This blog entry is part of my “movie year countdown”. To read more about that check out my first Spout filmblog entry.
The Ninth Configuration
I have maybe more respect for The Ninth Configuration in theory or in some of the things Blatty has indicated about the movie than maybe for the actual final film itself.
I have found him to be an interesting figure from what I've heard about his life, the works he has produced, and the things he has expressed about his faith and spirituality. The fact that he seems to have a very Christian perspective but that his films are full of strangeness and violence is not necessarily a contradiction at all, but apparently it seems to be from a certain more mainstream perspective.
The characters in this movie are going insane, or they are pretending to be insane. Either way you can feel Blatty trying to write "insane" things but then fit them in with some kind of themes and feelings underneath. I think it could have worked a lot better. The acting and directing in some scenes seemed ambitious to some extent but could have been more effective I think.
I will say that the bar fight is one of the most thrilling I've ever seen on film, maybe second only to Tokyo Drifter. And all the scenes involving the moon are visually striking.
There's something kind of corny to it with the music at the beginning too, but overall I appreciate the message even if I didn't quite understand some of the logistics of the plot until listening to the commentary.
I guess it was originally supposed to be a sequel of sorts to The Exorcist, not just thematically, but the astronaut Regan tells is going to die out in space was supposed to be Captain Cutshaw.
Rating: 8/10