The Ninth Configuration (1980)

At the beginning of the film, we’re dropped into the calm before the storm. Folk music lingers over the image of Billy Cutshaw (Scott Wilson) contemplating by the window of the strangely out of place Biltmore castle that’s being used by the U.S. government to study the phenomena of mental illness among soldiers during the climax of the Vietnam War. Interesting thing is that Cutshaw is not a veteran suffering from combat fatigue, but he’s a former astronaut that suffered a bout of psychosis just before he was set to launch off for the moon. The first mystery is why this national hero suddenly became so frightened.

The second mystery revolves around incoming psychiatrist Col. Kane (Stacy Keach). How can he help the patients, particularly Cutshaw, recover their sanity? Will the type of therapy used bring on further madness? And what secrets does he hold? Perhaps, it’s a situation of “physician heal thyself.” This all reaches a crescendo of action with local bikers, and despite the meandering narrative, it comments on the nature of evil and how faith can respond to it.

This film was William Peter Blatty’s first directorial effort and based on his same-titled novel, and the disjointed but fascinating narrative shows it. All the characters are able to spout the memorable but often nonlinear dialogue with the honest earnestness of the best character actors. We often get snippets at a time of scenes you would have to see to believe: Robert Loggia in blackface performing an Al Jolson routine; Jason Miller and Joe Spinell trying to perform Shakespeare with Dogs; Moses Gunn as black Superman. The absurdity is at its peak as the patients pretend to be Allied prisoners trying to escape a German POW camp, with the doctors, guards, and staff dressed as S.S. officers, all under U.S. Army sanction for the purpose of therapy. One can either take in the antics with bemusement like Col. Fell (Ed Flanders), or one can exhibit dismay at being drawn into the madness like Maj. Groper (Neville Brand). I believe Blatty wants you to feel both.

Faith and doubt come into conflict as Cutshaw the unbeliever confronts Kane repeatedly over the nature of evil in the world, and how that relates to madness. While the common view is that madness leads to evil, it’s likely that madness is a response to seeing suffering. But what if a person is pretending to be mad? It could be that they’re protecting themselves from falling into actual insanity. The conflict between them later moves into dialogue, and by the end, they become more interdependent than would’ve been expected at their first meeting.

This relates to the title of the film: The Ninth Configuration. Kane believes that despite the evil in the world, the statistical possibility of life coming into being by chance is infinitesimal in comparison with the reality of God. The problem is that Cutshaw denies there’s self-sacrificing love in the world; thus, how could there be God, if God is love? The climax, satisfying but painful, ends up providing some answer to his question. It also brings out an aspect of Kane that he’s been trying to deny since he arrived at the facility. This leads to a tragedy that ultimately has an effect on Cutshaw.

It’s interesting that this film is often listed in the horror genre. Perhaps, this is due to Blatty’s reputation with his more recognized work. There is some surprising imagery during the bar fight, but not enough to classify it as horror; in fact, after such a dialogue-heavy narrative, the viewer will probably be shaken up by the action, though there is a confrontation between Kane and Groper that shows a bit of the hidden Kane (Look at the intensity of Kane). But if you just count the bar scene, one could say also say it’s an action film, but it’s not. This is a drama, but tinged with aspects of action, horror, and comedy, particularly farce. Likely due to its hodgepodge nature, one drops it into the horror category, as this genre is often associate with cult film, which is what it is ultimately. Neither the narrative nor the message is straightforward enough to draw a big audience. Most people might say it’s pretentious both in its manner and message. There’s some truth to this, but that does not mean that it’s not an enjoyable film. Whether you will feel a pull to Blatty’s philosophizing or not, you’ll feel some connection to both the bonkers and subdued performances. Be glad that both the characters and the script have something to say that may stick with you when a lot of movies today don’t really have anything that will last once the credits start rolling.