The Ninth Gate

When this film was released in 1999 it did not get the press it deserved and I never saw it until I it aired on HBO. After the first viewing, I was hooked on the film. I have always thought Depp was an excellent actor and he plays an almost likable but undoubtedly dark character than has clearly adopted the "me above all others" way of thinking. He is hired by Frank Langella who plays a very dark, Devil worshiping book collector with a hidden agenda, lyrically named Boris Balkan. Throughout the film, Depp is visited and aided by Emmanuelle Seigner (who to this day I have never seen in anything else in spite of a long European filmography)but one of the mysteries of the film is that you never know who this girl is. An agent of the Devil, the Devil itself or a dark angel? As usual, Lena Olin plays a forgettable character and is probably the weakest part of the film. Even though Langella's portrayal of the evil book collector goes a little over the top toward the end, the film and the interactions between Depp and the other possessors of this rare book are not to be missed. I am looking forward to the blu-ray release.