Customer Reviews

The Ninth Gate (1999 Film)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Silva Screen presents a fascinating soundtrack composed by Wojciech Kilar - THE NINTH GATE, a Roman Polanski film. Kilar who also composed "Francis Ford Coppola's - Bram Stoker's DRACULA" - was a triumph. Ninth Gate's score is eerie, suspenseful and haunting, much to the listeners enjoyment. Kilar strikes a cord when setting the mood for this film, which never stops from beginning to end. A beautiful voice emerges from soprano Sumijo, blending well with - The City of Prague Philharmonic & Chorus, conducted by Stepan Konicek. Please stand up and take a bow, all those who participated in this venture through the - NINTH GATE!

Total Time: 54:07 on 16 Tracks/ Silva Screen Records - SSD 1103 (2000)

Mr. Kilar's haunting melodies are wonderful. While at times I felt that the music was sparesly orchestrated, there is enormous drive and emotion contained within. I've found myself humming the melody quite often - it made quite an impression. You will definately like this score if you liked the scores to Interview with a Vampire and Sixth Sense. This score rates on my top 100 list!

Few film scores are worthy of a 5 star rating in my book, but Wojciech Kilar's 'The Ninth Gate' is one of the few truly powerful compositions that really grab you.

This score really harnesses the nature of the film, which is a horrific thriller of the paranormal and evil.

The music is predominantly orchestral compilations taken straight out of the film. There is no foul play in the presentation of this album. Every piece from the movie is included on the CD in immaculate quality and presentation. Sumi Jo is the soprano who is featured in several of the tracks. Although I've only heard of her from this album, her voice is amazing and it really compliments the tracks.

The symphonic orchestral compilations are rendered in a very delicate way, balancing the power of the bass instruments with the highs of the violins and clarinets...The result is a very sharp presentation with no over-hanging lows. At the same time, however, the presentation is just soft enough, making it manageable to listen to at intense volume, yet precise in the highs without inducing listener fatigue...an interesting phenomenon...and VERY enjoyable to experience.

The fold-out leaflet also includes all NINE engravings from the mythical book 'The Nine Gates' and explains them in short captions.

I recommend this CD, buy it, you'll enjoy it.

It's unfortunate that Hollywood hasn't seen fit to have the Polish-based Kilar score more films. Indeed, it's expatriate director Roman Polanski who brought him aboard here. This score is brooding, majestic, contemplative, exciting, sinister, romantic ... quite brilliant. It has quickly become a personal favorite, notwithstanding the fact that it is quite different in style from the Williams, Goldsmith, Horner scores I most often enjoy. This is a different but very rewarding listening experience.

If you are one of the (apparently few) people who enjoyed the 'The Ninth Gate' film, especially if you have purchased it on VHS or DVD for multiple viewings, you NEED to own this CD.

The reason for this is not so much because of the music itself, but because the liner notes contain miniature copies of the nine engravings from the book in the film.

The images, although small, are very high-resolution, more so than the engravings on the DVD gallery. It is possible to make out the 'AT' and 'LCF' initials and much easier to appreciate how some of the figures in the engravings were made to look like characters in the film.

Now don't get me wrong, I purchased the CD for the music, and was not disappointed. Kilar did an excellent job of encapsulating the mood of the film in music, and it is great music to play late at night when you are researching something in your own library.

I only have one minor, qualified gripe: the violin piece played by the Fargas character is not included. I know it was technically not part of the soundtrack as it was essentially in the background and audible to the characters in the scene, but in the movie it was blended into Kilar's score so beautifully, and served to heighten the sense of tension and discovery so well that it is a shame not to have it on the CD. Like I said, this is a minor gripe, and I really cannot complain as adding sounds from the film to a soundtrack is always controversial, just look at what Vangelis did with 'Blade Runner!' No, Kilar's 'Ninth Gate' soundtrack is simply the music from the film without any additions or subtractions, starkly enigmatic and introspective.

The film "The Ninth Gate", to many critics, stank, but I apparently enjoyed it enough to get the soundtrack!!

Kilar is one one of my fave film composers; I enjoyed his work for "Bram Stoker's Dracula"(see my review for that film), but his work for "The Ninth Gate" is phenomenal! The tracks are beautifully eerie, especially the first and last one with the soprano Sumi Jo. There are a couple of tracks that are actually light fare like the track "Corso" that takes a variation of Ravel's "Bolero", but the ones that get me the most are tracks 12 thru the 15, the chrous with the reptition and Sumi Jo's haunting voice evokes moods of actual devil worship (the movie is about the devil)and a great evil, you kinda feel like you're witnessing hell first hand (I actually don't what that's like but you kinda get the idea). Kilar's music for "Dracula" and "The Ninth Gate" is like somewhere between classical and gothic, but the scores of both films achieve it's goal of invoking the mood of an approaching great evil that's instoppable. "The Ninth Gate" score is definetly one of the best movie soundtracks I've ever brought. Listen to it a dark room and be prepared to "dance with the devil in the pale moonlight".

This is yet another brilliant score from the polish composer Wojchiech Kilar. If you enjoyed Dracula, you'll love this. Very brooding and sparse in its simplicity. As usual Mr. Kilar relies on very low basses and cellos to build, and build themes in a repetitive manner. It's very effective and brilliantly executed.
As the Dracula soundtrack, this is a dynamic score that needs to be played on a good system. And although I love my Goldsmiths, Horners, Zimmers and so on, for my money, this IS the best composer working in films today. Too bad Hollywood hasn't given him more chances, although I hear he's doing some tracks for the upcoming Lord of the Rings trilogy. I wish they'd let him score the whole thing, he's the perfect composer for those types of films.

How on earth did I miss knowing of Wojcciech Kilar? The movie "The Ninth Gate" led me to several good things: the book "The Club Dumas" by Arturo Perez-Reverte, and the composer Kilar.

The opening cut, which is reprised as the last cut, is "Vocalise"-- a simple, warm, chilling piece with a vocalise by Korean soprano Sumi Jo. It is hauntingly beautiful, and will stick with you.

A movie soundtrack is interesting; it can remind viewers of dramatic moments, and conjure up visual images from the film. The true test of a film soundtrack is how it stands without the film. I've played this for many friends who did not see the film, and all appreciate and are moved by the music.

In addition to the Vocalise, you'll enjoy "Corso"-- the theme for Johnny Depp's character. It manages to blend wit, humor, suspense, and the sinister into one fascinating piece. The same theme appears in variations such as "Plane to Spain (Bolero)" where it gets a dramatic, measured Spanish twist. Several other pieces use Sumi Jo's crystal voice as an accompanying embellishment, with great impact.

I've been trying to track down information about Wojciech Kilar. He is about 70, was born in Poland, and has not done much film work in the US (Coppola's "Dracula", "Death & the Maiden", and "Portrait of a Lady"). His work shows up briefly in "The Truman Show" and "Schindler's List." I'm surprised he has done so little here. Apparently he is quite famous in his native Poland, and has done a lot of film work there. He also composes liturgical and symphonic works.

I can assure you that you will enjoy this CD. It will give you chills (whether or not you saw the film).

I LOVE this soundtrack. If you saw the movie, it is easy to remember it when you listen to the soundtrack. This music moves and creates tension and suspense. I listen to it over and over. You will love it if you like instrumentals, there are no lyrics. This CD keeps you listening but I am still able to perform other tasks since it is an instrumental. I am an artist and I like to listen to this when I paint.

This soundtrack, specifically the vocal work by Sumi Jo is without a doubt my most favorite recording ever for a movie. Nothing I have listened to so far comes even close.

Despite trying several time to compose a detailed review of this product, sadly enough I cant seem to articulate sufficiently how moved I feel when listing to it. This is so because I'm a very emotionally as well as spiritually repressed person by nature.

Suffice it to say that the theme song, "Vocalise" and its sister song "Reprise" will be played continuously at my funeral when that event happens; that is how strongly those recordings move me.