Do reviews of these two, please. I want to hear your opinion on The Ninth Gate, and I want to know if There Will Be Blood is worth seeing.
Sure:
The Ninth Gate is Roman Polanski's adaptation of The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte. I haven't read that book yet (have a copy but just am perpetually finding other things to read) but in some ways it reminds me of Umberto Eco's work, particularly his densely-layered, ironic conspiracy thriller, Foucault's Pendulum. It shares that novel's love of books and fascination with shrewd fanaticism, if not much of the plot.
Inevitably compared with Polanski's earlier "Devil film", Rosemary's Baby, there are a few distinctions to make here; 'Baby' is more firmly rooted in the psychological terror and paranoia of a young pregnant woman and the magical scenes in that movie have an unsure, subjective face. Here Polanski grounds his story in the conventions of classic detective films and novels which allows him more leeway for introducing strange and artificial elements because he is already working in a highly artificial world. There's a scene where Devilish magic is first introduced into the action that is surprising not because of how out of place it is, but because it's shown in such a nonchalant, incidental manner. Polanski really knows hot to manipulate film conventions and does so expertly here. Much of the film is spent pouring over text with a magnifying glass but it never gets boring, partly because of the superb and humorous cast, partly because of the commonplace but otherworldly atmosphere.
What drops it half a popcorn box for me is that the plot is somewhat incomprehensible. It's about a book with magical powers (specifically magical pictures) that obviously bends the reality that we see in mysterious ways but a lot of it seems kind of slapdash and arbitrary. I guess if you're a stickler for these things it would probably drop a little bit more, but I've seen it about 8 times now and enjoyed it each one.
There Will be Blood is a similarly beautiful and atmospheric film. This time set in the American southwest at the turn of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th. It is worth seeing for its mastery of visual narrative alone (it has an incredible, almost silent first leg that seems to last ages). Ultimately I was a little disappointed by the scope of this picture though. I think if The Ninth Gate had chosen to focus on the singular intensity of Johnny Depp or Frank Langella's spite and greed I would have rated that a bit lower too. I guess the difference in rating comes from the fact that I would rather have a beautiful film that teases the corners of my imagination than one built to support a single portrait, but both are good films.
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However, there were a couple of stories that I could have done without, like the first story (ehh) or I wish had more time like the babtsitters story. All in all though I loved it.
