The Ninth Gate.....Spoilers - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Astrocloud · 09-24-2003, 10:26 PM

I've been trying to figure out the ending to the Ninth Gate. Basically in the movie, Corso (played by Johnny Depp) just walks into the castle bearing a resemblence to one of the illustrations in the book. What happened to him?

Sure I have an imagination, However I know that this movie is based on a spanish novel: El Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte.

I guess I could get the book myself and read it... That may not help though because the book might be equally ambiguous. (I also heard that the book itself might be a forgery... )

Idunno

Is anyone else a fan of this movie?

seretogis · 09-24-2003, 11:20 PM

** SPOILER **

The way that I interpreted it, is that Depp's character opens/walks through the Ninth Gate, and the woman who was accompanying him is in fact the devil. I saw it last a few years ago so I may be off on the details but that seemed to be the gist of it.

Astrocloud · 09-25-2003, 11:24 AM

Oh yes, "The Girl". For some reason I am really hot for her. There is some sexual nuance in this film that conventional porn just can't touch. (Is it the mystery? I don't know.)

Perhaps it's the way she dresses.

Then again, maybe not.

But anyways (before I start panting) I think the Girl is a minion of Satan rather than Satan himself (herself?... wtf). I actually found the script and it leaves me equally clueless to the ending.

I think the clue is in the Ninth engraving. Remember that Balkan sent the Barroness a postcard which Corso (Johnny Depp) found in her copy of the Nine Gates. On the postcard is the castle which they go to at the end.

Balkan's Ninth engraving was a forgery which if you actually look at it, foreshadow's his end.

I also think that image of the woman on this forgery is closer to appearance of the Telfer woman than that of the Girl.

The real Ninth engraving has the image of The Girl on it. It also has an image of the Castle on the postcard that Mr. Corso disapears into at the end. Note that in the actual script, he doesn't disappear into the castle, but rather just walks down some alleyway.

savethenaugs · 09-25-2003, 04:53 PM

I thought this was a great movie, at least in that it required some thought. It's been a while, so my memory may be fuzzy...

The Girl is enticing him throughout the whole movie. Notice at the beginning he is not a good guy (i.e. tricking the guy out of the rare books), but he is pretty normal. As the movie progresses he gets worse and worse, and it all seems necessary. By the end, he kills someone without a thought.

He is being groomed for the entrance to the ninth gate. Look at the pictures again and notice how they relate to events in the movie. Johnny Depp experiences at least some of them. The obvious one in my memory is the one in the lady's study when he gets hit on the head as he is looking at one of the pictures of someone sneaking up to bash someone on the head.

I remember that whoever went through it got some kind of demonic power on earth and would be the Devil's champion or something like that. I agree with seretogis above. The girl is working on the dark side.

The last picture was a forgery by the two old bookmakers he meets early in the movie. He goes to them, and they say that it would have to be a fantastic forgery to look as good as it does. Right after they say that, they pass a knowing look between them. I initially interpreted that as the picture being authentic, but by the end I had changed my mind. Maybe the book makers were God, or agents of God, that tried to make the entrance impossible by changing the last picture. But the girl leads him through the event of the real last picture by screwing him while the castle burns.

I really liked the portrayal of the devil as a seducer and subtle trickster rather than all powerful evil. She appears to be helping him out, but she is really working her own adgenda.

Astrocloud · 09-25-2003, 09:24 PM

Okay one note that in the script... Corso was getting some heat from the cops. That is one reason that The Girl stopped him from whacking Balkan on the head with the candlestick while he strangled the Telfer woman.

Here's the deleted scene from the script where The Girl stops Corso:

Quote:

BALKAN: As for you, 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 ageing flesh conducted in the Master’s name. You’re a charlatan!

LIANA tries to grab the book, but BALKAN holds it above his head.

LIANA claws his cheeks in desperation. BALKAN clasps his face, dropping the book.

LIANA makes a dive for it, but BALKAN pounces on her. They roll over in a clinch, struggling fiercely.

BALKAN grabs LIANA by the throat. She tries to break his grip, but he redoubles it. Halfway down the dais steps with BALKAN on top of her, she fights for breath. Her suffocated, agonized face is turned toward the hall.

The GUESTS shrink back in horror, some of them dropping their candles. Hysterical screams rend the air.

CORSO comes to life. Hampered by his robe, he makes for dais as fast as he can, scattering frightened GUESTS in the process. He takes hold of BALKAN’s shoulders and tries to haul him off LIANA.

BALKAN, still throttling her, turns to look. He glares at CORSO through his heavy hornrims, his features contorted with rage and stupefaction. Then, removing one hand from LIANA’s throat, he deals CORSO a backhanded blow that sends him reeling.

LIANA seizes the chance to break free. She crawls away and almost regains her fact, but BALKAN is too quick for her: grabbing her pentacle chain from behind, he proceeds to garrotte her with it.

LIANA, now on her knees, scrabbles unavailingly at the chain that is biting into her neck. Her face turns purple, her tongue begins to protrude.

CORSO looks around wildly for a weapon. He seizes one of the three-foot candlesticks and raises it over his head. Suddenly:

THE GIRL (O.S.): Don’t, Corso!

Startled, he lowers the candlestick and looks up: THE GIRL is perched on the gallery balustrade just above him.

Too preoccupied with Balkan and Liana to wonder what her game is, CORSO raises the candlestick once more.

THE GIRL lands on top of CORSO, bearing him to the ground, and immobilizes him with a hammerlock.

CORSO: Get off me! He’ll kill her!

THE GIRL: Leave them.

BALKAN completes his grisly work: LIANA’s purple face is all too reminiscent of Baroness Kessler’s. With a final tug at the chain, he plants one foot in the small of LIANA’s back and sends her limp body sprawling across the floor of the hall.

Screams and cries of horror go up from the GUESTS, who have recoiled still further.

BALKAN straightens up, a somewhat dishevelled but still imposing figure despite the scratches on his cheeks. Even his hornrims are still in place. He leans fonward, eyes narrowed in a mock menacing way, and stamps his foot.

BALKAN (in a voice like thunder): Boooh!

With more hysterical screams and cries of dismay, the GUESTS turn tall and flee the hall like a herd of panic-stricken cattle, jostling each other in their eagerness to get out the door.

Calmly, without so much as a glance at THE GIRL, CORSO, or LIANA’s corpse, BALKAN smooths his hair down, picks up ‘The Nine Gates’, and strides majestically after them.

Silence falls. THE GIRL releases her grip on CORSO’s arm, gets off him and rises to her knees. He sits up, nursing his elbow and staring at her with blank incomprehension.

CORSO: Why did you do it?

THE GIRL: Some things are meant to happen. That was one of them.

CORSO: Don’t give me that crap again! You were working for him all along!

THE GIRL: Funny, I thought you were.

CORSO: You played me for a sucker, the two of you. I don’t intend to take the rap for that maniac.

THE GIRL: He just murdered someone with a roomful of witnesses. That lets you off the hook for the other killings. You should be grateful.

CORSO: I’m ecstatic.

He gets to his feet. We hear the sound of cars starting up and driving off in a hurry.

He was trying to save someone's life who incidentally just tried to murder him (and The Girl) is a contradictory act. I don't think it's evil though. Perhaps, it's trying to say that doing the right thing -i.e. trying to stop a murder... isn't always in your best interests.

Yes, evil is very seductive.

And OMG. I just rewatched the scene where Corso confronts the two book dealers. One of the brother corrects the other when he says
"If this is a forgery, or a copy with pages restored, it’s the work of a master".... the brother corrects him with "masters"...

Note that this isn't in the screenplay...

savethenaugs · 09-28-2003, 07:13 PM

I think that scene with Balkan still fits with what I was saying, though. If I remember correctly, Balkan is the one who tries to open the Ninth Gate using the incorrect last picture, and burns for it. I don't remember exactly how it happens, but I think that is when the castle catches on fire, which is what The Girl wants to happen so that she can enact the ninth Real pictue with Corso. So she needs it to happen as it does, which is why she stops him from killing Balkan.

Anyway, very cool movie. I'm glad someone else likes it. Most of my friends either hated it or did not want to give it a second thought.

B21 · 09-28-2003, 08:04 PM

IM also very glad that other ppl liked this movie shoot i thought i was the only one. Anyways i think that the last part of the movie Corso is actually walking into the Ninth Gate, what else would he be walking into?

Maveric · 09-30-2003, 05:36 AM

i never watched it because i heard it sucked. after reading these posts it sounds very interesting but very confusing.

it's the same reason i waited so long to watch Donnie Darko, even after it came out on DVD. which by the way i didn't understand or truly appreciate until watched the DVD Commentary.

can anyone tell me if there is a commentary that explains this on the DVD version?

Eowyn_Vala · 09-30-2003, 02:38 PM

i love the ninth gate. The first time i watched it, it was a bit confusing but the second time round i think i got most of it. I do believe that at the end Corso is walking into the Ninth Gate

ShaniFaye · 09-30-2003, 03:10 PM

I LOVE this movie, the very first time I watched it I actually watched it 3 times back to back to try to catch everything...I honestly think I have seen very few movie scenes as erotic as the scene at the end where The Girl is on top riding Corso

Astrocloud · 10-01-2003, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Maveric

can anyone tell me if there is a commentary that explains this on the DVD version?

Unfortunately no -there is no commentary on the DVD.

It's a good enough movie but some say my taste is lacking in movies.

My guess is that you have to be very open minded to movies. Apparently this movie was popular in Europe.

hunnychile · 10-01-2003, 05:10 PM

The beauty of the work from The Master of Misinformation. You won't know until you are on the path toward the gate. See it more than once and decide yourself...it's a different ending for each indiviual. Free will and all that. The story hasn't changed much in all these years. Alegory can be the best aphrodisiac.

09-24-2003, 10:26 PM	#1 (permalink)
Astrocloud Apocalypse Nerd	The Ninth Gate I've been trying to figure out the ending to the Ninth Gate. Basically in the movie, Corso (played by Johnny Depp) just walks into the castle bearing a resemblence to one of the illustrations in the book. What happened to him? Sure I have an imagination, However I know that this movie is based on a spanish novel: El Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte. I guess I could get the book myself and read it... That may not help though because the book might be equally ambiguous. (I also heard that the book itself might be a forgery... ) Idunno Is anyone else a fan of this movie? Last edited by Astrocloud; 09-25-2003 at 08:52 PM..

09-24-2003, 11:20 PM	#2 (permalink)
seretogis Huggles, sir? Location: Seattle	SPOILER The way that I interpreted it, is that Depp's character opens/walks through the Ninth Gate, and the woman who was accompanying him is in fact the devil. I saw it last a few years ago so I may be off on the details but that seemed to be the gist of it. __________________ seretogis - sieg heil perfect little dream the kind that hurts the most, forgot how it feels well almost no one to blame always the same, open my eyes wake up in flames

09-25-2003, 04:53 PM	#4 (permalink)
savethenaugs Upright Location: Az. Center of nothing.	I thought this was a great movie, at least in that it required some thought. It's been a while, so my memory may be fuzzy... The Girl is enticing him throughout the whole movie. Notice at the beginning he is not a good guy (i.e. tricking the guy out of the rare books), but he is pretty normal. As the movie progresses he gets worse and worse, and it all seems necessary. By the end, he kills someone without a thought. He is being groomed for the entrance to the ninth gate. Look at the pictures again and notice how they relate to events in the movie. Johnny Depp experiences at least some of them. The obvious one in my memory is the one in the lady's study when he gets hit on the head as he is looking at one of the pictures of someone sneaking up to bash someone on the head. I remember that whoever went through it got some kind of demonic power on earth and would be the Devil's champion or something like that. I agree with seretogis above. The girl is working on the dark side. The last picture was a forgery by the two old bookmakers he meets early in the movie. He goes to them, and they say that it would have to be a fantastic forgery to look as good as it does. Right after they say that, they pass a knowing look between them. I initially interpreted that as the picture being authentic, but by the end I had changed my mind. Maybe the book makers were God, or agents of God, that tried to make the entrance impossible by changing the last picture. But the girl leads him through the event of the real last picture by screwing him while the castle burns. I really liked the portrayal of the devil as a seducer and subtle trickster rather than all powerful evil. She appears to be helping him out, but she is really working her own adgenda. __________________ "You're not allowed to rent here anymore!" -- Randall

09-28-2003, 07:13 PM	#6 (permalink)
savethenaugs Upright Location: Az. Center of nothing.	I think that scene with Balkan still fits with what I was saying, though. If I remember correctly, Balkan is the one who tries to open the Ninth Gate using the incorrect last picture, and burns for it. I don't remember exactly how it happens, but I think that is when the castle catches on fire, which is what The Girl wants to happen so that she can enact the ninth Real pictue with Corso. So she needs it to happen as it does, which is why she stops him from killing Balkan. Anyway, very cool movie. I'm glad someone else likes it. Most of my friends either hated it or did not want to give it a second thought. __________________ "You're not allowed to rent here anymore!" -- Randall

09-30-2003, 02:38 PM	#9 (permalink)
Eowyn_Vala Insane Location: There's no place like home..	i love the ninth gate. The first time i watched it, it was a bit confusing but the second time round i think i got most of it. I do believe that at the end Corso is walking into the Ninth Gate __________________ Cain: I know what you're doing. I've lead troops into battle before. DG: And, how am I doing? Cain: Well, there's less hugging when I do it

09-25-2003, 11:24 AM	#3 (permalink)
Astrocloud Apocalypse Nerd	Oh yes, "The Girl". For some reason I am really hot for her. There is some sexual nuance in this film that conventional porn just can't touch. (Is it the mystery? I don't know.) Perhaps it's the way she dresses. Then again, maybe not. But anyways (before I start panting) I think the Girl is a minion of Satan rather than Satan himself (herself?... wtf). I actually found the script and it leaves me equally clueless to the ending. I think the clue is in the Ninth engraving. Remember that Balkan sent the Barroness a postcard which Corso (Johnny Depp) found in her copy of the Nine Gates. On the postcard is the castle which they go to at the end. Balkan's Ninth engraving was a forgery which if you actually look at it, foreshadow's his end. I also think that image of the woman on this forgery is closer to appearance of the Telfer woman than that of the Girl. The real Ninth engraving has the image of The Girl on it. It also has an image of the Castle on the postcard that Mr. Corso disapears into at the end. Note that in the actual script, he doesn't disappear into the castle, but rather just walks down some alleyway.

09-28-2003, 08:04 PM	#7 (permalink)
B21 Loser Location: Earth	IM also very glad that other ppl liked this movie shoot i thought i was the only one. Anyways i think that the last part of the movie Corso is actually walking into the Ninth Gate, what else would he be walking into?

09-30-2003, 05:36 AM	#8 (permalink)
Maveric Insane Location: Houston, Texas	i never watched it because i heard it sucked. after reading these posts it sounds very interesting but very confusing. it's the same reason i waited so long to watch Donnie Darko, even after it came out on DVD. which by the way i didn't understand or truly appreciate until watched the DVD Commentary. can anyone tell me if there is a commentary that explains this on the DVD version?

09-30-2003, 03:10 PM	#10 (permalink)
ShaniFaye Submit to me, you know you want to Location: Lilburn, Ga	I LOVE this movie, the very first time I watched it I actually watched it 3 times back to back to try to catch everything...I honestly think I have seen very few movie scenes as erotic as the scene at the end where The Girl is on top riding Corso __________________ *I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!*

10-01-2003, 05:10 PM	#12 (permalink)
hunnychile Alien Anthropologist Location: Between Boredom and Nirvana	The beauty of the work from The Master of Misinformation. You won't know until you are on the path toward the gate. See it more than once and decide yourself...it's a different ending for each indiviual. Free will and all that. The story hasn't changed much in all these years. Alegory can be the best aphrodisiac. __________________ "I need compassion, understanding and chocolate." - NJB Last edited by hunnychile; 10-01-2003 at 05:13 PM..