I watched the cult film, Polansky's The Ninth Gate (Johnny Depp) on TV a night ago. It is occult, mysterious, troubling and the ending is unsatisfying. I googled a synopsis to find out if my interpretation of the movie was anywhere near right.

Depp is a rare book dealer searching for several volumes that can open the Ninth Gate to Hell when properly invoked. Langella plays a Satanist and hires him for the search. Finally Langella has the volumes, but one is a forgery, so when he enters the fire he has set, thinking nothing can harm him, he dies in agony. At the end, Depp, aided by a beautiful blonde agent of Satan, is allowed into the gate, but he is seen walking toward this brilliant light and that is the end. Hey, wait a minute, then what happens? S…

On one of the synopsis sites, a group of comments were interesting. I find one fascinating because it is an interpretation of Adam and Eve and the snake that I never entertained and I am ashamed I did not. Here it is:

THE GIRL IS THE KEY
Subject: Ninth_Gate
Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001
From: Jörgen

The Girl is the key to solving this puzzle. (See f.e. "The Devil In Love" by Jacques Cazotte, 1772)

And who's to say that the Lord of Darkness represents evil? In the Judeo-Christian belief system Adam and Eve were living their days in paradise, in total bliss but also in total ignorance and stupidity, oblivious to the world surrounding them. Without free will. Enter the "Dark" Lord, in the form of a snake. He gave them knowledge. He gave them Illumination. And above all, he gave them free will. The so called "good" god saw this and cast them out of paradise, much like a angry little child taking his ball and going home, leaving the other children wondering what just happened.

Isn't there something wrong with this picture?
Why would the good "guy" want his own creation to live all their days in ignorance? To not be able to think for themselves? To not see the world for what is was? It sounds like a rather cruel and selfish creator to me. Not at all like the warm and loving, bearded nice old man they want us to picture. Certainly a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, to quote W. Churchill.

So for that reason (and several others) I think that Corso (Depp), when entering the Ninth Gate, was finally granted a place in paradise, forever lifting his veil of Darkness that has been placed over the eyes of mankind since the day the so called god of "light" was throwing mankind out of paradise. And not just granted a place in paradise, but becoming One with the real God.

Brilliant, yes?

xx, Teal