I read the script of Roman Polanski’s Ninth Gate online, then saw the movie. What I still can’t figure out …
Boris Balkan was doing the killing all along. So why did he even need Corso (Johnny Depp)? Why didn’t Balkan just kill the other two book owners and take the other two books? That way he’d never risk giving up his copy of the book. And he wound up killing them anyway to get the books. It makes no sense to me that he would get Corso involved.
Maybe the devil made him do it 
Perhaps Balkan wanted a distraction.
I think this question is better suited for somebody who has read “Club Dumas”, the novel upon which the book was based.
Unfortunately, I haven’t read it, but I think that Balkan thought all along that Corso could come up with more information,
since at least the Countess really loathed him and probably wouldn’t let him anywhere near her copy. Killing her outright without knowing it was worth it would put the focus entirely on him.
You know, I always figured he needed Depps help in figuring out which was the real version. I thought Depp getting the book was sort of secondary, you know-like a plus.
I was under the impression that he was setting up Corso to take the blame for the murders and was just following him around, waiting for him to make the initial contact, then killing the owner and stealing the book. I think the “mystery woman” has a throwaway line to this effect.
[Grumble] I watched this on Sci-Fi last night and holy moley was I dissapointed.
#1 - What the hell was with the music? It was idiotic and totally not fitting with the feel of the film.
#2 - Besides the actual mystery of the book, nothing was answered. You never find out if it was really Balken who killed those people, you never find out what he really has to gain by doing his little spell, and you never find out who (what) the mystery gal is.
I had this feeling like I had just wasted two and a half hours of my Sunday.
Yeah, that pretty much sums up my problem with the movie too. The movie just seems to end, leaving a lot of unresolved issues floating around.
Thank you, Meatros. I suppose they might have done it that was to give it one of those “how can we truly ever know” feelings, but it could have been done so much better.
Like the end of The Usual Suspects.
That’s what was the big bummer, in my opinion: I sat through the entire movie, thinking this is going to be great, and it never materialized. When it ended I was let down and thought, as you seemed to have, this could have been so much better.
This could be. I remember her line during the satanic mass that Corso was in the clear now. And others have suggested some plausible explanations. But it seems we’re working to invent ways for the plot to make sense – something the filmmakers should have done.
I agree it should have been much better. I expected more from Polanski, especially because “Chinatown” is one of my favorites.
Thank God, I thought I was stupid for not understanding this movie. Glad to see it wasn’t just me.
So um… who was the chick? An agent of the devil?
I noted something in the script that wasn’t apparent in the movie. When Corso returns to the bookstore owned by the twin brothers in Spain, he finds another engraving. Mystery Girl had said the last engraving Balkan had was a forgery, so this supposedly is the authentic one.
In the engraving, the woman sitting on the dragon is supposed to resemble Mystery Girl.
So is she an agent of the devil? First time around, I assumed she was an agent of good, working to make sure the bad guys got killed. (That’s how she could let Lena Olin get snuffed.) But in the script, they did not have a sex scene between MG and Corso at the end, and it seems odd that a good angel would be having wild sex in front of a burning castle. Much more of a devilish thing to do.
Finally, there’s that engraving of her on the dragon – which in biblical symbolism would equate her with the devil (whore of Bablyon, etc.)
So which is she? I have no frickin idea.
Also, I noted the very last scene before the credits …
It shows Corso walking into the castle shown in the last engraving. Is this supposed to indicate that Corso used the engravings to open the nine gates and summon the devil?
I have no frickin idea.
That seems to be the theme of this movie.
I think the mystery woman was an agent of the Devil. Sex in front of the burning castle was the thing that opened the Ninth Gate; by walking towards it in the end, Depp’s character indicates that he’s given in to evil and is now prepared to take his rewards. Typically downbeat Polanski ending.
Not only is that funny, I also completely agree:D
Johnny Depp is the devil in the movie. In Revalations the Devil is represented by a seven headed dragon. In the last authentic page the girl is riding a seven headed dragon, which is the sexual position that Depo and the girl are using in front of the burning castle. I’m not positive, but also in Revelations is reference to a women who is bearing a child that at the time of the birth the Devil “seven headed dragon” is waiting to consume the child.
This is a zombie thread, just so future posters know.