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I beg to differ with Mr. Cranky on his opinion of The Nineth Gate. I realize that I am a bit slow as viewing this movie, but I found it to be very challenging to the mind. (January 15, 2001)
If you get a copy of the movie on DVD it offers a "Commentary by Roman Polanski" in which he goes through the entire movie and tells how and were every scene was made/shot. The movie was shot almost entirely in France on location and in a Studio with a few scenes done in Portugal (I believe) - this includes the scenes from America (which were shot at the studio in France) - he doesn't really give any information about the "layers" to the nine gates or anything about the plot so much - he just talks about the scenes and the people in the scenes, such as the "twin" brothers are actually the same guy and the 2 guys that are in the "twin" brothers abandoned shop at the end are actually the same guy - so this guy actually played 4 characters.
He also tells how the scenes were shot and explains in some depth how difficult some things were to create on film.
It is my belief that this is a movie that requires a lot of thinking after the initial viewing of the movie. Unlike a movie like "The Sixth Sense" which slaps you in the face at the end of the movie with the whole plot this one leaves you to untangle it yourself. (Please note that I am not putting down The Sixth Sense - it is one of my most favorite movies for twists)and the DVD Directors Commentary from on The Sixth Sense is wonderful!
I was not thrilled on how the movie ended - I would like to have seen more in the ending, but then that would have limited the imagination of the viewer. And so I have to conceed that after thinking about the whole movie and the Nine Gates - it is probably the most perfect ending that they could have done.
I may not agree with the way that Roman Polanski has chosen to live his life, but then again I don't agree with the way that alot of people have chosen to live their lives, but it is their lives and not mine to judge. However, I do admire his ability to stimulate the brain - and whether I like him personally or not I have to acknowledge that he is one of the great directors of our time!
The characters in this movie take you to the edge of thought and make you want to look over, but they don't push you over the edge - they let you jump yourself which makes a thinking viewer open to all possibilites. And if a viewer chooses not to jump then that is their choice, just as the Journey though the Nine Gates is Corso's choice.
As for the Nine Gates - I believe that through Symbolism Corso enters all nine gates before our eyes, the viewer just has to be willing to think about and process what you are seeing.
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