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Amusing disregard for books

152.65.242.78

Posted by Stephen Hayes on March 20, 2000 at 07:27:30

In Reply to: "The Ninth Gate" didn't suck completely. posted by TAFKA Steve on March 18, 2000 at 15:01:08:

Polanski's latest horror was a disappointment to me in some ways, too. I had high hopes for this combination of a film based on a good book (Club Dumas), good actors (adore Langella and Depp), and a director with three great horror films under his belt (Fearless Vampire Killers, Rosemary's Baby, and Repulsion). The Ninth Gate didn't measure up to these, though I still enjoyed it overall.

In fact, the book is based on a fine novel, Arturo Perez-Reverte's The Club Dumas, which the dust jacket describes as a "beach book for intellectuals." Polanski follows the plot fairly faithfully, but it's one of those novels that's shot-through with the kind of literary references that may not translate well to the screen. In this case, the novel's "subtext" is Alexander Dumas' novel The Three Musketeers. The Perez-Reverte book assumes an audience that's familiar with the Dumas novel. I'm not sure whether that's true for Polanski's film adaptation. If a person really liked the movie, the question might be worth following up.

What surprised me about the film is the manner in which various characters handled books. These were supposed to be early printed editions, which can be quite fragile (or very tough - depends on the book and how it's been cared for). One of the books is reputed to be invaluable, but Depp and his book-collector friend handle it like it was cheap paperback. I work in a rare book and manuscript library, and those scenes made me cringe more than any horned devil with cloven hooves and a pitchfork.

BTW, does anyone know what city Polanski used for New York City? (I'm assuming that Polanski still can't return to the U.S., and that he had to shoot another city as New York in the film.)

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