The Ninth Gate (1999)

[The Ninth Gate (1999)]

Mr. Langella is still alive, thankfully, still doing great work, and standing against insanity.

[The Ninth Gate (1999)]

He did let my sisters see it, and I gather from them it was a book about giving your soul to the Devil for material wealth. He moved to California before he died, so he may have left it out there somewhere. His house burned down sometime around 1980, but the lot it was on is still wooded and undeveloped. It's inside the Washington D.C. beltway, in the suburb of Bethesda. Some rich relatives (which I am not) have been paying the taxes all these years. I remember my sister told me she asked him about it before he died, and he told her "you'll never find it." You may be able to see the lot from a satellite image. The South end borders Beech Avenue and the North end borders a hill that used to have gooseberry bushes growing wild, Whitley Park condominuim and then the beltway North of that.

[The Ninth Gate (1999)]

I doubt they would ever do this movie but everytime I watch it I leave thinking "Wtf did I just watch?".

 

-Who is Green Eyes?

I'm not so sure she's the Devil. I suspect her identity and true nature are deliberately left vague.

-If Frank Langella was willing to kill everyone for the other books why even send Corso at all?

Of course you mean Boris Balkan right? AFAIK Langella is not known for being particularly bloodthirsty. As the response from the Baroness showed, an intermediary probably would have been a better way to buy the books, just in case either one were willing to sell. I doubt Balkan would have been very weclome at Fargas' place either.

-How did the black albino not notice a red Ferrari tailing him for hours on an empty highway?

We don't know for how long they were on that main highway, do we? Anyway this is the sort of detail which arguably does not matter. Not that I want to argue about it.

-Why does Green Eyes use kung fu?

Why not? It worked didn't it?

-Who killed Bernie and hung him up like the engraving?

Based on the shot of the black albino's feet followed by Green Eyes' feet, the black albino did it.

-Why doesn't the manly French secretary tell the police Corso murdered her boss?

Maybe she did. But one possible reason not to talk about it was indicated by the phone call she received as Corso was leaving the first time. She appeared to be scared of whomever she was talking to. Maybe she was talking to Balkan.

 

My grandfather had a book something like the one in the movie. He never let me see it, which was probably a kindness on his part. It got him what he wanted, but he paid a heavy price.