Which, in a way very real to my perceptions, is how I felt as I watched The Ninth Gate. Like many of Polanski's films, it is slow, deliberate, and strange. Unlike Polanski's other work (except for Chinatown), it suceeds in creating an utterly immersive atmosphere.

At some point during the film, I realized what, strangely enough, the plot reminded me of--a video game. Or, to be more precise, a full-motion video computer game, like Phantasmagoria or, more to the point, Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within. In such games, you play a protagonist who must travel from location to location, looking for clues to solve a mystery, all the while encountering various mysterious and supernatural events. Frequently, the tasks are mundane: finding a key to open a door, saying the right thing to the right person, or perhaps the mere act of reading a book. In the way Johnny Depp's character revisits locations or tries to solve a problem using a different tack after failing before, The Ninth Gate is revealed to be structured in a similar way. This isn't intended as an insult; it's just an observation; quite frankly, good FMV adventures are great examples of immersive filmmaking.

The Ninth Gate was slow, yes, but I was interested and involved throughout. Perhaps it's just my English degree speaking, but I believe The Ninth Gate presents some interesting ideas about the interaction of literature and knowledge with religion. Even the finale of the film, which, when I saw it, was frustrating, gave rise to thoughts about, of all things, the nature of evil. Everything in the film speaks of decadence, from the ageing mansions and the ancient castles to the ornate libraries and finally to the fact that Johnny Depp is rarely without a cigarette or a glass of brandy. Almost every character in the film is highly educated and highly cultured. That also speaks to me of an interesting connection between knowledge--(or is it intelligence?)--and evil. Or, if not evil, then certainly the film references the tendency of erudition to create or enhance feelings that those possessed of intelligence, wealth, position, or influence, are somehow more deserving of greatness than the rest of humanity.