CREATING MEANING THROUGH MUSIC:
MUSICAL CONNECTIONS IN WOJCIECH KILAR’S SCORE FOR
ROMAN POLANSKI’S THE NINTH GATE
By
Fernando Nicknich
Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of
Master of Music in Scoring for Film, Television, and Video Games
Berklee College of Music – Valencia Campus
July 2015
Table of Contents
Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 01
The Ninth Gate: Movie Overview …………………………………………………………………………… 05
Wojciech Kilar’s Associations with Polański and the Western Film Industry ……………. 07
Plot Synopsis ………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 10
Central Elements of the Script ………………………………………………………………………………. 17
Wojciech Kilar’s Music Overview …………………………………………………………………………… 21
The Music in The Ninth Gate …………………………………………………………………………………. 24
Main Theme ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 24 Corso’s Theme …………………………………………………………………………………………… 40
First Version …………………………………………………………………………………… 43 First Version (Alternative Orchestration) ………………………………………… 45 Second Version ……………………………………………………………………………….. 47 Theme Derivation ……………………………………………………………………………. 49
Girl’s Theme ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 49 Choir Theme ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 59
Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 63
Appendix A …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 70
Appendix B …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 79
References …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 80
1
Introduction
For some reason that probably is still to be understood by our humanly sciences, we humans have the ability to store a quite vivid and somewhat detailed memory of some particular events in our lives. Experts call it a flashbulb memory; a type of memory that is generally related to emotionally arousing moments or moments of greater significance in the generally smooth flow of our lives.
This experience happened to me when I first watched Roman Polański’s The
Ninth Gate. It was my first year as an undergraduate student, living on my own for the first time. Far from family and friends, I was starting to get acquainted with that bitter loneliness that no teenager thinks of when they dream about leaving their parents’ home and pursuing a life of freedom and fulfillment. I didn’t have the habit of watching television programs at that time, but by a quirk of fate I decided to turn on the television that night. I remember I was sitting alone on the sofa in the unlit living room, it was probably past 11pm and the neighborhood was quite silent. The movie started just a couple of minutes later. I still remember how astonished I felt when the first chords of the soundtrack filled up the room. It was so dark and so deep that it hooked me immediately.
I had never heard about Wojciech Kilar until that moment, and I probably didn’t pay attention to his name back then, as I would only reencounter his name years later.
Being myself an apprentice composer at that time, I immediately related to that music and felt that kind of sonority was something I was somehow striving to attain. Many years later, I didn’t quite develop an interest in the – so to say – minimalist style of Mr.
Kilar, but his dark and deep soundscapes certainly influenced my music and became a sort of reference for me on that matter. 2
Coming from this past experience, Mr. Kilar’s score for Roman Polański’s movie
The Ninth Gate became a natural choice for me as the subject for the present work, whose main goal – to put it clear since the beginning – is to shed some light on some central themes of the movie’s soundtrack while presenting some considerations regarding the role or influence of these themes in the construction of meaning in the movie. As it will be seen later on, the music plays an interesting role in connecting some elements of the plot, sometimes even bringing to the attentive spectator some hidden clues that inform the viewer of some possible underlying meanings in the development of the story.
The score is quite unique in the way it was conceived, resembling very little the hollywoodish style that we normally tend to imagine when we think of film music. This uniqueness comes certainly from the fact that Kilar was a trained and accomplished classical music composer, having as such developed a very particular style and a characteristic sonority of his own. He was in fact one of the prominent concert music composers of the young generation in Poland in the 60’s, being part of the Polish avant- garde together with names such as Krzsyztof Penderecki and Henryk Górecki (they formed a group which was then called by the German critics The Polish School of
Composition).1 Later on in his life he would end up abandoning the avant-garde ideas in favor of a simpler style inspired by the music of the highlanders (or, Gorals) – a group of indigenous people that had settled in southern Poland. While the music in The Ninth
Gate cannot exactly be said to be an example of this Gorals music, it stands certainly closer to this style than to the avant-garde pieces from his early years.
1 LECH, Filip. Avant-Garde and Gorals – Notes on Wojciech Kilar. Published on Culture.pl on March 30th, 2015. http://culture.pl/en/article/avant-garde-and-gorals-notes-on-wojciech-kilar (Accessed on June 5th, 2015) 3
The analysis will be focused in four specific themes that were judged to be central to the soundtrack. For the sake of communicating them, they were called here:
1) Main theme; 2) Corso’s theme; 3) Girl’s theme; and 4) Choir’s theme.2 A code system will be used to address these themes as the text advances. These codes will be inserted in the synopsis together with the timing information that will inform the beginning of each cue or, eventually, the time spot where the specific theme is used inside a cue (in the case of cues that use more than one thematic material).3 With this system, it is expected that he reader will be able to quickly check the cues in the movie whenever he or she feels the need to do so. The code itself will inform two things: 1) the theme in question; and 2) the number of the occurrence of this theme in the scope of the movie.
For instance, for the third occurrence of the Main theme, the code will be [Mt3]; for the fourth occurrence of the same theme, [Mt4]; and so on. The codes will be explained in more details at the chapter where they will be first employed.
I will do my best to address each theme and scene in the clearest way possible.
However, it is strongly recommended that the reader take his or her time to watch the movie before reading this work, as this will surely facilitate the process of understanding the story and locate the events in the scope of the movie when these events are addressed in the chapter devoted to the discussions about the music.
Because of the lack of bibliography regarding this specific movie, most of the discussions will be based on virtual resources like the Internet Movie Database
2 Dean Corso is the main character of the plot, while the Girl is his main interlocutor, so to say. More details about the main elements and characters of the plot will be presented in the chapter called Plot Synopsis, as well as in the chapter that follows it. 3 All the time indications will be based on the DVD release: The Ninth Gate. Directed by Roman Polanski. 1999. Santa Monica, CA: Artisan Entertainment, 1999. DVD.
4
(IMDb.com) – the Mecca for information on the film industry –, blogs and magazine articles.
The exposition starts by presenting, in the first chapter, some basic information regarding the production and release of the movie. A second chapter will present information regarding the collaborations between Polański and Kilar, as well as Kilar’s presence in the Western film production circles. The third chapter will bring the plot synopsis will be addressed. One can always return to this chapter to refresh one’s memory while reading the discussions about the music. The fourth chapter will bring a brief analysis of the script of the movie. The aim of this chapter is to present an overview of the central elements of the plot, having in mind that these elements will, in the analysis here presented, be somehow connected to the music in the film. The fifth chapter will bring an overview of Wojciech Kilar’s music, intending to give to the reader a general profile of Kilar’s own style, which will also serve as guide to understanding the particularities of the music in The Ninth Gate. Finally, in the sixth chapter the score of
The Ninth Gate will be finally addressed. A general description of the music will be presented, to which the more in-depth analysis of the four selected themes will follow.
As accurate as possible, transcriptions of each theme will be provided whenever they become useful for the discussion. The final chapter will bring a final discussion, summarizing all the information previously presented, thus bringing the reader to the end of this exposition.
5
The Ninth Gate: Movie Overview
The Ninth Gate was based on a novel called El Club Dumas, by Spanish writer
Arturo Pérez-Reverte. The novel was adapted to script by Pérez-Reverte’s compatriot
Enrique Urbizu, from the Basque country, and the screenplay was written by director
Roman Polański himself with the help of John Brownjohn.4 It was first screened on
August 25th, 1999 in Spain, Belgium and France. In November of the same year it was shown in Denmark and Sweden and finally, in December it reached Finland, Germany,
Italy and the United States.5 The film was co-produced by a group of Spanish-French production companies.6
With an estimated budget of $38.000.000, it ended up making a box office of around $58.000.000 worldwide.7 Overall, the movie provoked very contrasting feelings.
Some people praised it as an exciting intellectual thriller, while others felt completely disappointed, saying it lacked pace and was too obvious.8 This antagonism became a sort of standard rule for the movie’s critiques. Still today, a search in the Internet brings the same contrasting results: half of the reviews are generally very enthusiastic about the movie, being a common thing to encounter fans saying that the movie is very
4 For a complete list of Roman Polański’s works as a film director, visit his profile in IMDb.com: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000591/ (Accessed on June 3rd, 2015). For a brief description of his main works, consult: HALTOF, Marek. Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema. The Scarecrow Press, Inc., Toronto, 2007. p.143-145. 5 Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com). The Ninth Gate (1999) – Release Info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142688/releaseinfo (Accessed on May 16th, 2015) 6 For a list of all the companies involved, visit: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142688/companycredits (Accessed on May 17th, 2015). 7 Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com). The Ninth Gate (1999) – Box Office / Business: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142688/business (Accessed on May 16th, 2015) 8 Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com). The Ninth Gate Reviews & Ratings: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142688/reviews (Accessed on May 17th, 2015) 6 underrated, while the other half are comprised of people warning readers that the movie is not even worth watching.9
The film was nominated for five awards, one of them being the International Film
Music Critics Award (IFMCA), for the Film Score of the Year, and another being the
European Film Awards, for Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema, both in
1999.10 Director Roman Polański ended up winning the latter.11
The score was recorded in Prague by The City of Prague Philharmonic and
Chorus under the baton of the late Czech film composer and conductor Mr. Stepán
Konícek. The Korean soprano Sumi Jo makes an appearance in some cues, including the cue for the ending credits, which became one of the most well known pieces of this score. The album release was produced by the composer himself, Wojciech Kilar.
9 It is not in the scope of this project to discuss the contrasting critiques the movie has received, but yet, I would like to recommend the following review by Jose Cruz, who seemed to me to accuratelly capture the intentions behind the movie: http://classic-horror.com/reviews/ninth_gate_1999. He included the supposition that many of the people who disliked The Ninth Gate for its lack of action and slow pace were maybe fooled by its trailer, which portrayed the film as a sort of an action-driven thriller, when in reality it is more about the shadowy silent lurking of the devil in beautiful old libraries and gorgeous countrysides. It has definitely a more introspective tone rather than the extroverted abundances portrayed in the trailer. 10 IFMCA: the International Film Music Critics Association | 1999 FMCJ Awards: http://filmmusiccritics.org/awards-archive/1999-fmcj-awards/. Wojciech Kilar was competing with big names of the Hollywood industry, such as Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Danny Elfman, and others. 11 For a complete list of the awards, visit: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142688/awards. 7
Wojciech Kilar’s Associations with Polański and
the Western Film Industry
Before scoring The Ninth Gate, Kilar had already worked with Polański in a previous title called Death and The Maiden (1994).12 He would yet score a third and final movie for Polański, the highly acclaimed The Pianist (2002).13 While both Death and the
Maiden and The Ninth Gate didn’t reach far in terms of public recognition, The Pianist received dozens and dozens of nominations and prizes around the world, including 3
Oscars. Kilar himself would win the César Awards and the Polish Film Awards with his score for the movie.14 He would also be nominated for the BAFTA Awards in the same year, competing with the likes of John Williams, Danny Elfman, Howard Shore and
Phillip Glass.15
In an interview for the Polish online film publication Stopklatka, Kilar would describe his process of working with Polański:
Polański is an exceptional director … he is extremely attentive to detail, a perfectionist. I remember how we would play fragments from the film on a little TV set, and I was simultaneously trying to play music to go with them. This is how we would work on the details of the compositions. I ended up writing music in the same manner as the film was made.16
12 Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com). Death and the Maiden (1994): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109579/. (Accessed on May 12th, 2015) 13 Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com). The Pianist (2002): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253474/. (Accessed on May 12th, 2015) By the time of writing this paper, it ranks in the 43th position in the Top 250 Chart of the IMDb.com, a rank based on popular vote. 14 For the Cesar Awards, visit: Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma. Palmarès des César: http://www.academie-cinema.org/ceremonie/palmares.html?annee=2003#meilleure-musique-ecrite- pour-film; The video footage of the announcement at the ceremony can be seen at: Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma. Vidéos: http://www.academie-cinema.org/images/videos/wojciech-kilar-cesar-2003- meilleure-musique-ecrite-pour-pianiste,2003,1392,1392.html; For the Polish Film Awards, visit: Orły | Laureaci wg roku – 2003: http://pnf.pl/laureaci-wg-roku-2003/. 15 BAFTA Awards: http://awards.bafta.org/award/2003/film/the-anthony-asquith-for-the-achievement- in-film-music 16 LECH, Filip. Avant-Garde and Gorals – Notes on Wojciech Kilar: http://culture.pl/en/article/avant- garde-and-gorals-notes-on-wojciech-kilar. (Accessed on June 5th, 2015) 8
The choice of working with Kilar was not based on any patriotic reasons, according to Polański, but on the feeling that his music was a perfect match for those movies.17 MAZIERSKA goes on to comment about this statement:
One can understand the director of Death and the Maiden regarding Kilar’s music as being suitable for his later films – these films are full of passion and even pathos, which are the qualities one also finds in Kilar’s scores for the films directed by Zanussi and Wajda. Kilar’s scores tend to amplify the emotions conveyed by image and dialogue.18
In fact, Kilar was much more known to Polish audiences, having had more than a hundred movies scored for Polish directors before he became known in the Western film production circles. Most of his works were a result of a life-long collaboration with a few Polish directors such as Krzysztof Zanussi and Andrzej Wajda.19 He was introduced to the Western world late in his career through his score for Francis Ford
Coppola’s Oscar winning Dracula, released in 1992 (two years before he scored his first film for Polański).20 He would later on score Jane Campion’s Oscar nominated The
Portrait of a Lady, released in 1996, and the lesser-known James Gray’s We Own the
Night, released in 2007.21
17 MALATYNSKA. M.; MALATYNSKA-STANKIEWCZ, A. Scherzo dla Wojciecha Kilara. In: MAZIERSKA, E. Roman Polanski: The Cinema of a Cultural Traveller. I.B.Tauris, London, 2007. p.111 18 Ibid. 19 For a complete list of Kilar’s works as a film composer, visit his profile at IMDb.com: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004384/ (Accessed on June 3rd, 2015). For a brief description of his main works, consult: HALTOF, Marek. Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema. The Scarecrow Press, Inc., Toronto, 2007. p.86-87. 20 Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com). Dracula (1992): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103874/. 21 Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com). The Portrait of a Lady (1996): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117364/; We Own the Night (2007): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498399/. (Accessed on June 25th, 2015). 9
Kilar would yet become Peter Jackson’s composer of choice for his trilogy Lord of the Rings, a job that he apparently declined.22 Although nobody knows for sure what were the reasons behind his choice, the anonymous author of Wojciech Kilar’s profile in the website Ninateka.pl argues that one of the possible reasons was that Kilar was not fond of the more industrial approach, so to say, of the American model of film production. The author discusses this idea further:
Independence was precisely what Kilar did not want to give up when working abroad, especially on the other side of the Atlantic. In the American model of film production, the composer comes at the very end – the director and, especially, the producer may edit his or her music as they wish. In addition, the composer is usually not its only creator: in high-budget productions, the composer is responsible just for the melody, with a team of assistants taking care of the rest. Kilar came up against this machine once, when working on Coppola's Dracula – despite regular, ongoing consultations, in the end the director changed everything during the post-production stage. … Zanussi recalls that on another occasion, a producer suggested changes to the score twice, and the irritated composer [Kilar] terminated the contract, worth half a million dollars. Was this the reason he refused to work on Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings?23
Despite Kilar’s apparent refuse of the offer, there are suspicions that his music might have been used as a temp track in the movie. A user of the online forum of the
Film Score Monthly online magazine pointed out similarities between Lord of the Ring’s scenes in the mines of Moria to the melodic theme featured in the last part of Kilar’s
Kościelec 1909 (a piece he had written in 1976).24
Let’s proceed now with a presentation of the plot synopsis and a discussion about the central elements of the script.
22 Ninateka.pl. Film Music – Wojciech Kilar: http://ninateka.pl/kolekcje/en/kilar/film-music/music-to- foreign-films (Accessed on June 24th, 2015). 23 Anonymous. Film Music – Wojciech Kilar. Published on Ninateka.pl. [no date] http://ninateka.pl/kolekcje/en/kilar/film-music/music-to-foreign-films (Accessed on June 29th, 2015). 24 Film Score Monthly. FSM Board: Kilar – And Lord of the Rings: http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=106150&forumID=1&archive=0 (Accessed on June 29th, 2015). The mentioned theme from Kilar’s Kościelec 1909 can be heard in the following link: https://youtu.be/u1iuvGqAAaU?t=12m25s (Accessed on June 29th, 2015). 10
Plot Synopsis
Before advancing to the synopsis per se, it is worth to present a brief explanation of the information that is going to be conveyed in this chapter. The synopsis will be used to present a sort of a map of the music in the film. To achieve that, a code system will be introduced. For the sake of simplicity, only the four themes that are going to be analyzed later on are going to be mentioned. The code will consist of two distinct parts, as it was briefly explained in the introductory chapter: two letters will indicate the theme in question, followed by a number that will indicate the number of the occurrence of the theme in the movie. The themes will be coded as follows: Main theme
[Mt]; Corso’s theme [Ct]; Girl’s theme [Gt]; and Choir’s theme [Ch]. Each of these codes will be followed by the number indicating the occurrence of the theme. For instance, for the second occurrence of the Girl’s theme, the code will be [Gt2], and so on.
Let’s move on now to the synopsis. With the intention of hopefully making the plot a bit easier to grasp, the plot was divided in three acts. This subdivision is not mentioned or insinuated in the movie, though.
Act I
The viewer is introduced into the movie at the scene of the suicide of Andrew
Telfer. The main theme is heard for the first time when the man commits suicide. Soon the credits start to be presented [Mt1 – 00:01:48].25
By the end of the credits, the camera reaches an afternoon in New York City.
Book dealer Dean Corso is seen in a private library, where he is evaluating a collection
25 I will use the synopsis to point and label the moments of the plot where music comes in and also mark their timing in the movie. I will reference to these labels later on, when talking about the music of each scene. Mt1 stands for Main Theme, first occurence. 11 for a client. As he finishes his job, he leaves the building while a new theme is heard for the first time: it’s Corso’s theme [Ct1 – 00:07:32]. He heads to Balkan Press [Mt2 –
00:09:45] for a meeting with wealthy collector Boris Balkan at his private library.
Balkan shows Corso his new acquisition, a copy of a very rare satanic book called The
Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows. The spectator learns that he bought it from
Andrew Telfer the day before he committed suicide, and he now wants to hire Corso to authenticate it by comparing it to the other two extant copies in the world, as he believes only one of them is authentic.
Back in his apartment, Corso examines the book first time [Mt3 – 00:18:26]. He decides to pay a visit to Liana Telfer, the widow of Andrew Telfer, to see if she can give him any information regarding the book. At Liana’s house, he gets to know that Andrew had bought the book in Toledo, but apart from this, the conversation is unfruitful and
Corso does not take long to leave [Ct2 – 00:22:08]. He heads to a public library to study the book and search for information [Mt4 – 00:22:43]. At the library, he is taken by surprise by a mysterious Girl he had seen at Balkan Press who is apparently stalking him [Gt1 – 00:23:13]. He tries to catch her but she suddenly disappears. Back at his desk, he resumes his work [Mt5 – 00:24:16].26
Back in his apartment once again, he finds out that the door has been opened and his apartment searched through. He realizes somebody is after Balkan’s book, so he asks his friend Bernie to stash it for him. As Corso and Bernie talk at Bernie’s bookstore, somebody outside is watching them. After a while the stalker is seen walking away and, after him, the Girl’s shoes can be distinguished through the window. Corso doesn’t seem to notice the movements outside.
26 I will use the uppercase ‘Girl’ to address this character, as she is never given a name in the film, yet she is central to plot. The uppercase form will work in the place of her inexistent name. 12
Back home, Corso is packing for his travel to Europe when Liana Telfer appears at his door. She wants him to sell her the book, but Corso refrains from telling her where the book is. In an outburst of anger, she attacks him. Corso is hit with a bottle on the head and ends up unconscious. When he wakes up, he calls Bernie immediately but does not receive an answer. He decides to go to Bernie’s bookstore. As he reaches the place, he realizes that the door was also forced. He walks into and finds Bernie hung upside down [Ct3 – 00:33:54]. He finds the book where they had hidden it and goes back to the taxi. Shocked by the murder of his friend, Corso asks the taxi driver to stop at a phone booth and calls Balkan to say he is quitting. However, Balkan convinces him to move on with his research and to arrange his trip to Europe.
Act II
Corso flies to Spain [Ct4 – 00:37:07] and reaches Brothers Ceniza’s bookshop in
Toledo. He learns that Andrew Telfer had bought the book from them. They assure
Corso that the book is authentic and call his attention to the signature of the engravings.
Six out of nine are signed by AT (the book’s author, Aristide Torchia) and the other three are signed by LCF (Lucifer). Corso takes a train to Sintra, and during the travel, he reexamines the book [Mt6 – 00:42:30]. Quite surprised, he bumps into the Girl in the same train [Gt2 – 00:43:03]. He realizes she is following him around, and starts to suspect she is working for Balkan to spy on his progress.
In Sintra, Corso meets Fargas’, the owner of another copy of the book, and asks him permission to examine his copy [Ct5 – 00:51:03]. While leaving Fargas’ mansion in the evening, a car tries to run over Corso, and a woman in a motorbike appears from nowhere to save him. Despite having her face covered, she can be recognized: she is the
Girl. Back at the hotel, Corso suddenly sees her in the lobby [Gt3 – 00:54:05]. They talk 13 briefly but are interrupted by a phone call from Balkan. Corso informs Balkan of the discrepancies on the engravings and says Fargas is not willing to sell his copy [Mt7 –
00:56:28]. The next morning, Corso is woken up by the Girl telling him that he has to go back to Fargas’ place. Back at Fargas’ mansion, Corso finds Fargas’ body drowned in the fountain in the garden. He is shocked. He enters the mansion and sees Fargas’ book thrown into the fire [Mt8 – 01:00:14].
Corso flies to Paris with the Girl but she disappears at the customs office. He heads to the hotel and examines the remains of the Fargas’ copy [Ct6 – 01:02:51]. He finds out that the engravings were extracted from the book before it was burned. He goes out to the streets and heads to Baroness Kessler Foundation [Ct7 – 01:03:21].
There, he meets Baroness Kessler, the owner of the third and last copy of The Nine
Gates, who gives him insights about Liana Telfer and some information about a sect organized around the book. Unfortunately, she sends Corso away when she realizes he works for Balkan. Back on the streets, Corso notices a man stalking him [Ct8 –
01:10:33]. He walks into a coffee shop and waits until the night falls. When he leaves the place, he is once again surprised by a car driver that intends to run over him. This time, he gets involved in a physical fight and is again saved by the Girl, who appears to help him.
Corso goes back to his hotel room with the Girl and, as they take care of their wounds, he looks deep into her eyes for the first time. He seems to be lured. She marks his front with blood from her wounds, and he suddenly comes back to himself. Corso receives a call from Balkan and reports to him about the recent deaths and his frustrated visit to Baroness Kessler. Balkan suggests him to try again. Corso takes some photocopies of the engravings and goes back to his room. The Girl is not there anymore. 14
Corso decides to hide Balkan’s book behind the fridge and leaves for Baroness Kessler
Foundation.
He gives Baroness Kessler the copy of the engravings and shows her the discrepancies he has found. She is impressed and finally allows him to examine her copy
[Ct9 – 01:25:24]. While examining Baroness Kessler copy, someone (or something) comes silently from behind and hits him on the head, knocking him unconscious [Mt9 –
01:27:25]. When he recovers consciousness, he finds Baroness Kessler strangled and her library on fire [Mt10 – 01:28:55]. Her copy of the book has been thrown into the fire too.
Back at his hotel room, he notices that the piece of cloth he used to wrap Balkan’s book is scattered on the ground. He finds out that somebody took the book from his room. He goes to the lobby and is informed that his wife had come to take the book.
Balkan calls him again. Corso ironically reports to him about the Baroness’ death and her book. Balkan tells him that his assignment is finished and suggests that they meet in half an hour, so he can take his cheque and return Balkan’s book. Corso tells him that he doesn’t have the book anymore. Before hanging up the phone, Balkan threatens him and gives him a short time to recover his copy. Corso sees the Girl outside of the booth and, infuriated, asks her where the book is. Corso realizes that she didn’t take it and the concierge confirms that it was another woman who took it. He gives Corso a description of Liana and also informs him of the hotel where she is staying. Corso sends a message to Balkan and goes to Liana’s hotel with the Girl [Ct10 – 01:34:31].
They reach the hotel when Liana and her bodyguard are checking out. The Girl manages to get a car for them so they can follow Liana’s car [Ct11 – 01:37:33]. They reach Liana’s mansion at night. They stop the car nearby and enter in the mansion through the gardens. Liana is on the second floor getting dressed for a ritual, and when 15 they see her, they break into the room. Her bodyguard appears and takes them to a cellar, but Corso is faster and knocks him down in the cellar. Corso puts on the man’s garments and they head the main room where Liana is already leading the ritual. Balkan suddenly appears interrupting the ritual and mocking the crowd that is attending. Liana tries to attack him but he attacks back and kills her.
Act III
Balkan scares the people away and drives away in his car. Corso immediately follows him, leaving the Girl behind. However, Balkan starts driving through dirt roads in the countryside and eventually Corso loses track of him. He ends up in a small restaurant, where he realizes he has with him a photo of a castle he had gotten from inside Baroness Kessler’s book before it was burnt [Gt4 – 01:54:32]. He asks about the whereabouts of the castle and then goes to the place.
After traveling for a whole day, he sees the castle on the top of a mountain [Gt5 –
01:56:01]. It’s already evening when he gets to the castle, and he finds Balkan preparing for the ritual with the nine engravings. Balkan stops his preparations when he realizes
Corso is there. After trying to send him away, Balkan attacks Corso. Corso gets stuck in a hole in the wooden floor and Balkan then resumes his ritual [Mt11 – 01:59:40]. He encircles himself with gasoline and lights the fire [Ch1 – 02:01:21]. Balkan’s ritual doesn’t work and his body starts to burn. Corso frees himself and puts an end to
Balkan’s suffering killing him with a gunshot. Corso goes back to Balkan’s car and is taken by surprise by the Girl, who was unnoticed inside the car. He looks again deep into her eyes, as she finally manages to seduce him. They have a sexual intercourse in front of the burning castle [Ch2 – 02:04:42]. 16
Driving back to the town in Balkan’s car, she tells Corso that Balkan’s ritual failed because the ninth engraving was a forgery. They stop in a gas station and when Corso goes to pay for the service, she disappears. She leaves him a message pointing that the real engraving is with the Ceniza Brothers in Toledo [Mt12 – 02:06:45]. Corso goes back to Toledo but he soon discovers that the Ceniza Brothers are not there anymore. Two men are getting the last piece of furniture out of the room, and when they move it, the last engraving falls from the top of it. Corso goes back to the castle [Mt13 – 02:08:47] and crosses the gate of light that now opens before him.
17
Central Elements of the Script
In order to understand how the music is connected to the plot in The Ninth Gate, a brief analysis of the script will be now presented with the purpose of pointing out these particular elements that seem to be somehow addressed through the music. It is not going to be an exhaustive analysis, as it will be focused primarily and exclusively on these specific elements.
A reading of the script reveals that Polański made a couple of adaptations to come up with the final version of the movie.27 Some of them were only meant to summarize some of the scenes, making the whole story a bit shorter (a necessary move, considering that the film already runs for roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes), while other were slight modifications or additions that gave a different meaning to some of the scenes and eventually to the whole plot. Two modifications are particularly important: first, Polański added a sex scene near to the end of the movie that opened a vast range of interpretation to the whole story, especially if the role of the music in that particular scene is taken in consideration. Second, there is a more emphatic (yet underlying) presence of the symbol of the serpent in the movie, whereas it is just briefly mentioned in the script.28 Again, the music (mainly the main theme) seems to emphasize this symbol, and more than that: in a way, its general contour seems to resemble the symbol.
Five characters are central to the plot, all but one having themes associated with them. Dean Corso, the main character, is a book dealer specialized in old and rare editions. Corso was hired by the second character, a private collector named Boris
Balkan, to authenticate his copy of The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows, a fictitious
27 The script can be consulted at the Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb), in the following link: http://nldslab.soe.ucsc.edu/charactercreator/film_corpus/film_2012xxxx/imsdb.com/Ninth-Gate,- The.html (Accessed on June 3rd, 2015) 28 To be more precise, the word ‘serpent’ is mentioned four times in the script, while the word ‘snake’ is mentioned another four times, in both cases without any special connotation. 18 book published in 1666 that supposedly contained rituals and instructions to conjure up the devil. Only three copies of the book were extant, as the Inquisition had burned all of the other copies together with its author, and Balkan believes only one of them is authentic. Liana Telfer, the widow of Mr. Andrew Telfer, is the third central character.
Finally, the last and certainly most intriguing character is the Girl. This is how she is called in the script, as her name is never addressed. Apparently, she doesn’t have one, as she gives hints here and there that she is actually not human. She acts all the time as sort of Corso’s private angel, but it is never clear if she is actually an angel or a devil.
Corso believes at some moments that she works for Balkan to spy and report on his progress.
Balkan is not seen much in the movie, so he doesn’t have a specific theme associated with him. Whenever he appears, themes related to some specific action that is happening at that moment are heard. Both Liana Telfer and the Girl have a particular theme that is heard whenever their presence is key to the scene. Finally, Corso has a theme of his own. However, because he is the protagonist and as such he appears in most of the scenes, his theme is only heard in specific circumstances and when there are no other important events or characters in predominance in the scene. These connections will be specified in the next chapters.
Some more time needs to be devoted to understand the Girl, as she plays a key role in the movie, at least considering the way Polański presented the plot. By the first time she appears, nothing unnatural is perceived about her.29 However, she suddenly starts to appear and disappear from and to nowhere. It happens in the library when
Corso first examines Balkan’s book, it happens later on when they fly together to Paris and she disappears on the line while Corso waits to show his passport at the customs
29 Time indication: [00:10:40]. 19 office.30 That she is not exactly human becomes clear when she is finally seen floating downstairs to save Corso from the hands of Liana’s bodyguard in a scene where they fight under a bridge on the streets.31 She is seen floating again close to the end of the movie when Liana’s club meeting is interrupted by an infuriated Boris Balkan.32 Little by little the viewer realizes that she knows things that weren’t said, as if she acts through a pure and precise intuition, a sort of arcane knowledge. Corso tries to extract information from her in a couple of occasions but he’s always unsuccessful. When he asks her about her name, she tells him to guess. He then says “Green Eyes” and she tells him: “that’ll do”.33 In another moment, Corso gets angry and asks her why is she following him around and who does she work for. She just replies that he’s losing time asking those questions and changes the topic.34
A curious detail about her arises when comparing the actual dialogues in the film to what was originally written in the script. In a scene in a hotel in Sintra, Corso asks her how long has she been traveling around.35 In the movie, her answer is: “a while”. What the script actually says is: “ages”. She gives Corso this same answer (“ages ago”) when he asks her when had she learnt to fight like she had just done in the scene where she saves him from Liana’s bodyguard.36 This dialogue does not appear in the film, though.
All in all, these answers reinforce the idea that she is not human, or at least, that she has some non-human qualities that cannot be quite grasped.
30 Time indications: [00:23:14]; and [01:01:54], respectively. 31 Time indication: [01:13:00]. 32 Time indication: [01:50:40]. 33 Time indication: [00:43:50]. 34 Time indication: [01:00:50]. 35 Time indication: [00:55:00]. 36 Time indication: [01:13:00]. 20
Her presence in the movie raised much debate amongst fans, some arguing that her character is completely non-sense, others claiming that she is Corso’s guardian angel, and others claiming that she is the devil himself. Such controversies added to the overall mysterious atmosphere that pervades the whole movie.
Some passages of the script insinuate that she is somehow related to the Devil.
When they are flying to Paris after having found Fargas’ dead body in Sintra, Corso tells her: “You're my guardian angel”, and her answer to him is: “Something like that”. When they are in Corso’s hotel room after she saved him from the fight with Liana’s bodyguards in the streets of Paris, they have a conversation that doesn’t appear in the movie. She asks him: “Do you believe in the Devil, Corso?” He answers: “I'm being paid to. Do you?” She smiles and responds: “I'm a bit of a devil myself...”.
There is one more final character to mention, and it is an interesting one: the book itself. Director Roman Polański would say in an interview with French journalist
Caroline Vié:
I loved the idea of a book being the hero of a movie … . I don't believe it has ever been done before. That's one of the reasons why the script appealed to me: I really considered the book as a whole character. I designed the pentacle for the cover, chose its color and size as I would have done for an actor.37
In fact, the book is – as it is expected – central to the plot and every time the main theme is heard the viewer is reminded of it, most of the time by actually seeing it on scene, although in a couple of times the connection is made through other things that are related to the book.
Let’s take a look now at the general characteristics of Kilar’s music and then proceed to the more specific analysis of each of the selected themes.
37 VIE, Caroline. Minadream.com. Roman Polanski Vision – The Ninth Gate: http://minadream.com/romanpolanski/InterviewFour.htm (Accessed on May 20th, 2015). 21
Wojciech Kilar’s Music Overview
One of the most remarkable characteristics that became associated with film music throughout the development of this genre is probably its malleability, a result of the subordination of the music discourse to the requirements of the picture. If the musical discourse would require from a composer a certain sense of balance in rhythm, tempo, harmony, etc., film music composers would have to renounce these aspects in the very core of the music structure in order to be able to match the music to the scenes on the screen. Thus, adaptability and variation became a common characteristic in film music. In this territory, harmonies, melodies, textures would have to eventually change in unexpected places, no matter what, only because the scene would somehow imply these changes.
In the recent years this adaptability has seemed to become somehow a bit less identifiable as, generally speaking, scores are dealing less and less with the idea of thematic materials and harmonic/melodic discourse and focusing more on creating non-metrical timbral textures and electronic loops, which are in a way more easily changeable.
When approaching Kilar’s score to The Ninth Gate, one is faced to a quite peculiar kind of music. It neither consists of a more textural kind of music, nor it shows a prominent quality of adaptability in it. At one and the same time, it combines the steadier forms of the more recent textural styles with the use of harmonies and melodies, which in a way are elements more common to the old style of the classic era of film music. In another words, Kilar employs melodies and harmonies in a quite steady and prominent way, with very less if not any sense of variation and adaptation in it.
Adrian Thomas puts it this way: “… Kilar’s music is often reductive, and this attenuated 22 concept of time accorded with his natural instincts, regardless of any picturesque programme.”.38
This avoidance of variation in itself becomes a prominent characteristic of Kilar’s music. Instead of employing a few themes and abusing on variations and transitions to connect these themes and help the music move along with the picture, Kilar employs quite steady and rigid music structures that go through whole scenes without much change, sometimes jumping from one to another without any preparation or prior notice whatsoever. One would maybe think that this sort of music would only work in a movie at the expense of losing a bit the capacity of following the events on the screen smoothly. However, this is not the case in this movie. Although one cannot find in this score fine and subtle musical movements, it cannot be said that the music is not smooth in the way it works with the scenes. It achieves this smoothness in an interesting and peculiar way: exactly by renouncing the use of transitions and variations that would allow the composer to (maybe) more easily adjust the intensity of the music to the requirements of each scene. In a way, Kilar’s score shows how less is necessary to properly score a scene.
To balance this economy of variations, Kilar explores the orchestration to create different masses of sound. Filip Lech describes this attribute in these words: “there is the unrestrained vitality, materializing in sudden eruptions of sound, and on the other hand – the simplicity and moderation, expressed though a limited range of sounds used by the composer.”39 Variations in orchestration are seldom used within same occurrences of a theme, though, being more common between one cue and another.
38 THOMAS, Adrian, Polish Music Since Szymanowski. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005. p.272 39 LECH, Filip. Avant-Garde and Gorals – Notes on Wojciech Kilar: http://culture.pl/en/article/avant- garde-and-gorals-notes-on-wojciech-kilar. (Accessed on June 5th, 2015) 23
Regarding the use of thematic materials, Kilar makes use of a couple of different themes in the center of the score, exploring derivations of them to create sub-themes generally used to score less central spots of the plot. The use of leitmotifs is also prominent. The author of Kilar’s profile in the Ninakoteka.pl puts it in this way:
The soundtracks to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, King of the Last Days, The Portrait of a Lady and The Ninth Gate have much in common, despite obvious differences. All are based on a set of three to five themes and their variations, an excellent example of which is the main motif from King... in its three different varieties, from lyrical to dramatic. Leitmotifs are often ascribed to characters (Mina’s plaintive melody in Dracula or Corso’s playful march in The Ninth Gate), but they usually don't play symbolic roles, as in films by Zanussi or Kutz.40
Because of the persistent use of the same musical material throughout whole scenes, most of the time with some kind of underline association with an action or character in the scene, Kilar ends up creating a score that seems not only to serve the purpose of generating moods and setting atmospheres, but also, of establishing territories that subtly guides the spectator’s view.
An interesting aspect of the orchestration enforces this feeling of the establishment of musical territories: it is the choice of using a particular instrumentation for each theme. In fact, there is a very precise choice of instrumentation for each of the themes, and variations in this basic scheme are quite rare. This feature imbues all the themes with a quite strong sense of identity, making them quite clearly identifiable, thus enforcing the sense that each theme corresponds to a specific territory (specially if the connection of these themes with the elements of the plot is considered).
Let’s move on now to the actual analysis of the music in The Ninth Gate.
40 Anonymous. Film Music – Wojciech Kilar. Published on Ninateka.pl. [no date] http://ninateka.pl/kolekcje/en/kilar/film-music/music-to-foreign-films (Accessed on June 29th, 2015). 24
The Music In The Ninth Gate
Before advancing in this chapter, it is worth to present a brief description of the procedure that is going to be adopted: by comparing all the occurrences of the themes that are being considered for this project, the particular associations between elements of the movie and musical themes will be eventually pointed out. Naturally, it is beyond the scope of this work to reach any level of certainty regarding these connections; rather, these considerations should be taken merely as a hypothesis based on observations that can eventually form a possible and plausible interpretation of the film.
As it was previously mentioned, the score consists of a couple of themes and some derivations from these themes. For the sake of keeping the work within a reasonable limit, only four themes will be taken in consideration. In the following order, the following themes will be analyzed: the Main theme; Corso’s theme; Girl’s theme; and finally, the Choir’s theme. The code system used in the plot synopsis will be again adopted in order to more easily address all these themes.
Main Theme
The main theme is the first music heard in the movie, right at the moment Mr.
Telfer commits suicide. A thick, dark and low contrabass line starts to sound in Mr.
Telfer’s library as the celli start to build minor chords over it, quickly and accurately stating the mood that is going to be somehow present in the whole movie.
The following pages will bring a more in-depth analysis of all the appearances of this theme in the movie.
25
First occurrence [Mt1]
[MX IN – 00:01:48 | MX OUT – 00:05:18]
Figure 1: The Ninth Gate’s Main theme (piano reduction). Rough transcription
26
The simplicity of this theme is just as striking as the amount of subtle information that it carries within. Relying only on a string orchestra, the first immediate sensation is one of deep darkness, as if the listened had just reached the edge of a dark abyss and was standing, looking down from the border. The effect is achieved by the quite peculiar orchestration. Kilar makes an unorthodox choice by putting the contrabasses playing in perfect fifths in a register where they can only sound muddy.
However, this muddiness is surprisingly well absorbed by the atmosphere in the scene, and it doesn’t take long for the celli to be added, creating minor chords above every note of the bass line. The mood is set.
Besides the thick orchestration in the low register and the exclusive use of minor chords, a third important factor helps to transport the listener to this abyssal atmosphere: the almost exclusive use of chords situated a third or a tritone apart. In fact, only very sporadically is a harmonic progression heard with chords separated by a perfect 5th, as for instance, in the third and last bars of phrase D, and in third bar of phrase C. The use of such harmonies is a very well-known cliché in Hollywood scores, but here Kilar puts them at the center of the score, with nothing else surrounding them.
Subsequently, they cease to be perceived as a cliché and stand only as a prominent feature of the music.
After furtively moving away from the scene of the suicide, the camera focuses on a gap in the bookshelf. The viewer notices a book is missing. It’s the Telfer’s copy of The
Nine Gates, as seen in the synopsis. This is the first time the connection between the main theme and the book is perceived, and it’s a peculiar instance, since the book is absent. This absence makes it impossible to consciously establish the connection at that point of the film, but the elements are given and a perspicacious viewer can eventually manage to connect the dots later on, as the plot develops. In a way, this absence of the 27 central character that is being subtly addressed adds to the mysterious tone of the movie.
When the gap is reached, the viewer dives into the darkness and the melody is finally brought in. The viewer is now in an oblivious space, the credits appearing interspersed with huge doors that open as they come near. It may or may not be a coincidence that Mr. Kilar designed this melody in such a way that it resembles a serpent, going up and down surreptitiously in a continuous, soft but cunning movement.
The allusion here is subtle and may be only a whim of my imagination, but in fact, the mythological symbol of the serpent – strongly associated with Lucifer and the Devil in
Christian traditions – is not only subtly present throughout the movie, but it is also featured in the music, in the Choir theme.
The lack of symmetry of the ternary compass (divided in two sides of either 1+2 beats or 2+1 beats) adds to the furtive characteristic of this theme. In fact, the melody chooses to move in a 2+1 rhythm, while the harmony moves in a 1+2 division, as if they were trying to find a balance. A binary or quaternary compass here would probably feel too grounded and balanced for depicting what it is meant to depict: the lurking of evil through the mischievous existence of the book.
One final consideration about the theme is the curious occurrence of the number
3 not only in the ternary meter, but also in the phrasal construction. As it can be seen in phrases A and B, the two semi-phrases contain three repetitions of the harmonic pattern, not four, completing 6 bars each, not 8 as maybe it would be more commonly expected. The same ternary combination can be seen in the last phrase (E), which is divided in 3 parts of 4 bars before the arrival of the final chord. This is abstract enough to make it impossible to infer with any certainty whether it was an intentional move of 28
Mr. Kilar or not. Nevertheless, it is still a curious aspect of the theme, considering the importance of the number 3 in the plot.
Important to mention, also, is the harmonic center of A minor. Although the music is not written in a tonal context properly speaking, the constant alternation of chords with the A minor chord makes it work as a pivot, to the point that it gains weight and importance amongst the other chords. This will be an interesting feature to keep track of, as the tonal center of this theme will be shifted throughout the movie.
When the camera crosses the ninth door, the light of the day is finally seen as the end of the cue is reached. The viewer is now with book detective Corso on a sunny afternoon in New York City.
Second occurrence [Mt2]
[MX IN – 00:09:45 | MX OUT – 00:10:18]
Figure 2: Main theme, second occurrence. Rough transcription
The main theme appears for the second time when Corso arrives at Balkan Press for his meeting with Boris Balkan. It is a short transition cue and this time the theme is not stated with all its elements, but instead, only the melody is heard over a bass drone 29 note. The melody still starts on ‘e natural’, as in the previous cue, but at this time it includes the bass drone on the note of the dominant, also E natural.
At this point, the book’s existence is still not known. However, Corso is just about to have a meeting with its present owner, Boris Balkan.
Third occurrence [Mt3]
[MX IN – 00:18:26 | MX OUT – 00:19:01]
Figure 3: Main theme, third occurrence. Rough transcription
The third statement of the theme follows exactly the same structure of its first appearance. It happens in Corso’s apartment soon after he’s back from the meeting with
Balkan. Corso has just gotten hired by Balkan and he carries the book with him now. For the first time, he leafs through the book and examines one of the engravings inside the book. The theme sounds softly as he stares at the book over the table and begins his examination. Melody and harmony are still the same as in its first statement, including the harmonic center of A minor. 30
Besides the natural mysterious tone of this theme, there is a strange feeling of acquaintance and in this cue, as if Corso was just starting to build a sort of relationship with the book and its hidden contents.
Fourth occurrence [Mt4]
[MX IN – 00:22:43 | MX OUT – 00:23:13]
Figure 4: Main theme, fourth occurrence. Rough transcription
The theme is heard for the fourth time at a public library while Corso studies the book. He has just talked with Liana Telfer at her house. The orchestration is different this time. The piano takes the role of the contrabasses and celli in the harmony, while the celli and the flutes alternate in the melody. The chords at the piano are so soft and written in such a low register that it becomes difficult to perceive them. There is a possible reason for the use of the piano in this cue, though, and the clue is in the next cue that is connected to this one. It is the Girl’s theme [Gt1], that will be analyzed in the next section. As will be seen, one of the defining characteristics of the Girl’s theme is the consistent use of the piano. In fact, the viewer is not aware of it at the beginning of this scene, but Corso is just about to see her watching over him from behind a bookshelf. He 31 had seen her before at Balkan Press, but this time the encounter does not seem to be gratuitous.
Fifth occurrence [Mt5]
[MX IN – 00:24:16 | MX OUT – 00:24:54]
Figure 5: Main theme, fifth occurrence. Rough transcription
The scene continues at the public library. Corso finds a book that contains an engraving similar to one of the engravings of the book. He examines it and makes some notes as the camera zooms at the picture and a feminine figure that resembles very much the Girl herself is seen.
The string orchestra is back, playing the theme again. For the first time the listener is transported to a different tonal center, C minor. The theme is features now a considerably more unstable harmony, which now shifts with each and every note of the melody. The result of this combination of factors is a growing uncomfortable sensation.
The music makes the listener feel that Corso’s journey is somehow not under control anymore and will soon become more dangerous. 32
Sixth occurrence [Mt6]
[MX IN – 00:42:30 | MX OUT – 00:42:57]
Figure 6: Main theme, sixth occurrence. Rough transcription
Corso is in the train to Sintra after having visited Brothers Ceniza in Toledo. He examines one of the engravings in the book once again as the theme plays. This occurrence is very similar to the previous one, with the same orchestration, harmonies shifting with every note of the melody, and again, centered in C minor. At this moment, around 18 minutes have passed since the theme was last heard and this appearance appears somehow reminding the viewer of the mysterious aura around the book.
Seventh occurrence [Mt7]
[MX IN – 00:56:28 | MX OUT – 00:57:11]
Figure 7: Main theme, seventh occurrence. Rough transcription 33
Corso receives a call from Balkan at his hotel room in Sintra after having examined Fargas’ copy. The theme starts when Corso informs Balkan that some of the engravings are not signed by Aristide Torchia, but by Lucifer. As had happened before, the book is not physically present on the scene, but it is nonetheless the subject of the conversation.
The music is for the first time centered in F minor and an ominous glissandi can be heard at every two-chord change. The theme starts to sound less dark and more menacing as Corso proceeds in his quest.
Eighth occurrence [Mt8]
[MX IN – 01:00:14 | MX OUT – 01:00:45]
Figure 8: Main theme, eighth occurrence. Rough transcription
The eighth iteration of the theme is essentially a repetition of the previous one, with the exception of the introductory measures that are now not present. At this moment, Corso enters Fargas’ mansion after seeing the old man’s body drowned in the fountain in the garden. The theme is brought in when he steps over some broken glass 34 on the ground. The music seems to mark the moment when he realizes something went wrong inside the house.
Some steps ahead and Corso finds out that Fargas’ copy of The Ninth Gates is not amidst his collection. The book is found thrown into the fire in the fireplace.
Ninth and Tenth occurrence [Mt9][Mt10]
[MX IN – 01:27:25 | MX OUT – 01:28:05]
[MX IN – 01:28:55 | MX OUT – 01:29:25]
Both the ninth and the tenth occurrences are basically a repetition of, respectively, the seventh [Mt7] and eighth [Mt8] occurrences of the theme, with the difference that now they sound more ominous and menacing than in the previous appearances, probably due to the now higher levels of dynamics. The ninth occurrence of the theme happens when Corso is examining Baroness Kessler copy of The Nine
Gates. Curiously, the theme does not begin exactly when Corso starts studying her book, but after a while, when some menacing presence seems to enter the room. In both occasions when Corso gets the opportunity of examining both Fargas’ and Baroness
Kessler’s books, a specific version of Corso’s theme is heard instead of the main theme.
In a way, it could be said that this choice puts the focus of these scenes less on the book itself and more on his enterprise of examining the copies.
When the theme starts to sound, Corso is seen from behind, sitting at the table where he has been studying the book, his back turned to the door. The camera gets closer and closer to him until a thud is heard and he is knocked down, falling unconscious over Baroness Kessler’s book as the cue reaches an end.
The theme is the same version of the two previous appearances, with glissandi on the strings and centered in F minor. This time, it seems to be less attached to the 35 book itself, but to the dangerous presence that lurks inside the room while he is studying the book. Once again, the book is only addressed indirectly.
The tenth appearance functions merely as a conclusion to the previous one, as it appear in the subsequent scene, only 50 seconds later. Corso recovers consciousness just to find out that Baroness Kessler was strangled and her library is on fire. In structural terms, the theme is exactly the same than in the previous occurrence, only that it sounds a bit fierier now. It is brought in at an interesting moment, when the doors to the next room are opened and Corso realizes that there is a fire in the next room. He runs to pack his things and get out of the place, and as he reaches the door he notices Baroness Kessler’s The Nine Gates in the middle of the fire. The end of the cue is heard as the camera focuses on the burning book.
Eleventh occurrence [Mt11]
[MX IN – 01:59:40 | MX OUT – 02:01:21]
The eleventh appearance is the farthest adaptation of the theme found in the score. Now, a bassoon takes the lead, accompanied by no harmonies but a bass drone note sustaining a long E natural. There is no clear indication of the harmonic context, although this persistent E on the bass may give an unconscious hint of a return to the A minor from the beginning of the movie.
36
Figure 9: Main theme, eleventh occurrence. Rough transcription
This time, two other musical materials precede the main theme. The cue starts with what I called the Danger Theme when Corso and Balkan get in a physical confrontation. The fight ends up with Corso stuck in a hole in the broken wooden floor while Balkan gets up to finish the preparations for the ritual. At the moment Balkan 37 realizes that Corso is out of the game and he is out of danger, the music changes to the calmer yet driving drone it was just mentioned. Balkan resumes his preparations while a long and subtle ostinato is built over the drone. After nine hits of a tamtam, the main theme is finally brought in. The melody is not played in its entirety this time, but instead, fragments are used to build a melodic pattern that grows step by step throughout an octave. At each repetition, these fragments are transposed by a minor third, which means that after 4 rounds the upper octave is reached, just in the time to see Balkan ready to ignite the fire and start the ritual.
The overall mood is suspenseful and of a growing tension. The drone in the low strings firmly maintains the dark atmosphere as the slight crescendo subtly brings more and more tension. However, the presence of the bassoon on the lead is quite intriguing.
First, because there is a comical quality inherent to this instrument that cannot be completely set aside in this cue. Second, because it does not have enough strength to make the scene looks truly terrific. In fact, depending on how you look at it, the bassoon even makes Balkan seem a bit clumsy. Nonetheless, this choice may be understood if one observes Polański’s own words regarding these occult philosophies that are in the center of the scene (and, in the end, of the whole movie):
I'm not interested at all in witchcraft and demonology as a philosophy. The devil makes me laugh," Polański says. “If I think that material can be fascinating, it's when I consider it as a film director. It's a great element to make movies with, but I find it absolutely boring in real life (…). I was really surprised to see how some people reacted to The Ninth Gate: they just didn't get the jokes.41
It cannot be stated with any certainty that this particular scene was one of the intended jokes that Polański included in the movie. However, certain humorous touches
41 VIE, Caroline. Minadream.com. Roman Polanski Vision – The Ninth Gate: http://minadream.com/romanpolanski/InterviewFour.htm (Accessed on May 20th, 2015). 38 can be found here and there, since the director’s personal approach to these subjects was not exactly serious, and he also intentionally included humor as an element of the movie. This can be seen more clearly through the analysis of Corso’s theme, whose presence in the film can only be understood through a sense of humor.
Twelfth occurrence [Mt12]
[MX IN – 02:06:45 | MX OUT – 02:07:20]
The twelfth appearance of the theme is a literal repetition of the third occurrence
[Mt3]. It brings the listener back to the origin, after almost 2 hours since the theme had been last heard in this form. The theme sounds as it sounded for the first time, back to the harmonic center of A minor and grounded in the same orchestration. In fact, the last time it appeared like this Corso’s was at his apartment soon after he was hired by
Balkan, when he leafed through the book for the first time.
There is a feeling of completion in this return of the theme to the original orchestration and harmonic center. Balkan is dead, Liana and her bodyguard are too.
However, the theme brings the viewer home only as much as it drives Corso forward again. The Girl had just informed him that Balkan’s ritual didn’t work because the ninth engraving in his possession was a forgery. The theme appears at the moment when
Corso finds a note she left for him – written over the fake ninth engraving – revealing the location of the real one. Once again, the book is not present in the scene but through the engraving, although its secrets are apparently being revealed in front of the spectator’s eyes.
39
Thirteenth occurrence [Mt13]
[MX IN – 02:08:47 | MX OUT – 02:09:15]
Figure 10: Main theme, thirteenth occurrence. Rough transcription
Alpha and Omega; as in the beginning, so in the end. The theme that introduced the viewer into the movie is at the other side to takes him or her out of it. Corso goes back to Toledo and finds the real engraving apparently by accident (or is it destiny?).
The piece of paper falls from above an old bookshelf, and when it appears a dreamy version of the Soprano Theme begins to play.42 A cluster of trumpets softly sounds creating a cloud that is filled up by a witty harp playing glissandi in a weird scale. This combination brings a magical feeling to the encounter, as if Corso was naturally bound to find the engraving. The softness of the music brings a sensation of silence and secrecy. Nobody in the room but Corso knows what that piece of paper means, and in fact, silence is all that is heard from him as he collects the leaf on the ground. As he stares at the engraving, the soprano is brought in singing the extensively used interval
42 This theme is not being considered in this analysis. It is mentioned here just as a matter of giving an idea of the general mood when Corso finally finds the last real engraving. This theme precedes the final occurrence of the main theme. 40 of second minor over the fundamental note. The soprano strongly contributes to the supernatural and dreamy quality of the cue, and it does not take long for it to lead straight to the main theme at the last scene of the movie as Corso is transported back to the doors of the castle that now obediently open before him, blinding the viewer in an intense ray of white light. The main theme sounds for the last time, now in a devilish, energetic and conclusive manner, all the notes of the melody being accompanied by a different chord until it reposes in the last, conclusive chord: A minor.
Corso’s Theme
While the main theme carried a strong sense of depth and darkness, imbued with an aura of mystery that could almost make the listener feel the presence of evil lurking around, Corso’s theme is the contrary. It is somehow frivolous and superficial; a mechanical rhythmic-harmonic-melodic pattern that gives a sensation of indifference or mere routine. In fact, in general terms this theme serves mainly the purpose of orchestrating Corso’s daily activities, as will be seen in the following pages.
There are basically two versions of this theme in the movie. The first one is more up-tempo and adventurous. In general, the orchestration of this version is based on strings in pizzicati accompanied by the harpsichord, while the timpani mark the beats and a muted trumpet plays the melody sometimes alternating with a piccolo. A second alternative orchestration is used twice in the movie, consisting on a combination of piano and bassoon replacing the pizzicati strings and harpsichord, with a clarinet taking the melody in the place of the trumpet.
As it was briefly mentioned before, this first version is generally employed to accompany Corso’s wanderings from one place to another. As a corollary, almost all the 41 occurrences happen in scenes where two particular elements of photography are shown: first, the light of day; second, an urban scenario.43 This particular connection between music and photography may reinforce, in way, the sensation that there is nothing more in this theme than a feeling of daily routine.
The second version is quite slower and presented in a denser orchestration, with a thick bed of strings sustaining the chords while the woodwinds play the melody in staccatos. In a way, it embodies some of the frivolity of the first version mixed with the depth of the main theme. In fact, this version is only heard in a very specific circumstance: when Corso is seen examining the Fargas’ and the Baroness Kessler’s copies of The Nine Gates. This connection will be examined in detail soon.
It is important to notice that, unlike the main theme that appears in different tonalities throughout the movie, this theme is played always in the same exact tonality.
Again, this may be an interesting feature that helps to unconsciously associate the theme to a feeling of repetition and steadiness. There is only one exception to this observation, which can be heard in the scene of Corso’s flight to Europe. In this occasion the melody of the theme is heard accompanied by a quite different rhythmic figure. The analysis will depend on whether this exception is considered as pertaining to the category of occurrences of the theme or as a derivation of the theme. It is in fact the only time where the theme’s characteristic melody is heard without its typical accompaniment. Adaptations of this kind, where a melody from one theme is combined with the accompaniment of another theme, are used in other parts of the score and could be considered as part of Mr. Kilar set of techniques.
43 There is literally only one occurrence of the theme happening in the absence of one of these elements of photography. It is in the scene where Corso finds his librarian friend hanged upside down in his own library [Ct3] [MX IN – 00:33:54 | MX OUT – 00:34:30]. This is a night scene. Regarding the presence of an urban scenario associated with this theme, the cue starts when Corso is inside the library, but the street outside of the library is eventually seen in the end of the cue. The idea that both elements are somehow connected can thus still be quite satisfactorily sustained. 42
Particularly interesting is the use of the trumpet with mute in the melody. Its timbre, whose characteristics became historically associated with jazz, immediately transports the listener to an urban landscape, once again reinforcing the sensation that this theme is all about the wanderings of modern urban lives. The use of the harpsichord is worth notice as well. Halfyard makes an interesting remark on this matter:
The celeste, like the harpsichord, has an inhuman quality about it, perhaps stemming from the extent to which the human player cannot significantly influence the quality of the sound being produced. This has resulted in these instruments acquiring a particular cinematic musical coding. The harpsichord is very much associated with evil, amorality, and sinister calculation as seen in scores from John Addison's Sleuth (1972) to Wojciech Kilar's The Ninth Gate (2001).44
One recurrent characteristic of this theme that makes it extendable beyond the scope of a few bars is the use of either transposition in whole harmonic structure or transportation of the melody to a different scale degree. This changing of harmonic color or melodic position in the scale, which is still a subtle one as the music still remains essentially the same, helps in creating some interest to what otherwise would be a never-ending repetition of the same musical idea. In the case of the harmonic transposition, it proceeds always by minor thirds, generally in an ascending movement; in the case of the melodic transposition, the 5-note small melodic fragment is played starting from the first degree of the scale, then being transported to the third and sometimes to the fifth degree, from where it is brought back down through a process of melodic variation. The harmonic transposition is used in all the occurrences of the second version of the theme, while the melodic transportation is used in most
44 HALFYARD, Janet K. Danny Elfman's Batman: A Film Score Guide. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, 2004. p.32-33. 43 occurrences of the first version, some of them using harmonic transposition as well.
This scheme will be analyzed in more details in the following pages while analyzing each version separately.
Let’s take a look at the music now. As there is basically three versions of this theme in the movie, one of them being merely an alternative orchestration for one of the versions, it will not be necessary to analyze all the occurrences of the theme as it was done with the Main Theme. For the purposes of this project, it will be sufficient to analyze these three versions, just mentioning the timings when each version appears in the movie.
First version
The first version is also the first one to be heard in the movie. It is built over an ostinato in the strings and harpsichord that serves as a harmonic bed to the melody played by the trumpet. 44
Figure 11: Corso’s theme, first version. Rough transcription
The theme is heard when Corso leaves the private library where he was negotiating with some clients in the very beginning of the movie [Ct1].45 Corso is seen walking out astutely taking with him the rare edition of Don Quijote that he bought from the unwary client for a far cheaper price than the actual value of the books. The music has a cunning quality to it, immediately giving the listener the impression that Corso is a
45 Time indication for the cue in the movie: [Ct1] [MX IN – 00:07:32 | MX OUT – 00:08:24]; 45 devious businessman who doesn’t take anything too seriously and makes use of any trick he knows to get what he wants.
This same version is heard again with slight variations (such as changes in tempo and variations in dynamics) in four other occasions: 1) when Corso leaves the hotel in
Paris for the first time, heading to Baroness Kessler’s foundation for his first appointment with her [Ct6b]; 2) when he leaves Baroness Kessler’s foundation after this first visit and realizes he is being stalked by a person across the street [Ct7]; 3) when he finds out that Balkan’s copy of The Nine Gates was stolen by Liana and he and the Girl decide to take a taxi to the hotel where Liana is staying in Paris [Ct9]; and 4) when Corso and the Girl are seen driving after Liana’s car, heading to the Telfers’ mansion in the countryside to her sect meeting [Ct10].46
As it was already mentioned, in all these occurrences some quotidian scene is shown with no particular drama besides the act of wandering from one place to the other, occasionally stalking people (as in the fourth occurrence) and occasionally being stalked (as in the second occurrence).
First version (alternative orchestration)
The alternative orchestration is heard twice, both of the occurrences happening in the first half of the movie. As it was briefly mentioned, the music stays essentially the same, having now the pizzicati strings and harpsichord harmonic pattern substituted by a piano and a bassoon. The clarinet replaces the trumpet in the melody.
46 Time indications: 1) [Ct6b] [MX IN – 01:03:21 | MX OUT – 01:04:13]; 2) [Ct7] [MX IN – 01:10:33 | MX OUT – 01:11:20]; 3) [Ct9] [MX IN – 01:34:31 | MX OUT – 01:35:06]; 4) [Ct10] [MX IN – 01:37:33 | MX OUT – 01:38:35]. 46
The first of the occurrences happen when Corso is leaving Liana Telfer’s mansion after his first visit to her.47 She learns that her deceased husband’s book was sold to
Boris Balkan and pretends that she doesn’t know much about it. She even seems to be not much interested. The viewer learns later in the movie that the book was actually hers and she had convinced her husband to use his fortune to buy her the expensive rare book.
The cue starts right after Corso corrects her about the applications of the book.
She is telling Corso that, whatever her husband was up to, she couldn’t see him using the book for “chanting mumbo-jumbo or trying to raise the dead”, to what Corso responds: “…the Devil, Ms. Telfer. This book is designed to raise the Devil.”48 As soon as
Corso corrects her, the camera focuses on Ms. Telfer’s silent reaction, staring at Corso wordlessly as if she was caught by surprise. The cue starts at this point, the bassoon line giving a sort of comical expression to her reaction. She looks really disconcerted. Corso moves out of the house and grab a taxi to the city library.
The second and last appearance of this alternative orchestration happens when
Corso finds out about the hanging of Bernie, his librarian friend.49 The cue starts with a different theme when Corso enters the library.50 When Corso finds Bernie hanging upside down and realizes there is nothing he can do about it, he decides to go check if the book is still hidden at the place where they had hidden it. Precisely at this point, the cue changes abruptly to the Corso’s theme. As it was mentioned in the first chapters,
Kilar constantly employs this technique in the movie. There are no transitions whatsoever and different themes are simply juxtaposed whenever the composer felt the
47 Time indication: [Ct2] [MX IN – 00:22:08 | MX OUT – 00:22:42]. 48 Time indication: [00:21:53]. 49 Time indication: [Ct3] [MX IN – 00:33:54 | MX OUT – 00:34:30]. 50 This theme is not going to be considered here and is just mentioned to give a more accurate idea of the score in this particular scene. 47 need to change to a different theme. In this case, the clue to the choice of both themes can be found in the scene. In the beginning of the scene, Corso is knocking at Bernie’s bookstore door but nobody answers. He finds out that the door was forced open and decides to enter. The bookstore is dead quiet and the viewer cannot know exactly what to expect. A suspenseful theme accompanies Corso’s exploration of the bookstore until the moment when he finds his friend hanged near the round staircase.51 As the mystery is solved, there is not much that Corso can do but to search for the book. At this moment, the music changes to the more exploratory Corso’s theme. The bassoon playing in staccatos is quite a strange choice to this scene, though, as it cannot completely avoid its natural comic expression, which doesn’t exactly correspond to the drama in the scene. It gives, however, a bit of a sense of rush and – in a way – anguish, as
Corso finds his way to the book’s hiding-place.
Second version
As it was anticipated in the beginning of this subchapter, this second version serves a very specific purpose in the movie: it is only employed in the scenes where
Corso is seen examining the Fargas’ and the Baroness Kessler’s copies of The Nine
Gates.52 In a way, it combines characteristics of the first version of this theme with characteristics of the main theme: in one hand, it clearly maintains the harmonic and melodic ideas from Corso’s theme, while in the other hand, it features the thickness of the strings of the Main theme. This version is considerably slower in tempo, kind of
51 This suspenseful theme is not considered in this analysis, being mentioned here just to more acuratelly illustrate what happens in the movie at this moment. 52 Timing indications: 1) [Ct5] [MX IN – 00:51:03 | MX OUT – 00:52:34]; 2) [Ct6a] [MX IN – 01:02:51 | MX OUT – 01:03:21]; 3) [Ct8] [MX IN – 01:25:24 | MX OUT – 01:27:24]. 48 dragging in a dense texture of strings playing the chords of the harmony in a low register while the known melodic-harmonic pattern known from the previous version of the theme is heard, now played in staccato by the woodwinds.
Figure 12: Corso’s theme, second version. Rough transcription
The choice for a slower tempo seems to reflect the fact that Corso is now not wandering around the busy traffic of a city, but sitting in the quietness of a library turning pages of an ancient book while attentive and carefully searching for clues on its engravings. In fact, the combination of this music with the camera slow movements and the more detailed focus on the book creates a feeling of strong concentration, as if at this moment Corso was able to totally abstract himself from his surroundings. The morphing of Corso’s theme melodic material with the thick chords in the strings – which was previously heard in the Main theme – seems to subtly point out to the slowly 49 growing interest of Corso on the book, as if a sort of connection between himself and the book were starting to develop. The music helps in creating a mood of curiosity and interest, giving the impression that he is slowly becoming able to extract the ancient secrets encoded in the book.
In a way, the choice of focusing this music in the melodic-harmonic material from
Corso’s theme seems to put the focus of the scenes in Corso’s research, and not exactly in the book. Thanks to the music, it is Corso’s personal exploration of the book that seems to be central to these scenes.
Theme Derivation
There is still a last cue, which was briefly mentioned before, where the melody from Corso’s theme is heard. It appears in the scene of Corso’s flight from New York to
Toledo, in the first half of the movie.53 However, it will not be taken in consideration here for the reason that there is nothing significantly special about it that could add to the analysis, and also, for the reason that it is not properly an occurrence of the theme, but a derivation that uses the melody from Corso’s theme played over a completely different accompaniment.
Let’s move on to the analysis of the Girl’s Theme.
Girl’s Theme
The Girl’s theme is heard only five times during the whole film, three of them in the first half of the movie, and the other two in the very last scenes, close to the second
53 Time indication: [Ct4] [MX IN – 00:37:08 | MX OUT – 00:37:51]. 50 hour into the movie. I called it the Girl’s theme because, as it will be seen, it is mainly heard in the scenes where Corso notices the presence of this mysterious girl who is apparently watching over his steps. For the sake of simplicity, I will proceed with this concept in mind. However, later on it will be seen that the girl is not exactly present when the final two occurrences of the theme are heard in the end the film. This fact will be discussed in more details later on in this chapter.
The theme itself is a very simple musical structure, built upon a drone note played by the contrabasses upon which a strange dissonant harp chord resounds, giving then space to an ethereal melody played in the piano in the high register. Every note of this melody comes suspiciously accompanied by its tritone, creating a strange out-of- this-world atmosphere that gives a hint of the nature of this girl, who is seen virtually every time that this music is heard.
As it happens with Corso’s theme, no harmonic transpositions are employed for this theme. All the occurrences are basically the same piece of music, only reinterpreted with no variation but slight changes in dynamics. This exact repetition is probably used as a way of embodying the theme with a sensation of identification and belonging, as it is generally employed in situations loaded with a feeling of strangeness, but also with a subtle hope for acquaintance. It would be also worth to consider the fact that there is literally a difference of one hour between the third and the fourth occurrences of this theme, more than 20 pieces of music being heard in this interval of time. For this reason, the choice of using exact repetitions instead of variations makes the theme more easily recognizable after such a long interval of time.
More than a theme for the Girl herself, this theme seems to be associated with the strangeness and mysteriousness of the encounters between her and Corso. The fact that the theme is only heard prior to the point where they both start to get acquainted 51 with each other can be used in support of this assumption. Following this observation, it is worth to try to specify a bit better the role of this theme by putting it in different terms: it doesn’t relate exactly to the presence of the Girl on the screen, but to Corso’s awareness of her presence around him, and only while he is not yet acquainted with her. In fact, she is seen for the first time at Boris Balkan’s presentation at Balkan Press in the beginning of the film and no music is heard at this moment, as no connection apparently exists between them yet.54 Later on, the theme is finally heard when Corso notices her watching over him at the library from the other side of the bookshelf.55
Some scenes later, the viewer can recognize her legs through a small window through which the sidewalk outside of Bernie’s bookstore can be seen. Corso is inside talking with Bernie, but once again the theme is not heard, as Corso himself does not seem to notice her presence at this moment.56 Finally, the theme is heard again when Corso stumbles upon her in the same train on which he is traveling to Sintra, already in
Europe.57 To summarize, the theme is employed not necessarily with her presence on the screen, but whenever Corso is aware of her presence around him.
Let’s take a look at the music now. Similarly to what happened with Corso’s theme, it will be sufficient to the purposes of this project to present the score only once, as all the occurrences of this theme are mere repetitions of the same musical material. A discussion of the different occurrences of the theme will follow, with a commentary about a specific role that this theme plays in gluing some elements of the plot.
54 Time indication: [00:10:42]. 55 Time indication: [00:23:13]. 56 Time indication: [00:27:25]. 57 Time indication: [00:43:03]. 52
Figure 13: Girl’s theme. Rough transcription
The first occurrence of this theme happens in the library when Corso is searching for information about Balkan’s The Nine Gates.58 Interesting enough, the music announces the upcoming surprising encounter moments before it happens. This is usually a dangerous move in a film score, as a change in music without any apparent reason is, generally speaking, perceived as something awkward or eventually as something that can easily spoil the drama on the scene, especially if it anticipates the
58 Time indication: [Gt1] [MX IN – 00:23:13 | MX OUT – 00:24:17]. 53 action that it is supposed to accompany. However, there is no such a sense of strangeness in this scene when the music change can be heard. Maybe the reason for this can be found in the preceding scene: Corso is sitting at a table studying one of the engravings of The Nine Gates as a version of the Main Theme is heard [Mt4]. The change in the music happens exactly at the moment when he decides to stand up and go to the bookshelf, precisely when the camera changes the focus from the book to the ambient inside the library. Probably this change in view helps to justify the change in the music.
At this point nothing seems to indicate that the new piece of music is somehow related to the Girl that is to be seen. Obviously, as this is the first occurrence of the theme, there is not yet a previous established connection between the music and the Girl, something which may also help to make the change smoother than it would be in case the theme were already known to the spectator.
Going back to the scene, the theme starts when Corso stands up from his desk to go to the bookshelf. As he approaches the bookshelf and takes a book out of it, he notices the Girl looking at him through the gap from the other side of the shelf. He quickly walks around the shelf just to find out that she is surprisingly not there anymore. In spite of the dramatic and mysterious encounter, there is absolutely no change in the music during this whole scene, which continues to sound smoothly in the same way as it had begun.
It is worth to pay attention to one important detail: the establishment of the connection between the theme and the Girl is only possible in this scene thanks to her previous appearance in the scene at Balkan Press, in the beginning of the movie.59 At that moment, the viewer see her for the first time as she and Corso first exchange some looks. Corso’s unease at the library comes from the fact that he (and as an extension, the
59 Time indication: [00:10:42]. 54 viewer) had already seen her before. This means that, probably, any use of this theme prior to this moment would be far less effective in terms of creating the mysterious atmosphere of their encounter. This becomes then a good example of a theme that is effective not only because of the music itself, but also because of the very deliberated choice of using it only in the second time when the two characters it is related to encounter themselves. The deliberate silence in their first encounter gives space to the spectator to get acquainted with the Girl and, from that, realize the strange fact of her presence in the moment of their second encounter.
Corso sees the Girl for the second time when they are already in Europe, both traveling in the same train.60 This time the music starts right at the moment when he finds her in one of the wagons. In musical terms, there is not much in this cue or scene to add to the present discussion, as the music is literally the same than before. In the sense of the drama, this is the first time they talk to each other.
From this point on, the viewer is somehow prepared to their third encounter, which happens in the hotel in Sintra.61 The scene is introduced by a very short appearance of the theme – the last one in this first part of the film. Corso is back from his first visit at Fargas’ mansion, in the countryside, and he notices the Girl sitting at the hotel’s lobby while he is smoking a cigarette nearby. At this point, the theme serves merely (and quite efficiently) as a way of communicating her presence to the spectator, and it is soon faded out as they start to speak. This is actually the last time that they are seen as strangers, as in the next morning she unexpectedly comes to knock at Corso’s door to wake him up. From this point on, she starts to act as a sort of guide or guardian
60 Time indication: [Gt2] [MX IN – 00:43:03 | MX OUT – 00:44:45]. 61 Time indication: [Gt3] [MX IN – 00:54:05 | MX OUT – 00:54:20]. 55 angel for him, sometimes defending him in fights and sometimes giving him directions on his journey.
This change in status between them causes the mysterious Girl’s theme to disappear from the film for roughly one hour. To understand how the theme comes back in the end of the movie and how it is still related to the Girl – or, to what she truly seems to represent in the film –, it is necessary to observe their relationship from this point on. Although Corso somehow accepts her company, he never manages to really know her and get to understand what is her real interest in traveling around with him.
In a couple of occasions he reaches a point where he feels the need to express his doubts about her character, but he always ends up being comforted by some demonstration of trust from her part. However, these doubts finally come to a conclusion for him during the sect meeting at Liana Telfer’s mansion in the French countryside.62 As an infuriated
Boris Balkan breaks into the hall interrupting the ceremony and causing a fight between himself and Liana Telfer, an immediate and spontaneous impulse makes Corso try to help Liana, as he sees that she is in great disadvantage. For some reason the Girl grabs him by the arms and impedes him to intervene. The scene ends up with Balkan murdering Liana in front of the crowd and running away. Corso immediately comes to the conclusion that the Girl was working for Balkan all the time and he suddenly runs away from her. Although she had disappeared from his side a couple of times before, this is the first time they get separated by his own will.
Corso travels alone trying to follow Balkan’s path, but he eventually loses the trail and ends up reaching a restaurant in a small village in the countryside. While trying to figure out what to do next, he accidentally gives a glance at a photography he was carrying with him all the time, which he had taken from the inside of Baroness Kessler’s
62 Time indication: [01:48:59]. 56 book: a postal card signed by Balkan showing a medieval castle on the top of a hill.
Precisely at this moment the theme is heard again, accompanying the spark of curiosity that arises in Corso’s mind while he stares at the image of the mysterious castle.63 The fifth and final occurrence of the theme happens less than 2 minutes later, when he manages to reach the actual castle shown in the picture.64
The fact that the listener now hears the theme in the complete absence of the Girl impels to the consideration of two possible corollaries: either the assumption that the theme was somehow related to her’s and Corso’s process of getting acquainted with each other was wrong, or a more specific clue that can help to support that assumption should now be sought.
To go straight to the point, the last piece of the puzzle can be found in the ninth engraving of The Nine Gates. This engraving is briefly seen in the beginning of the movie while Corso is studying the book at the library right after his first encounter with the
Girl.65 However, it is only properly seen in the last scenes, at this point with some more information about it. As a matter of fact, after Balkan’s death following his frustrated attempt to conjure up the Devil, the Girl appears from nowhere and informs Corso that
Balkan’s ritual didn’t work because of the ninth engraving that he had with him, which according to her was a forgery. She informs Corso that the real ninth engraving is at
Brothers Ceniza’s bookstore and then disappears from his sight for the last time. Corso finally goes back to Toledo and manages to find the real engraving.
The image in the engraving shows a castle on the top of a hill in front of which a female figure holds a book while riding a seven-headed dragon. The castle looks exactly
63 Time indication: [Gt4] [MX IN – 01:54:32 | MX OUT – 01:55:15]. 64 Time indication: [Gt5] [MX IN – 01:56:01 | MX OUT – 01:58:11]. 65 Time indication: [00:24:16]. This is the same spot where the fifth occurrence of the Main theme is heard[Mt5], which sounds immediately after the first occurrence of the Girl’s theme [Gt1], both being part of the same cue. 57 as the castle where Balkan attempted to perform his ritual, whereas the female figure resembles very much the Girl herself. The presence of both the castle and the Girl in the last of the engravings makes it clear that both are somehow connected, and also, that she has definitely a part in this demonic ritual described in the book. It’s not only the image that tells this story, though. The music, and more precisely, the Girl’s theme, first heard associated with the Girl and now associated with the castle, weaves a line that connects all these elements and brings out to the attention an underlying meaning that is at best only insinuated throughout the movie: if the castle is the place where the gates of hell can be opened, the Girl is at the very least one of its guardians (if not the Devil herself).
Having in mind all the new information from these last scenes, it would be a good move now to propose once again a reconsideration of the concept of this theme in order to try to define it better, as it seems to be neither exactly related to the Girl, nor specifically to Corso’s process of acquaintance with her. The appearance of the Girl in the ninth engraving and the use of the theme for the scene at the castle lead to the consideration that the theme may actually be related to a common element, untold and unseen, that somehow embraces both characters or elements in one same unity. The obvious hypothesis would then be to associate the theme with the Devil himself, the girl symbolizing the luring power of the Devil, and the castle symbolizing its domain, or also, the place where one could find the way to descend to the Kingdom of Shadows, as it is called in The Nine Gates. Following this hypothesis, an important subliminal content given by the music since the very beginning of the film would have to be considered. In a way, it warned the viewer about the real identity of the Girl since the first time it was heard, but of course, it’s not possible to realize it before reaching the end of the movie. 58
It is important to emphasize once more that these ideas are merely hypotheses based on the connections observed between these elements of the plot and the use of this specific theme in the scope of the soundtrack. Naturally, there is no intention to enforce any theory over the natural openness of the movie – this same openness that makes it stand as a work of art. Instead, the only goal here is to provide some insights on possible ways of reading the movie based on the hints observed through this specific analysis of the soundtrack.
While discussing these hypotheses, the discussion about the more tangible and apparent emotional qualities of this theme was left behind. Let’s talk briefly about this aspect now. Overall, this theme could be summarized with one central word: mystery.
In all of the five times it is employed, it fills up the scene with a feeling of the unknown.
As it was previously mentioned, in the first three occurrences the theme basically punctuates Corso’s encounters with the Girl, imbuing these moments with an enigmatic mood. Although it conveys a sensation that she is somehow stalking him, there is also a strange subtle sense of acquaintance between them. The steady contrabass drone seems to set an unshakable ground over which the strange harp chords can converse with the melody in the piano, both filling the air with its mysteries without ever coming to the point of conveying a feeling of menace, despite the weirdness of the atmosphere created.
When the theme is heard while Corso is looking at the castle, either through the photography or in the distant landscape at the French countryside, the effect is somehow even more beautiful. As Corso approaches the castle at the sunset, the theme seems to fulfill the air with a haunting feeling; a grim and mysterious mood that can make one feel as if something supernatural could speak from within those ancient silent walls. The unmoved drone, as well as the softness of the harp and the piano, suits very 59 well the quietness of the place, setting the atmosphere without disturbing the dead quietness that seems to pervade the castle.
Before moving on to the next chapter, let’s have a quick look at one final theme: the Choir theme.
Choir Theme
The Choir theme is heard only twice in the movie, both occurrences after the second hour into the movie. This is the sound of the climax of the movie. Two important events happen under its umbrella: Balkan’s frustrated ritual and death, and Corso’s intercourse with the Girl.66 Both scenes point, in a way, to a sort of conclusion: Balkan’s ritual symbolizes the end of his search and journey, while Corso’s sexual act with the
Girl symbolizes the consummation of their process of communion, which was being slowly built since the very first scenes.
Musically speaking, it is the strongest piece of music in the movie, featuring a male choir, a soprano soloist, and a big orchestra with strings, percussion and brass. It consists basically of a drone being held by the orchestra while the choir sings the melody in fortissimo. There is not much to say about the dramatic aspects of this music, as it is simply played out loud with loads of energy, as a truly climactic piece of music.
The structure of the melody and the lyrics of the choir, however, should grab the attention for a while. Let’s take a look at the score before proceeding with the comments.
66 Time indications: [Ch1] [MX IN – 02:01:21 | MX OUT – 02:03:12]; [Ch2] [MX IN – 02:04:42 | MX OUT – 02:05:30]. 60
Figure 14a: Choir theme, [Ch2] version. Rough transcription 61
Figure 14b: Choir theme, [Ch2] version. Rough transcription
The first thing that jumps to the eye is the fact that the melody shares the exact same contour of the melody of the Girl’s theme. However, if in the Girl’s theme the piano used to timidly play the notes of the melody, just subtly coloring the drone of the contrabasses and the texture brought by the harp chords, now the choir sings it out loud with great strength. If the hypothesis that the Girl’s theme is always associated with the
Devil is taken in consideration, then it could now be said that the use of the melody in the climax of the movie seem to portray a double victory of the Devil: first, over Balkan by bringing him to death; second, over Corso, who is enticed to commune with the Girl and is finally seduced to open and cross the gates.
If the lyrics sung by the choir are observed, some evidences to support this idea can be found. Half of the lyrics were taken from lines extracted from the book – the same lines read by Liana in front of the attendants in the sect meeting before Balkan’s eruption into the hall –, the other half being an adaptation of the attendants’ response to her recitations. The text is sung in Latin, as it is the book’s original language. The line that Liana reads, which is then taken to form the choir’s chant is: serpens bestia est qvae 62 nvnqvam dormit, bestia cvivs occvli videntvr in specvlo scientiae.67 The attendants respond: invitamvs civitate domine … . The actual lyrics of the choir comes from a slight adaptation of these two sentences: invitamvs aeternitate domine; serpens bestia est qvae nvnqvam dormit. A rough translation to English brings something in these lines: We invite [it], Lord’s eternity. The serpent is a beast that never sleeps.68 In a way, the lyrics inform that the climax chant is an invocation, clearly related to the Prince of Darkness.
This observation adds to the hypothesis that this cue may mean a celebration of the
Devil.
In the following chapter, a final discussion will sum up the hypotheses and evidences that have been presented until now.
67 Time indication: [01:48:04] 68 Translated by the author. There may be some discrepancies in this translation, as I am not specialized in the Latin language. Nevertheless, if there are any errors, they are specifically related to details in the grammatical function of the words in the first phrase, not to the words itself. As our purpose here is only to point out the general quality of the text, we do not require a precise translation. It is sufficient for us to know that the text was extracted from The Nine Gates and, in a way, that it speaks about the Devil, or at least, to an invocation of the Devil. 63
Conclusion
One of the first impressions that I had when I started mapping the movie and taking notes of every cue in it was that it was apparently one of those movies with very less music in it. The reason that led me to this first impression is quite understandable: in the first 20 minutes there is only four cues, three of them being mere transition cues that last from around 30 to 50 seconds. On the top of that, there is a long sequence of 8 minutes, from the scene of Balkan’s talk at Balkan Press to the scene of his conversation with Corso in his private library, that employs no music at all.69 However, as I proceeded in my mapping I quickly realized that my first impressions were way wrong.
At the end of the process I ended up counting 42 cues, all based on 4 central thematic materials and its derivations, summing up around 58 minutes of music (roughly 43% of the duration of the movie), plus three brief scenes where diegetic music is employed, adding around 02 minute and 12 seconds of music to the count. Considering the – generally speaking – static and repetitive music that composes this score, it is a considerable amount of music.
Regarding the general style of this score, one could raise the question of whether this music could be classified in the group of scores based on the aesthetics of minimalism. The idea does not seem very adequate for the whole music in this movie, though, although some of the themes do have characteristics that would perfectly fit into the style. Rebecca Marie Doran Eaton pointed out in her doctoral thesis on minimalist music in the film music repertoire some general aspects of the minimalist scores that exist.70 Some of the aspects could perfectly fit the description of some of the
69 Time indication: [00:10:18 – 00:18:26] 70 EATON, Rebecca Marie Doran. Unheard Minimalisms: The Functions of the Minimalist Technique in Film Scores. The University of Texas, Austin, 2008. Published online at: 64 themes in The Ninth Gates. For instance, the ideas of a static instrumentation, a static harmony and the use of repetition serve quite well to describe both Corso’s theme and the Girl’s theme. Regarding the Main theme, however, it would not fit as easily. While it does feature a static instrumentation – at least while considering each occurrence of the theme in itself –, it does not exactly feature a static harmony, nor repetition, at least not in the same way that the minimalisms do. One could say, then, that Kilar’s score has traces of minimalism, but it is never restricted to it.
Kilar’s composition procedures pose a very intriguing question: how does he maintain the interest in the music through the whole movie using so less variation? As it was already pointed out during the previous exposition, the exception to the rule in The
Ninth Gate are the cues that present some kind of inner variation in it. Even in these cases, the level of variation is considerably little if compared to the music of other composers who write in a more traditional way, so to say. Whenever there is variation, the music rather presents some real and perceivable change instead of subtle modifications that, generally speaking, tend to add interest to the music. In Kilar’s score, the themes proceed in a quite steady way, continuing throughout a whole cue the same way as they have started, both in terms of melodies and harmonies, as well as in terms of orchestration (sometimes even in terms of dynamics).
On the matter of the analyzed themes, there are still some things to be mentioned, now that an in-depth analysis of the four themes has already been presented. A connection between the thematic elements on the Girl’s theme and the
Choir theme was briefly debated during the analysis of the Choir theme. On the other side, the main theme seems to stand on its own, with its particular musical material.
http://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/3839/eatonr88741.pdf?sequence=2. p.23-24 (Accessed on June 15th, 2015). 65
What is yet to be observed is that also Corso’s theme has elements in it derived from the same generative idea which the Girl’s theme and the Choir theme were based in. It is easy to realize this connection when the contour of the music elements in the three themes is put side by side (Figure 15).
Figure 15: Comparison between the musical materials in the Choir theme, Corso’s theme, and the Girl’s theme
Figure 15 shows that the melodic contour of these musical elements has clearly the same origin, all of them being slight derivations of the same generative idea (Corso’s theme being the more distant one). An interesting scenario appears from this: if the main theme is based in a completely independent thematic material, while the other three themes are actually based on the same basic musical idea, the idea of variation and freshness may come exactly from a balanced sense of alternation between them in the scope of the film.
This balanced alternation between one thematic material and the other may be key to guarantee that the spectator never grows tired of the music, no matter how repetitive it may be in itself. In this scenario, the lack of variation in the themes imbues 66 them of a sense of identity, making them instantly recognizable as soon as they are heard again and again. The sense of variation seems to be thus achieved not in the level of the themes itself, but in a higher level of the score: in the alternation of different thematic materials and their conversation with each other.
To exemplify this fact, Figure 16 shows a horizontal slice of a Pro Tools session where the audio track of the movie appears edited so that one can easily see the position of each theme in the scope of the movie’s general time frame. On the top track, the main theme is featured in purple; the second track shows Corso’s theme in red; in the third track, the Girl’s theme appears in green; and finally, the fourth and bottommost track brings the Choir theme in yellow.
Figure 16: Horizontal slice of a Pro Tools session showing the distribution of the four themes in the time frame of the movie.
By looking at the picture above, one can see that the alternation between the musical occurrences of the top track and of the other three tracks is quite balanced. The main theme appears 13 times, while the other three themes sum up 17 appearances.
Also, there is only one instance in the entire movie – near the finale – in which one of the thematic materials is repeated more than 3 times before the other one is heard at least once. This well-balanced distribution of thematic material may be the decisive 67 factor that makes the whole score sound not so repetitive, in spite of the broad use of repetition in the heart of the music.
The apparent common origin of the three themes (Corso’s, the Girl’s, and the
Choir theme) brings in a new hypothesis to be considered. Given the fact that there is a process of approximation between these two characters happening from the beginning of the movie to the end – a process that ends up culminating in the sex scene near the end of the movie under the chant of the choir –, it is possible that the choice of deriving the three themes from the same original idea was a deliberate one. In a way, it is very unlikely that this connection can be consciously perceived by the general spectator, but yet, it communicates something, even if in a very subtle manner, about the developments of the plot.
Also worth noting in this score is the progressive use of variations between different occurrences of the main theme throughout the movie, accompanied by a change in the harmonic center as the plot progresses to more and more intricate situations. The plot’s outcome is interestingly marked with a return of the theme to its origins. This use of the starting point at the end of the line truly brings a sensation of conclusion, as if the character were really arriving back home. It reminds very much the structure of many classical pieces of music, like for instance the traditional sonata form, that structurally brings a recapitulation of its thematic materials at the end of the form so that they can be reevaluated after undergoing a process of development.
In the first chapters of this project, it was briefly mentioned that the symbol of the serpent played a distinctive role in this film. I would like to bring this topic back now, as a last consideration. As it was previously stated, the image of the serpent is featured more prominently in the movie than it was in the script. This emphasis may have brought some particular connotations to Polanski’s film, with a special help of the 68 music. The use of this imagery in the music was already mentioned when the Choir theme was discussed. The chant of the choir not only uses the word serpens, but more than that, it actually finishes the chant with an emphatic repetition of the word.71
Corso’s relationship with the Girl also was changed in the film. In the script, it culminates in a simple kiss, whereas in the movie it has become a sexual relationship.
Had Polanski used a mere kiss in the movie, the intensity of the connection between both characters would be certainly weaker, resembling maybe that of a romance movie.
This choice would almost certainly oblige the composer to reconsider the use of the
Choir theme for that scene, as a kiss would never reach the same energetic pinnacles that the sexual act manages to portray in the scene.
It is interesting to compare both instances of the Choir theme having in mind that they share the same musical intensity. In one hand, the spectator is faced with this sexual relationship between the main character and a dubious female character very likely associated with the Devil (as it was previously exposed); in the other hand, the same music is heard during a satanic ritual in which an attempt to conjure up the Devil ended up failing miserably, leading straight to the death of the conjurer. Naturally, what connects both events is precisely the use of the same musical material in both cases. In a superficial analysis, one could say that the Choir theme is only bringing a general climactic atmosphere to these two events, both dramatic in their own way. But if the actual characteristics of the chant sung by the choir are taken in consideration, it would be worth to extend these observations to more subtle ones: if the serpent is the subject of the chant, it is valid to observe how this symbolic concept subtly adds to the meaning of the scenes where it was employed.
71 serpens is the Latin word for ‘serpent’, as it was already seen in the translation previously provided. As a refresh to the memory, the phrase sung by the choir is serpens bestia est quae nunquam dormit (in English: the serpent is a beast that never sleeps). In the Choir theme, the choir sings repeteadly: serpens, serpens, serpens, serpens... 69
In the first instance, the choir starts singing as Balkan ignites fire in a circle around him in order to accomplish the ritual. In this occasion the chant seems to relate quite clearly and simply to the Devil (symbolized in the serpent), as the spectator sees precisely this fiery and obscure ritual happening on the screen. However, in the second instance, the symbolic content informs the viewer in a different and more deep level: it is the identity of the Girl with the Devil that is now being subtly addressed by the music, as well as the Devil’s carnal communion with Corso. Naturally, any other music could potentially serve as well as this one to convey the energetic catharsis of the sexual act.
However, this meticulous choice of using the same cue that was previously used to score the ritual scene brings a subtle and specific color to the event.
As a final sum of all the considerations presented here, it could be said that, although Kilar’s score appears to be incredibly simple on the surface, its meticulous choice of themes and thematic materials from which these themes were derived point out to a much more richer soundtrack than it appear to be in the first moment. The score of The Ninth Gate does not work merely as an emotional support of the scenes, nor only it creates moods and atmosphere, but in a way, it participates behind the plot in the construction of the meanings. Naturally, none of these interferences of the music in the plot are clear or even perceivable on the surface, but as one takes the time to analyze the movie in more detail, they seem to stand quite satisfactorily. This subtlety makes the score even richer, as it may allow the spectator to dig deep and find connections that are not apparent.
The economy of material is also striking. In a way, Kilar exemplifies through this score how unnecessary it is to be concern about the amount of music variation to properly and satisfactorily score a movie. All in all, The Ninth Gate stands as an interesting title to watch and to learn from. 70
Appendix A
Engravings from The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows72
Figure 17: First engraving. Signed by LCF
72 The engravings were downloaded from APOCalyptic PRODuctions. The Nine Gates to the Kingdom of Shadows Tutorial: http://www.apocprod.com/props/tutorials/the-nine-gates-to-the-kingdom-of- shadows-tutorial/. (Accessed on June 26th, 2015). 71
Figure 18: Second engraving. Signed by LCF
72
Figure 19: Third engraving. Signed by AT
73
Figure 20: Fourth engraving. Signed by LCF
74
Figure 21: Fifth engraving. Signed by LCF
75
Figure 22: Sixth engraving. Signed by AT
76
Figure 23: Seventh engraving. Signed by LCF
77
Figure 24: Eighth engraving. Signed by AT
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Figure 25: Ninth engraving. Signed by AT 79
Appendix B
Director Andrzej Wadja talks about Wojciech Kilar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YJ8trqut-o
Accessed on May 13th, 2015.
Director Krzsyztof Zanussi talks about Wojciech Kilar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIMkP9FbQlg
Accessed on May 13th, 2015.
Conductor Antoni Wit talks about Wojciech Kilar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8ZV6FyDkuA
Accessed on May 13th, 2015.
Conductor Wojciech Michniewski talks about Wojciech Kilar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3N8o4aCxdqQ
Accessed on May 13th, 2015.
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References
Books
HALFYARD, Janet K. Danny Elfman's Batman: A Film Score Guide. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, 2004.
HALTOF, Marek. Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema. The Scarecrow Press, Inc., Toronto, 2007.
MALATYNSKA. M.; MALATYNSKA-STANKIEWCZ, A. Scherzo dla Wojciecha Kilara. In: MAZIERSKA, E. Roman Polanski: The Cinema of a Cultural Traveller. I.B.Tauris, London, 2007.
THOMAS, Adrian, Polish Music Since Szymanowski. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2005.
Websites
Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma. Palmarès des César: http://www.academie- cinema.org/ceremonie/palmares.html?annee=2003#meilleure-musique-ecrite- pour-film; (Accessed on
Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma. Vidéos: http://www.academie- cinema.org/images/videos/wojciech-kilar-cesar-2003-meilleure-musique- ecrite-pour-pianiste,2003,1392,1392.html.
BAFTA Awards: http://awards.bafta.org/award/2003/film/the-anthony-asquith-for- the-achievement-in-film-music.
Film Score Monthly. FSM Board: Kilar – And Lord of the Rings: http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=106150&forumI D=1&archive=0. (Accessed on June 29th, 2015).
IFMCA: the International Film Music Critics Association | 1999 FMCJ Awards: http://filmmusiccritics.org/awards-archive/1999-fmcj-awards/.
Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com)
Movies Articles IMDb.com. Death and the Maiden (1994): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109579/; IMDb.com. Dracula (1992): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103874/; 81
IMDb.com. The Pianist (2002): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253474/; IMDb.com. The Portrait of a Lady (1996): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117364/; IMDb.com. We Own the Night (2007): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498399/.
People IMDb.com. Roman Polanski: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000591/; IMDb.com. Wojciech Kilar: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004384/.
The Ninth Gate IMDb.com. The Ninth Gate (1999): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142688/; IMDb.com. The Ninth Gate (1999) – Awards: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142688/awards; IMDb.com. The Ninth Gate (1999) – Box Office: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142688/business; IMDb.com. The Ninth Gate (1999) – Company Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142688/companycredits; IMDb.com. The Ninth Gate (1999) – Release Info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142688/releaseinfo; IMDb.com. The Ninth Gate Reviews & Ratings: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0142688/reviews.
Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb): http://nldslab.soe.ucsc.edu/charactercreator/film_corpus/film_2012xxxx/imsd b.com/Ninth-Gate,-The.html.
Orły | Laureaci wg roku – 2003: http://pnf.pl/laureaci-wg-roku-2003/.
Youtube.com. kościelec 1909 - w. kilar: https://youtu.be/u1iuvGqAAaU?t=12m25s.
Blogs
CRUZ, José. In: Classic Horror.com. The Ninth Gate (1999): http://classic- horror.com/reviews/ninth_gate_1999.
VIE, Caroline. Minadream.com. Roman Polanski Vision – The Ninth Gate: http://minadream.com/romanpolanski/InterviewFour.htm.
Media
The Ninth Gate. Directed by Roman Polanski. 1999. Santa Monica, CA: Artisan Entertainment, 1999. DVD.
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Online Articles
Anonymous. Film Music – Wojciech Kilar. Published on Ninateka.pl. [no date] http://ninateka.pl/kolekcje/en/kilar/film-music/music-to-foreign-films.
LECH, Filip. Avant-Garde and Gorals – Notes on Wojciech Kilar. Published on Culture.pl on March 30th, 2015. http://culture.pl/en/article/avant-garde-and-gorals-notes- on-wojciech-kilar Translated by: Anna Micińska.
Academic Research
EATON, Rebecca Marie Doran. Unheard Minimalisms: The Functions of the Minimalist Technique in Film Scores. The University of Texas, Austin, 2008. Published online at: http://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/3839/eatonr88741.p df?sequence=2. p.23-24.
Other
APOCalyptic PRODuctions. The Nine Gates to the Kingdom of Shadows Tutorial: http://www.apocprod.com/props/tutorials/the-nine-gates-to-the-kingdom-of- shadows-tutorial/.