The strange esoteric career of Johnny Depp which has in recent months taken on a new form of oddness delivers yet more head scratching details. Before going any further it’s best to establish a couple of things.

Heard vs Depp staged reality…

1. The trial with Amber Heard appears to be a bizarre performance with those involved pushing the boundaries of their craft by directing a form of reality albeit synthesised reality.
2. If you disagree with the above statement then consider for a second why this isn’t being dealt with behind closed doors, a norm for cases between people commanding such huge salaries. Pay the lawyers, it’s peasants who do court appearances etc.
3. What else really do auter directors and obsessive actors like Depp, Rourke and the like do when their industry has turned to pure popcorn with no challenges to be had

If you cannot digest the above then suspend reality….no pun intended.

In the 1999 satanic horror detective movie by Roman Polanski and starring Mr Depp an oddity (and their are a few in that movie) crops up in the final scene. Depp as Dean Corso Book Detective (more weirdness on that in a second) is being ridden by Emmanuel Siegner, Polanskis real life spouse as a culmination of Corsos descent from mercenary sceptic to satanic minded believer. For the briefest moment there is a slick face swap effect where an unnamed and uncredited female stand-in has her face swapped over for Siegners. Depp aknowledges it, audience sees it but in an already racey scene it gets forgotten in uncanny valley sleight of hand. See the gifs below…

Amber Heard Faceswap Ninth Gate Gifs…

Depp acknowledges this in a shift to shock on his young face but when you’re having sex with Satan it’s easy to overlook things. Circumstances and pace do weigh in an audiences ability to register things consciously and this is a case of it being slipstreamed in at pretty much the apex of this movies plot resolution.

Now, plenty of movies do have quirky things in them. Easter eggs, directors having fun with symbols. Scorcese uses the X for characters who will die in ALL of his movies, not just The Departed as does Peter Weir. When you start to notice this stuff it’s actually everywhere. Bit of fun, homage to 1950s heroes, whatever… but this is a bit stranger than the usual fun.

Take that same image and crop the chin off of “Green Eyes” and you notice that this uncredited lady looks familiar.

It being 1999 there is some shoddy blending but facial framework using aspect ratio correction through denomination points of the face can quickly show whether it’s a close match…. and it is. Not to mention that Amber Heard has the cutest green eyes in all Hollywood. Coincidentally of course, haha… (patronising to self)

…and there it is really. Why is an 85-92% facial match (only eyes, nose and mouth) with Amber Heard shown for what amounts to 1 second of film in Ninth Gate? Really…that’s a fairly bizarre coincidence even for Hollywood. Theories in the comments below or laughter… anything really. It’s so odd it’s either sending hands to head scratching or pointing in laughter along with a perscription for tinfoil headwear.

Oh, another crafty coincidence that’s more in the Gilliam early meta vein, the curious case of Johnny Depp, Don Quixote and being lost in la mancha.

Depp and his Don Quixote Meta Ninth Gate

Anyone recall Terry Gilliams near mythical attempt to bring Don Quixote to the big screen with Depp as the lead? Well, the legend is that he tried but the entire project fell apart in Pythonesque style. Years later Gilliam released a documentary on this attempt along with actually making a Don Quixote movie. Just without Depp who is rumoured to feel “robbed of his Don Quixote role”. Adam Driver steps in, Depp plans his own version which is yet to be realised and his good friend Gilliam closes the book on Don Quixote.

Now, in the opening scene of The Ninth Gate, Depp is seen swindling a couple through a clever confidence trick and promises of inflated figures for a book collection. Before leaving them with the bitter bitter sweet news that millions are forthcoming but in months instead of days he offers a small price for a worthless set of books that he himself could sell. A figure nowhere near the figures other volumes in the vast library will fetch which is where their attention now is. Clever sleight of words, it’s a well written scene and a realistic con-job. He leaves with what is very likely the most expensive set in the entire library for a fraction of their worth while the couple are thinking yatches, retirement and nothing at all about the old books they just sold for pittance…

And there you have it. Meta linking at its finest. Depp who eventually gripes about losing out on dream role of his in Don Quixote begins The Ninth Gate but stealing someones prized set of Don Quixote volumes from under their nose. Bravo, this is how easter eggs should be done.

To cap this little synchronised meta linked quirk we are also shown the Gilliam motif chequerboard as he is told that he is indeed a crook by another book expert. If you’re not aware of the Gilliam motif then check our article on how Gilliam uses this Lewis Carol Alice iconography in almost all of his movies. He appears to be crafting his career around Lewis Carol and we applaud this career synphony approach. In years to come, students will read in awe of how Gilliam and others were actually operating their careers like a set of volumes in the same series and not standalone material.

Anyway…one more look at the Amber Heard weirdness? Here you go…

What in the name of jumpin Jehovah’s witnesses this is all about is beyond us. Any info on who the above faceswap actually is would be welcome as it simply cannot be Amber Heard and do feel free to mock, we tip our tinfoil berets your direction for good banter.

Peace x