La Constellation des damnés

THE NINTH CONFIGURATION, a drama set in a scenic castle functioning as a mental ward, and asking fundamental questions about life, goodness and evil, was written and directed (and even performed in in a small role) by William Peter Blatty, who became practically a household name in the 70s after the worldwide success of the dramatization of his work, THE EXORCIST (1973). CONFIGURATION is his directorial debut, and reveals him to be a highly talented director; it is really too bad he did not make any other films beside EXORCIST III (1990), for which a director's cut LEGION (2016) was released right around his death.

The spectacular direction, acting and cinematography cannot, in my mind, completely compensate for the implausibility of the plot reveal, which occurs about 2/3 of the way. That implausibility, at least as presented, distracts in turn from the treatment of the serious existential questions the film asks because after the reveal, events to make the movie's point seem contrived to be "just so".

Evidently, the expression "ninth configuration" is supposed to refer to the improbability of proteins randomly rearranging themselves to give rise to life. An astronomically small number is mentioned,and compared unfavorably to the probability for the existence of God, but I must admit that, as a scientist, I had never heard this term before. Nor does it seem to me that anyone could seriously calculate the probability of life arising on earth, given that the sample size of planets where this is known to have occurred is exactly one (there is something called the Drake equation for estimating the number of alien civilizations, which requires estimates for the probability of life in other worlds, but there are too many unknowns to make it possible to perform a serious calculation).

I have found that theological arguments are sometimes dressed up in mystical-sounding mumbo jumbo, and can't escape the suspicion that this might be the case here, too. However, that does not diminish the importance of the question itself of how life could have arisen.

The main philosophical question this films asks, however, is this: if we are really just a collection of atoms, perpetuating a phenomenon involving proteins which originated in an incredibly improbable random event long ago, then whence comes goodness?

The premise behind the question is strongly reductionist: for example, we have at least some biology-based frameworks for understanding altruism in higher organisms, and even if some proteins may play a role in these, the behavior of atoms at that level has long faded into explanatory irrelevance.

The movie is idiosyncratic and plays really well with our expectations. There is a hilarious scene in the beginning involving a short exchange between the protagonist and the man himself, which both foreshadows events to come, and sets us up to question what is real and what is not.

Scene after scene, we are sprayed with rhetorical snippets and actions by the mental patients (and even the attending physician) which seem nonsensical, but then, every once in while, there is follow-up dialogue which makes clear that what we thought was nonsense actually makes perfect sense.

No doubt Blatty did all this to disorient us, the audience. I can only speculate, but I suspect he sought to achieve a state of disorientation in the audience because it is, in a way, the best possible state to be in when asking the most fundamental questions: since we are not certain of anything, we cannot attach ourselves with certainty to any side of the debate.

And not taking sides is nowhere more important than when we try to really get to the bottom of things.

If my speculation is correct, then the set-up is nothing short of a stroke of genius. It makes how the aforementioned plot-reveal was handled all the more disappointing.

My problem is that an impossibly far-fetched set of events is presented to us straight. If, instead, it had taken the movie, say, in a surreal direction, then it would not have cheapened the film's attempts to provide an answer to the main question. As presented, it makes the final sacrifice, and especially the very last scene, seem like plot devices which betray that the author has, after all, taken sides.

Despite this criticism, CONFIGURATION is an impressive debut.

Films with similar elements:

1. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST (1975)

2. AMARCORD (1975)

3. KING OF HEARTS (1966)

Well, well, well. At last a rating I can fully agree with. Yes, the Shawshank Redemption was very good. But this is a hidden classic. If you're one of those people (like me) who loves to be taken completely by surprise by a movie, this is the one for you. The IMDB rating says it all: VERY few people know about this one, but those who do are nearly unanimous: this is outstanding storytelling. First time viewers, be warned: be patient. Let it happen. You won't know where it's going at first. Your patience will be rewarded, I assure you - it all comes together, culminating in a bar-room brawl that is an absolute textbook piece of tension-building. And then, you'll want to rewind it and watch it all over again, to pick out all the clues that slipped by you the first time through. Quentin Tarantino, eat your heart out: THIS is how it's supposed to be done.

I rented this film one night when I was tired of seeing the same things in the "New Releases" section, so I (shudder!) headed for the catalog titles, and picked this one out because--God, am I shallow--the cover looked interesting. Turning over to the back, I skimmed the summary, saw that it starred Mike Hammer and the guy who mooned us in the last season of "St. Elsewhere", so I thought that it may be just bad enough to be amusing. So I plunked down my three bucks and went home wondering if I wouldn't have just been better off watching reruns of "Married with Children" all night.

But I watched this movie. Then I rewound it and watched it again. Over the next three days, I watched and rewatched every frame of this masterpiece more times than I should publicly admit. I was moved beyond words, beyond being an audience. I became a disciple--even a proselyte--for this film. Stacy Keach completely astounded me, someone who knew him only as Mike Hammer. People, this man can ACT. I saw every demon his Colonel Kane carried with him. The rest of the cast, with a special metion for Scott Wilson's amazing performance as a tortured astronaut and for Ed Flanders, who kept his character's true motivation well hidden until it could stand to be covered no more, was perfect.

But this movie is, above all, about the writing and the direction. William Peter Blatty cared about his project, and the lucky few (sadly, VERY few) of us who shared in it were fortunate enough to see cinematic perfection virtually attained. Watch this film, let it develop, don't question where its motives are until it decides to let you in on them. Give it your full attention, and you will be rewarded with a treat we so tragically, rarely get to have. No special effects, no huge budget. Just artistry. Pure, refined artistry.

The Ninth Configuration (1980) was William Peter Blatty's directorial debut. He adapts his own novel for the big screen in this bizarre film about an astronaut (Scott Wilson) who's reached his breaking point and a military doctor (Stacy Keach) who's trying to reach out to him. The cast has a who's who of Hollywood cast-offs (William Peter Blatty has a cameo himself as one of the patients).

This is a strange film that'll cause you to think (if you don't enjoy these type of films then I suggest you look elsewhere). An interesting movie about things that aren't as they seem, soul searching and seeking redemption through honor and self sacrifice. I liked the way these people have to look into themselves and see who or what they really are. I wished that William Peter Blatty made more movies and Hollywood should have gave Stacy Keach more film roles like these. He was quite impressive.

I have to to highly recommend this movie. But if you're expecting some mainstream popcorn nonsense then look elsewhere.

William Peter Blatty will be better known to most as the writer of 'The Exorcist', and here he makes his sterling directorial debut with what is (once the abomination of 'The Exorcist 2' is exorcised) the spiritual sequel to that consummate horror. Having said that, lest the reader get the impression that you're in for more supernatural shenanigans (and pea soup) it should be said that this movie is a million miles away from the horror genre. What's more, 'The Ninth Configuration' is virtually unclassifiable as far as traditional genre categories go and will leave you reeling from the barrage of bizarre images, comedic one-liners, theological debates, and a bar room brawl to end them all!

William Peter Blatty wrote 'The Exorcist' as the first part of a trilogy of novels, the other installments being 'Twinkle twinkle killer Kane' and 'Legion'. 'Twinkle twinkle killer Kane' was adapted to the screen by Blatty as 'The Ninth Configuration' and where 'The Exorcist' explored the argument for the existence of God through the palpable presence of evil, 'The Ninth Configuration' continues the argument through exploring the presence of good in a universe purported by science to be empty, blindly deterministic, and amoral.

At the start of the film we are introduced to a motley band of members of the military who, in the course of the Vietnam War, have all suffered various kinds of mental breakdown and for their treatment have been sent to a reconstructed European castle in some remote American mountains (the film was actually shot in Hungary). Chief among these is the astronaut Capt. Billy Cutshaw (Scott Wilson) whose illness is seen as somehow key in that it is clearly not feigned due to cowardice as he was never scheduled for combat. This introduction sets the tone for the first part of the film and the portrayal of mental illness is somewhat zany and comedic and continues as we are introduced to the other main character, the psychiatrist Colonel Kane (Stacy Keach). Col. Kane, with the support of fellow psychiatrist Col. Fell (Ed Flanders), then institutes an unorthodox treatment which indulges the fantasies of the inmates in an attempt to invoke a catharsis…which is when all (comedic) hell breaks loose and it is against this anarchic backdrop that Cutshaw argues with Kane for the absurdity of believing in God in a world in which undue suffering proliferates.

The light-hearted whacky tone gives way in the second half as Kane and Cutshaw's arguments become more penetrating (although not completely, as Cutshaw's choice of wardrobe to a Christian Mass will testify!) and the climax of the film is a double-whammy of a plot reveal that casts the performance of Ed Flanders as Col. Fell in a pathos infused light (which can only be fully appreciated with repeat viewings), as well as a bar room fight that will have you stuck to your screen as the tension builds and builds to an explosive finale.

Unfortunately, owing to the fact that a theological tragi-comedy is not the stuff the popcorn and soda crowd really go for, 'The Ninth Configuration' has fallen into the "cult" film category, which is a shame as another film with as fine a plot carried off by as fine a cast (not to mention a wealth of quotable one-liners) you are unlikely to see. However, while the film clearly deserves wider recognition (especially given it's conceptual relationship to 'The Exorcist'), those that seek it out, or fortuitously stumble upon it , are in for a real treat!