| “ | Now you can watch! I'm entering uncharted territory. Taking the road that leads to equality, with God. You can't come with me... I must travel alone but you may look on, and marvel. | „ |
| ~ Balkan about to perform the ritual. |
| “ | Look around you, all of you, what do you see? A bunch of buffoons, in fancy dress. You think the Prince of Darkness would actually deign to manifest himself before the likes of you? He never has and he never will. Never! | „ |
| ~ Balkan admonishing the Order of the Silver Serpent for their amateurism. |
Boris Balkan is the main antagonist of the 1999 horror movie The Ninth Gate, based on the novel The Club Dumas.
He was portrayed by Frank Langella, who also portrayed Bob Alexander in Dave, Dawg Brown in Cutthroat Island, Rodney Cole in Unknown, Clare Quilty in the 1997 film adaptation of Lolita, and Skeletor in Masters of the Universe.
Biography[]
Balkan is a wealthy book collector who recently acquired one of three extant copies of the Nine Gates of the Shadow Realm from 17th century author Aristide Torchia. The author adapted the book from a book allegedly written by the devil himself and was burned for heresy. The work contains methods for invoking the devil and for acquiring invincibility and immortality. Balkan believes that two of the three copies are forgeries. He hires Corso, after he finds him asleep during one of his conferences, to verify the three, giving him his own copy, and asks him to acquire the real one by any means necessary.
Balkan copy was acquired from Andrew Telfer, who committed suicide shortly after. Telfer's widow, Liana Telfer seduces Corso, in an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve the book. During this time, Corso leaves the book in a safe place with the bookseller Bernie Rothstein, who is then assassinated; his body is found in a position identical to an engraving in the book.
Corso calls Balkan from a phone booth and tells him he's giving up. The latter tells him to continue and that as a result, he will increase his fees.
Boris calls Corso at the reception of the hotel where he is staying in Paris. Having the call transferred to his hotel room, Corso tells him that he has examined the copy of Fargas, another book collector, and that it appears genuine. It is like that of Balkan but with a few variations. Some engravings are not identical. For example, keys are not in the same hand. A door is open in one example but walled up in the other. Corso adds that the engravings which differ are not signed Torqua but LCF. Hearing this word, Balkan tells him that he absolutely needs this copy. Corso replies that Fargas cares more about his book than his life, to which Balkan replies: "Really?". He then hangs up the phone. The next day, Corso finds Fargas drowned in his swimming pool, and his copy private of the "LCF" engravings.
Corso then visits Baroness Kessler, who owns the third copy. The latter, unlike Fargas, refuses to cooperate, vilifying Balkan. That same evening, Balkan calls Corso again. Corso announces the death of Fargas to him. Balkan reacts by saying that it is tragic and asks him if he could see the copy belonging to Baroness Kessler. Corso annoyedly asks why Balkan calls so often. Balkan retorts that he is only watching over the investment that Corso represents for him. Corso reveals that the Baroness claims the copy is genuine but refuses to let him examine it and that she threw it out as soon as she found out that Balkan was behind Corso's visit . Balkan insists that Corso return there but the latter refuses because of the secretary. Balkan suggests that she go there during the dinner break. Corso therefore returned to Baroness Kessler, and interested her in the variations of the engravings: according to what he deduced, each copy contains a different set of three "LCF" engravings, the three copies are therefore necessary to acquire the complete set of 9 images for the ritual. Corso finds "LCF" on three different engravings in the Baroness's book, thus confirming his theory. After completing the check, Corso gets knocked out. When he wakes up, Baroness Kessler is strangled to death, and his collection has been set on fire, the copy of the Nine Doors being found in the middle of the blaze.
Liana ends up stealing Balkan's copy from Corso's hotel room. Corso informs Balkan of the theft. Balkan orders Corso to find the book, threatens him that he is ready to do anything to get it and that if Corso does not have it, there will be sinister consequences. Corso follows Liana and sees her using the book during a satanic ceremony. Balkan suddenly interrupts the ceremony, strangles Liana and leaves with the engraved pages and his copy intact; Corso tried to intervene, but the young woman following him prevents him from doing so. Corso follows Balkan to a distant castle, depicted in one of the engravings; he finds Balkan preparing the final ritual. After a struggle, Balkan traps Corso in a hole in the ground, then performs his summoning ritual: he arranges the engravings on a makeshift altar and recites a series of sentences relating to each of the nine engravings. Balkan then sprinkles himself with gasoline and lights it, believing himself to be safe from suffering. Balkan's summon fails, and he cries out in pain as the flames engulf him. Corso frees himself and shoots Balkan to shorten his suffering.
Personality[]
Boris Balkan, on the surface, appears as an affable, cultivated and passionate bibliophile. However, it is revealed it is just a facade, as he is in fact a ruthless Satanist willing to do anything to summon the Devil. His true nature is foreshadowed when Corso announces him the death of his friend Bernie. Balkan isn't at all bothered hearing that. The fact that he's not concerned in that murder is a good clue as to how ruthless he is.
Balkan is also arrogant, believing himself to be the only one worthy do interact directly with the Devil and looking down on the Order of the Silver Serpent, the cult led by Lara.
Quotes[]
| “ | There's nothing more reliable than a man whose loyalty can be bought for hard cash. | „ |
| “ | To travel in silence / by a long and circuitous route, / To brave the arrows of misfortune / and fear neither noose nor fire, / To play the greatest of all games / and win, foregoing no expense / is to mock the vicissitudes of Fate / and gain at last the key / that will unlock the Ninth Gate. | „ |
| ~ Balkan trying to summon the Devil, |
| “ | Listen to me very carefully, Mr. Corso. I think you may already have some idea of the lengths to which I'm prepared to go when I want something. Unless you recover my property in double-quick time, you'll discover just how far that can be. | „ |
| ~ Balkan threatening Corso. |
Trivia[]
- The movie's Balkan was based on his book counterpart and also on another book's character absent from the movie, Varo Borja.
- In the book, Boris Balkan is the narrator and protagonist of the story only intervenes in three chapters, to describe his encounters with Corso. He is a translator, literary critic and specialist in popular literature of the nineteenth century, of which he is inexhaustible.
- Borja is an ultra specialized bookseller and millionaire and he lives in opulence in Toledo. He is passionate about demonology of which he has a rich collection of old works. He asks Corso to verify that his copy of the Nine Doors is authentic (only one of the three existing is according to an interpretation of the printer Torchia and he is convinced that his is false). His name evokes the Borja / Borgia family, who like him had links with the occult and who inspired Alexandre Dumas to two of his works.