dismiss the possibility of it being a fake. They explain that to make a forgery that would fool the experts a forger would need to use all the materials and characteristics that were in use during the 17[[superscript:th]] century when the book was first printed, including unique inks, paper, leather, typeface, watermarks, etc., which are all extremely difficult to get in the late 20[[superscript:th]] century. In the end the book turns out to be legitimate, [[spoiler:but a single critical page has been replaced with a fake to throw off the people trying to decipher the puzzle of the book. And who better to do that than a certain pair of master bookbinders who had the book in their possession for years?]]
-->'''Ceniza Brother''': If this is a forgery or a copy with missing pages restored, [[{{Foreshadowing}} it's the work of a master]].
* MercyKill: After [[spoiler: Balkan's]] {{deal with the Devil}} [[GoneHorriblyWrong goes horribly wrong]] and he catches on fire, burning to death, Corso shoots him to put him out of his misery.

* NoNameGiven: The Girl has no name given and refuses to give it when Corso asks, so he dubs her "Green Eyes", though he then never calls her that.

* PretenderDiss: Kessler is openly contemptuous of Liana and her associates for basing their Devil worship around the idea that it gives them wealth rather than anything deeper.

* RaceLift: Rochefort, an EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette in the book, becomes a bleach blond black man with NoNameGiven.

-->'''Balkan:''' As for you, [[spoiler:Liana de Saint-Damien]], you're even guiltier than the rest of this pathetic rabble. You have at least some idea of what this book can do in the right hands, yet you lend yourself to these farcical proceedings, these orgies of aging flesh conducted in the Master's name. You're a charlatan!

* SmoochOfVictory: [[spoiler:More like Nookie of Victory -- after Corso shoots Balkan and stops the ritual, the Girl appears in his car and gives him a kiss that very quickly escalates to them having sex.]]

* TarotMotifs: The film relates several characters to Tarot imagery and symbolism, though a lot of it is implicit and not direct. The two most obvious instances are one of the engravings showing someone hung by the foot identical to The Hanged Man, and the climax is very evocative of The Tower, as a castle that [[spoiler:is set on fire after Balkan fails to summon The Devil.]]

* UglyGuyHotWife: One case being the deceased elderly Andrew Telfer and his young, beautiful widow, Liana Telfer.

* BikerBabe: [[spoiler: The Girl hitches a ride on her motorcycle in a few scenes and often rescues Corso on one or transports him to specific locations.]]

* ColourCodedEyes: Corso remarks on the Girl's green eyes, and even calls her "Green Eyes" when she neglects to give her name to him
* CompositeCharacter: [[spoiler: The film's Balkan is a composite of the book Balkan and another character, Varo Borja. Also, the film's Andrew Telfer is a composite of Enrique Talliefer and Gualterio Terral.]]

* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler: Bernie the bookshop owner is killed early on. His book counterpart, Flavio la Ponte, is a major supporting character and stays very much alive. Also Liana Telfer, her henchman, and Boris Balkan, although [[CompositeCharacter it's not really the same character as in the book.]]]]

* EveryoneHasStandards: Liana Telfer tries to buy ''The Nine Gates'' back from Corso and suggests faking a theft to cover it up from Balkan. Corso rejects the idea since the book isn't his to sell and he won't be bought off no matter how much she offers.
* EvilerThanThou: A major plot element in the film is that two very rich and rather nasty people -- a Satanist and a guy who [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney just wants the power]] -- are both after [[TomeOfEldritchLore a book believed capable of summoning the devil]]. Ultimately this leads to an epic scene in which the latter crashes the former's black mass, kills her in plain sight of the other cultists, and gives a rant saying "You Satanists are amateurs, only ''I'' understand the true power of this book" while they flee in terror.
-->'''Balkan:''' Look around, what do you see? A bunch of buffoons in fancy dress. You think the Prince of Darkness would deign to manifest himself before the likes of you? He never has and he never will!
* FadeToWhite: The ending.

** The entire scene where Liana Telfer seduces Corso is this, as the very unsettling music plays out as Liana gropes Corso, aggressively kissing him and then tries to kill him when refuses to tell her where the book is.

* {{Fanservice}}: [[spoiler:The Girl and Corso having sex with their nude bodies in full view.]]

** In his introductory scene, Corso swindles a rival collector by convincing the owners of a collection that their worthless books are very rare and their valuable books are not worth much, so they sold the latter to Corso. [[spoiler:Not entirely unlike how Balkan falls for a fake engraving and Corso finds the real one.]]

* ShownTheirWork: The Ceniza Brothers tell Corso that forging or restoring an antique book with intent to sell it is impractical and explain why in detail -- forging an antique book well enough to fool the types of collectors who would be willing to pay thousands for it is very difficult, requiring period-accurate materials and manufacturing methods, and a ''very'' good eye for detail. And even if you pull off a passable forgery, those kinds of books are going to have their owner histories known by collectors, and questions will be asked about how you acquired your copy and who owned it before you.

** Liana Telfer, compared to her original counterpart. In the novel the film is based on, Liana is a RedHerring only interested in Corso because she's the head of an Alexandre Dumas fanclub and they want an unfinished draft of ''The Three Musketeers'' that Corso has on him. The Dumas subplot is entirely removed and Telfer leads the Order of the Silver Serpent, a {{Cult}} dedicated to worship of Satan.
** Zigzagged with Corso. In the novels he plans to steal Fargas' book and blackmails the Baroness with knowledge of her Nazi sympathies to get access to her collection, and Corso in the film does neither. On the other hand Corso in the film [[spoiler:wants to get the nine engravings himself and complete the ritual]], something he had no interest in in the book.
** The Girl. In the book she claims to be a fallen angel who has wandered the world looking for companionship. In the film it's very heavily implied [[spoiler:she's the Devil, or at least is a force for evil.]]

* AdaptationNameChange: Lucas Corso of the book becomes Dean Corso. Liana Taillefer becomes Liana Telfer. Her henchman, mainly called Rochefort in the book before his name is revealed, goes unnamed.
* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: The Ceniza brothers, with their performer ActingForTwo.
* AncientConspiracy: The Order of the Silver Serpent probably like to think of themselves as this.

* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: The Cezina brothers, with their performer ActingForTwo.

** When Corso asks the Ceniza brothers if Balkan's copy of ''The Nine Gates'' could be a forgery, they go into detail on how difficult it would be to forge a book this old, requiring one to get period-accurate paper, inks, typeface, and be able to bind it into the book in a manner a collector could not detect. They conclude "If this is a forgery or a copy with missing pages restored, it's the work of a master." [[spoiler:The Ceniza brothers ''are'' master bookbinders, and they just finished describing to Corso how difficult it would be to create a convincing forgery and what materials one would need.]]

* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler:After Corso kills Balkan when his rituals fails, he goes outside to smoke in his car as the castle burns. The Girl appears in the car, kisses Corso, and the scene cuts to the two of them having sex on the grass, during which the Girl almost seems to transform and Corso is frightened by what he sees. The next morning the two are driving down the highway and the Girl explains Balkan's ritual failed because one of the engravings was fake, and Corso wants the real one. When they stop for gas she vanishes, but leaves a clue to the location of the real engraving. Corso returns to the home of the Ceniza brothers and finds the true engraving, showing the Girl riding a seven-headed dragon before a castle with the sun shining from behind it. Corso returns to the castle and the doors open to welcome him, light shining beyond them, and then we faded to the credits.]]
* GlowingEyes: The Girl's eyes noticeably glow on several occasions. [[spoiler: Given that she is quite possibly the Devil this may count as GlowingEyesOfDoom]]

* IfItsYouItsOkay: Might be the case with Corso and The Girl, [[spoiler: who still follows after her even after learning she is not only a man in her true form but also ''the Devil''.]]

* MasterForger: {{Double Subver|sion}}ted when [[AntiHero Corso]] has to investigate whether a copy of an extremely rare book (which, according to legend, will allow [[TomeOfEldritchLore the person who deciphers it to summon The Devil]]) is legitimate or a forgery. When he discusses the possibility of it being a forgery with the [[CreepyTwins Ceniza twins]] (a pair of master bookbinders that once owned that copy of the book), the twins dismiss the possibility of it being a fake. They explain that to make a forgery that would fool the experts a forger would need to use all the materials and characteristics that were in use during the 17[[superscript:th]] century when the book was first printed, including unique inks, paper, leather, typeface, watermarks, etc., which are all extremely difficult to get in the late 20[[superscript:th]] century. In the end the book turn out to be legitimate, [[spoiler:but a single critical page has been replaced with a fake to throw off the people trying to decipher the puzzle of the book. And who better to do that than a certain pair of master bookbinders who had the book in their possession for years?]]

* NoNameGiven: The Girl has no name given and refuses to give it when Corso asks, so he dubs her "Green Eyes", though then never calls her that.

* ShownTheirWork: The Ceniza Brothers tell Corso that forging or restoring an antique book with intent to sell it impractical and explain why in detail -- forging an antique book well enough to fool the types of collectors who would be willing to pay thousands for it is very difficult, requiring period-accurate materials and manufacturing methods, and a ''very'' good eye for detail. And even if you pull off a passable forgery, those kinds of books are going to have their owner histories known by collectors, and questions will be asked about how you acquired your copy and who owned it before you.

* WhamShot: After recovering the last engaving, Corso examines it. [[spoiler:It depicts the Girl riding nude atop a seven-headed beast in front of a castle with the sun shining from behind one of its turrets (rather than being in flames) -- the same castle that Corso and the Girl had sex in front the previous night.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The Ceniza brothers are missing when Corso revisits their shop. It isn't even hinted or implied if they died somehow, they're just gone.

** Liana Telfer, compared to her original counterpart. In the novel the film is based on, Liana is a RedHerring only interested in Corso because she's the head of a Alexandre Dumas fanclub and they want an unfinished draft of ''The Three Musketeers'' that Corso has on him. The Dumas subplot is entirely removed and Telfer leads the Order of the Silver Serpent, a {{Cult}} dedicated to worship of Satan.

* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler:After Corso kills Balkan when his rituals fails, he goes outside to smoke in his car as the castle burns. The Girl appears in the car, kisses Corso, and the scene cuts to the two of them having sex on the grass, during which the Girl almost seems to transform and Corso is frightened by what he sees. The next morning the two are driving down the highway and the Girl explains Balkan's ritual failed because one of the engravings was fake, and Corso wants the real one. When they stop for gas she vanishes, but leaves a clue to the location of the real engraving. Corso returns to the home of the Ceniza brothers and finds the true engraving, showing the Girl riding a seven-headed dragon before a flaming castle. Corso returns to the castle and the doors open to welcome him, light shining beyond them, and then we faded to the credits.]]

* WhamShot: After recovering the last engaving, Corso examines it. [[spoiler:It depicts the Girl riding nude atop a seven-headed beast in front of a flaming castle -- the same castle that Corso and the Girl had sex in front the previous night.]]

''The Ninth Gate'' is a 1999 mystery thriller film by Creator/RomanPolanski, freely adapted from ''Literature/TheClubDumas'' by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, starring Creator/JohnnyDepp as Dean Corso, an expert on rare books.

* ShownTheirWork: The Ceniza Brothers tell Corso that forging or restoring an antique book is so difficult and costly it wouldn't be profitable. Even with modern technology, forging old books well enough to fool the types of collectors and historians who will be interested in buying them is rather expensive, taking a lot of time and resources including the proper paper and ink and a ''very'' good eye for detail. But even if you pull off a passable forgery of a rare book, it's probable you'll be found out anyway because those kinds of books are going to have their owner histories known by collectors, and questions will be asked about how you acquired your copy and who owned it before you.

** Corso asks the Ceniza brothers if Balkan's copy of ''The Nine Gates'' could be a forgery, they get into detail on how diffcult it would be to forge a book this old and conclude "If this is a forgery or a copy with missing pages restored, it's the work of a master." [[spoiler:Says the master bookbinders who owned the book for years and just finished telling Corso about all the things one would need to do a proper forgery and it would be too expensive to be profitable.]]

* Fanservice: [[spoiler:The Girl and Corso having sex with their nude bodies in full view.]]

Corso is hired by a collector, Boris Balkan (Creator/FrankLangella), to authenticate his copy of ''The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows''. Written in 1666 by Aristide Torchia, the book is supposedly an adaptation of another book, the ''Delomelanicon'', written by Lucifer himself, and it contains instructions on how to summon the Devil and gain great supernatural power. When Torchia was burned at the stake, only three copies of ''The Nines Gates'' survived, but Balkan believes that of the three copies known today, only one is authentic. He asks Corso to compare his copy to the other two and find out which is the real book.

Corso is hired by a collector, Boris Balkan, (Creator/FrankLangella) to authenticate his copy of ''The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows''. Written in 1666 by Aristide Torchia, the book is supposedly an adaptation of another book, the ''Delomelanicon'', written by Lucifer himself, and it contains instructions on how to summon the Devil and gain great supernatural power. When Torchia was burned at the stake, only three copies of ''The Nines Gates'' survived, but Balkan believes that of the three copies known today, only one is authentic. He asks Corso to compare his copy to the other two and find out which is the real book.

** Liana Telfer, compared to her original counterpart. In the novel the film is based on, Liana is a RedHerring only interested in Corso because she's the head of a Alexandre Dumas fanclub and they want an unfinished draft of ''The Three Musketeers'' that Corso has on him the Dumas subplot is entirely removed and Telfer leads the Order of the Silver Serpent, a {{Cult}} dedicated to worship of Satan.

''The Ninth Gate'' is a 1999 mystery thriller film by Creator/RomanPolanski, freely adapted from ''Literature/TheClubDumas'' by Arturo Pérez-Reverte, starring Creator/JohnnyDepp as Dean Corso, an expert on rare books. A client, Boris Balkan, played by Creator/FrankLangella, asks Corso to authenticate his copy of ''The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows''. The book has three copies surviving, due to the rest being burned in 1666 along with its author - because the book is supposedly an adaptation of another book, the ''Delomelanicon'', written by Lucifer himself.

As Corso attempts to figure out which of the three copies is the genuine one, he discovers that the ''Nine Gates'' has a purpose - when used correctly, the book will raise the Devil himself and grant the summoner great supernatural power. Corso is not the only person who has figured this out, and is chased by others who want the power and protected by a mysterious [[NoNameGiven Girl]], played by [[Film/{{Frantic}} Emmanuelle Seigner]]. The deeper Corso delves into the mystery of the book, the deeper the pile of bodies left behind becomes.

That, of course, is the movie. In the book, Corso has two missions. One is to try and authenticate his client, Vara Borja's, copy of "The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows." The other involves "The Anjou Wine", a chapter of the original manuscript of ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' by Creator/AlexandreDumas, père. This manuscript was once owned by the late Enrique Talliefer, a millionaire who specialized in cookbooks, who killed himself. While traveling around Europe on his mission(s), he finds himself being stalked by a man and woman who look uncannily like Milady de Winter and Comte de Rochefort.

What do these two strangers want with him and what is the connection between Literature/TheThreeMusketeers and the Devil?

* CulturalTranslation
* DealWithTheDevil: The goal of most characters in the film is to summon Lucifer and obtain unknown power. This seems to eventually happen in some capacity and, depending on your point of view, has surprisingly little negative consequence. [[spoiler: Just a few dead bodies, really, including a pseudo-friend. But hey, you get laid by attractive women. Twice!]]
** It was also the goal of Aristide Torchia, who published in 1666 "''De Umbrarum Regni Novem Portis'' ''[[labelnote:Lat.]]The Nine Doors to the Kingdom of Shadows [[/labelnote]]''" which he based on the "''Delomelanicon'' ''[[labelnote:Lat.]]Invocation of Darkness [[/labelnote]]''", a work supposedly written by Lucifer and allowing the reader to summon Him.

* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Corso's infatuation with the Girl, who is a tall foreign woman with long blonde hair and striking green eyes (which tend to glow from time to time)... ''And who can blame him''?

** The Girl's face [[spoiler: morphing disturbingly into that of an sinister old man several times during sex with Corso outside the burning castle. Before revealing herself entirely to be The Devil]].

* FanService: Corso gets a few shirtless scenes in the film. The Girl bares it all in one particular scene [[spoiler: during her NightmareFuel-inducing reveal as The Devil.]]

* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler: After Balkan and Telford both die trying to summon the devil, the Girl disappears, leaving Corso with a clue leading him to the Ceniza brothers. Corso finds the true ninth engraving at the Cenizas' shop, and the film suddenly transitions to a shot of Corso approaching the Chateau seen in the engraving, accompanied by a bright light before the credits roll.]]
* GlowingEyes: The Girl's eyes noticeably glow on several occasions. [[spoiler: Given that she is quite possibly the Devil, or at least ''a'' devil, this may count as GlowingEyesOfDoom]]

** Everyone searching to worship The Devil when it turns out [[spoiler: The Girl protecting Corso is The Devil.]]
* HotAsHell: [[spoiler: The Girl, who makes the Devil look GOOD. Doubtless intentional.]]

* IfItsYouItsOkay: Seems to be the case with Corso and The Girl, [[spoiler: who still romantically pursues her even after learning she truly is a man ''and'' the Devil.]]

* LouisCypher: Signed [[FunWithAcronyms LCF]].

* MindScrew: The ending. [[spoiler:Apparently Corso is going to conduct the ritual himself and it'll be a success, but it's ambiguous as to what that means. Not to mention all the speculation about exactly who Corso and the Girl are.]]
** The Girl saving Corso from his attackers [[spoiler: with such questionable and inhumane fighting skills. And her reveal where she descends...To the point where the audience questioned their own eyes. “Did she fly or just slide down the railing?"]]

* NoNameGiven: The Girl.

* PowerFloats: [[spoiler: The Girl]] saving Corso from his attackers. And again, when Corso is trying to stop Balkan from killing Telfer and taking the book.
* PretenderDiss: Kessler is openly contemptuous of Liana and her associates for basing their devil worship around the idea that it gives them wealth rather than anything deeper.

* RaceLift: Rochefort, an EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette in the book, becomes a bleach blond black man. With NoNameGiven.

* ShownTheirWork: The Ceniza Brothers tell Corso that forging or restoring an antique book is so difficult and costly it wouldn't be profitable. Even with modern technology, forging old books well enough to fool the types of collectors and historians who will be interested in buying them is rather expensive, taking a lot of time and resources including the proper paper and ink and a ''very'' good eye for detail. But even if you pull off a passable forgery of a rare book, it's probable you'll be found out anyway because those kinds of books are going to have their owner histories known by collectors, and questions will be asked about how you acquired your copy.

* SmoochOfVictory: [[spoiler: The Girl plants a kiss on Corso, followed with them having sex outside the burning castle in order for him to gain immortal power.]]

* TarotMotifs: The film includes many examples of Tarot imagery.
** The Hanged Man - Corso's friend is killed in this manner.
** The Tower - [[spoiler: Balkan's]] death occurs by fire, in a tower, after a lot of pride.
** The Magician - Boris Balkan.
** The High Priestess - Baroness Kessler or Liana Telfer.
** The Empress - Liana Telfer.
** Death - Fargas.
** The Hermit - Fargas.
** The Fool - Corso.

* WhamShot: After recovering the last true page of the book, Corso looks upon the page depicting "The Beast" [[spoiler: showing The Girl outside the exact same burning castle riding a seven-headed dragon.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The Ceniza brothers.

* FanDisservice: The Girl's face [[spoiler: morphing disturbingly into that of an sinister old man several times during sex with Corso outside the burning castle. Before revealing herself entirely to be The Devil]].

* ForeShadowing: When Corso meets [[spoiler: The Girl]] again and she accompanies him on his journey, he asks her if she's his guardian angel. She tells him, "Of sorts...".
** Despite the varied creepiness and various attempts to invoke the supernatural [[spoiler: The Girl]] is the only character who ever displays actual powers.
** The Ceniza brothers mention to Corso that forging that type of book (or restoring torn out pages) would take a master bookbinder with great eye for detail. They are both master bookbinders and have enough eye for detail to see the different signatures on the engravings. [[spoiler: We later find out that they stole one of the real engravings and put a forgery in its place.]]

* HiddenInPlainSight: The last of the engravings in "The Ninth Gate" is hidden in what, in hindsight, is an extremely obvious spot. [[spoiler:"If this is a forgery or a copy with missing pages restored, it's the work of a master," says the master bookbinder.]]

* CoolOldGuy: Fargas is a very gracious host despite his impoverished nature, collects the old books simply because he likes them rather than out of any satanic beliefs and lets Corso look at his copy without qualms.

* IfItsYouItsOkay: Seems to be the resolution with Corso and The Girl, [[spoiler: who still romantically pursues her even after learning she truly is the Devil.]]

* CoolOldLady: Baroness Kessler, a witty, highly knowledgable multiple amputee who is imposed and receptive when Corso explains his theory while being stern at the idea of just helping Balkan.

--> '''Balkan:''' Our relationships have always been strictly commercial, and that's the way i like it.