Music
Wojciech Kilar’s ‘The Ninth Gate’ Score is an Absolute Delight
In 1999, Roman Polanski’s The Ninth Gate was released. Based on Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s novel “The Club Dumas“, the movie followed antique book hunter Dean Corso (Johnny Depp) who has been hired by eccentric millionaire Boris Balkan (Frank Langella) to verify the authenticity of a recently acquired Satanic tome dubbed “The Nine Gates”. So begins an international journey of mystery, intrigue, murder, and supernatural oddness that is surprisingly charming and entertaining. It’s a movie that I don’t often see get enough credit, which is why I want to talk about a feature that may slip by many people upon their viewing: the score by composer Wojciech Kilar.
Kilar is probably most well known to the horror audience for his work on Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, a wonderful score that embodies the age, romance, excitement, terror, and epic nature of the infamous vampire story.
But the lesser-seen gem The Ninth Gate has an equally brilliant score, one that mixes beauty and terror with a delightfully cheeky and playful quality that embraces the absurdity of the movie while highlighting the mystic air that pervades throughout.
Corso’s theme reminds me of bumbling detectives who stumble and flounder yet are absolutely endearing. This matches his character who, while clever and fascinating, also manages to get himself caught in situations that are out of his control. But tracks like “The Ninth Gate” or “Liana’s Death” remind the viewer that what they are watching is a fun film with a blasphemously serious plot. After all, raising the Devil is not an event to be held lightly.
That’s where Kilar’s brilliance comes into play. I firmly believe that the reason I enjoy The Ninth Gate so much is because of how his score moves the story along. I can go from my lips pursed in suspense to an ear-to-ear grin in the span of moments, all thanks to the wit of the music.
If you haven’t given the music a chance, I highly recommend picking up Silva Screen’s black vinyl edition. There’s also a flame variant they pressed but that had some pressing issues, so it’s safer to go the route that will get you the best audio experience.
And if you haven’t seen the movie, definitely pick up a copy on Amazon.
AMC has announced that The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE, the standing-room-only performance celebrating AMC’s premiere of its newly-released The Vampire Lestat at New York City’s iconic Beacon Theatre last month, will debut on streaming.
The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE begins streaming on AMC+ on August 23.
Ahead of its streaming premiere, fans can preview the concert event, featuring original songs from series composer Daniel Hart and performed by Sam Reid, in Hall H at Comic Con International on July 24.
Our own Daniel Kurland attended the special event, highlighting how electric the Immortal Vampire is on stage: “It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.”
Based on Anne Rice‘s The Vampire Chronicles book series, The Vampire Lestat is the rock and roll-centric third season of AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire” created by showrunner Rolin Jones.
The Vampire Lestat goes on an electric multi-city tour while being haunted by “muses” from his wild and rebellious past. As his band’s popularity and star power rises, so does Lestat’s influence over vampires and humans alike, leaving others to contend with Lestat’s power in the face of the Great Conversion, an unnatural surge in the vampire population.
Jacob Anderson, Assad Zaman, Eric Bogosian, Delainey Hayles and Jennifer Ehle star with Reid. Executive producers include Jones, Mark Johnson, Hannah Moscovitch, the late Anne Rice, and her son Christopher Rice.
The series finale airs this Sunday, July 19, on AMC and AMC+.
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