The Ninth Configuration (1979) – one selfless act:

The Ninth Configuration

The Ninth Configuration (1979) – one selfless act.

Review by Jack Kost.

Every kind thought is the hope of the world.

– Ed Flanders, as Colonel Fell.

Many times, over the years, people have asked me the same question about The Ninth Configuration:

“What’s it like?”

My response is always the same: incomparable.

There’s no other movie to compare it to.

It’s set in an asylum, but it’s nothing like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

It’s the author’s official sequel to The Exorcist, exploring the themes of faith, suffering, good and evil, but it’s not a horror movie.

The Ninth Configuration was directed, written, and produced by William Peter Blatty.

He based the script on his own novel: Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane, originally published in 1966.

This story is the second in Blatty’s “trilogy of faith”, an indirect sequel to The Exorcist, with the novel Legion as the third part.

The astronaut from the house party scene in The Exorcist, ominously warned by the possessed girl: “You’ll die up there!”, is Cutshaw in The Ninth Configuration.

The Ninth Configuration opens on a melancholic tone, as Captain Billy Cutshaw (Scott Wilson) sits by a gothic castle window, watches a torrential rainstorm outside, and listens to a song on a cassette player.

The song San Antone, performed by Denny Brooks, written by Barry De Vorzon, plays on the soundtrack as we move from Cutshaw in his room, to the castle grounds, surrounding area, and armed sentries braving the weather in hooded ponchos at the castle gate.

The song ends, Cutshaw stops the cassette, and sadly lowers his head.

The opening titles play over a striking nightmare sequence: a countdown to a moonshot is abruptly aborted as the moon looms up behind the rocket and launch pad.

Psychiatrist, Colonel Fell (Ed Flanders) informs us in voice-over narrative, that it’s sometime in the ‘70s, towards the end of the Vietnam war.

The castle is in a secluded, unspecified location, shrouded in mist, set somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.

The building is being used as a military asylum.

The castle shown in the movie is the Burg Eltz Castle.

It overlooks the Moselle River, between Koblenz and Trier, in Germany.

After the sad opening scene and the surprising dream credit sequence, there’s a genre switch again to comedy, as we’re introduced to the castle residents:

Lieutenant Frankie Reno (Jason Miller) is adapting Shakespeare’s plays, with dogs in the roles.

He has a problem with Hamlet.

Lieutenant Spinell (Joe Spinell) is Reno’s casting director.

Major Nammack (Moses Gunn) believes he’s Superman.

Captain Fairbanks (George DiCenzo) has multiple personalities.

One believes he can walk through walls.

He smashes a hole in one wall to punish the atoms after he takes a running bash and fails, miserably, to pass through.

Another of his personalities is a sword-carrying nun who exorcises a Cola vending machine.

Lieutenant Bennish (Robert Loggia) believes he has been abducted to the planet Venus, is enraged that his flying belt has been confiscated, and promises not to use it to escape.

Lieutenant Gomez (Alejandro Rey) is a painter, complaining there’s no color in the air.

Lieutenant Fromme (William Peter Blatty) believes he is the real psychiatrist and steals Colonel Fell’s jacket, pants, and stethoscope at every opportunity.

Major Groper (Neville Brand) attempts, in vain, to maintain discipline among the lunatics.

Sergeants Krebs (Tom Atkins) and Christian (Stephen Powers) patrol the castle and grounds, overseeing everything.

The humor works.

Before William Peter Blatty wrote his landmark 1971 horror novel: The Exorcist, he was a comedy screenwriter.

The patients, even though they say and do crazy shit, are all highly intelligent, some near-genius, and highly decorated for their combat service.

It seems unlikely that these men would be faking insanity to avoid combat, but suspicion still hangs over them.

Cutshaw is the odd man out: an astronaut who aborted his mission to fly to the moon, during the final countdown.

The question is why?

Cutshaw wasn’t in combat.

Why would he fake insanity?

To get to the core of the men’s problems, and to ascertain if their PTSD is real and they are on the level, a new psychiatrist arrives at the facility.

The comedy then shifts into drama.

Colonel Kane (Stacy Keach) is unconventional in his methods.

Temperate and stoic, no matter how much the inmates try to provoke him.

But there’s something else going on with Kane.

In his quiet moments, he suffers flashbacks.

Something’s there in his mind, deep in the rain-drenched jungle he envisions.

We see two of Kane’s dreams.

The first is a brief glimpse of three crosses in a cloudscape, bathed in light, possibly a vision of Heaven.

In the second dream, Cutshaw is walking on the surface of the moon, the lunar landing craft in the background.

Cutshaw places the American flag, then turns and raises his arms.

The camera draws back and we see Christ (played by Stacy Keach) on the cross.

As this scene plays out, we hear Kane, in voice-over, give an argument proving the existence of God:

 “In order for life to have appeared spontaneously on earth, there first had to be hundreds of millions of protein molecules of the ninth configuration. But given the size of the planet Earth, do you know how long it would take for just one of these protein molecules to appear entirely by chance? Roughly ten to the two hundred and forty-third power – billions of years. And I find that far, far more fantastic than simply believing in a God.”

This monologue was inspired by the studies of Dr. Pierre Lecomte du Noüy, a French biophysicist, philosopher, theologian, and author.

An agnostic who converted to Christianity.

In his book Human Destiny, published in 1947, he describes through his telefinalist hypothesis, and study of the chirality of amino acids in a protein, that life and evolution could not have happened simply by chance; God is the driving force for everything.

Science tells us how things work.

Only God and faith can provide the meaning behind the mystery of life.

A battle of wills ensues between Cutshaw the patient and Kane the psychiatrist.

After disrupting a church mass, Cutshaw asks Kane:

 “If you die first, in this life after death, will you give me a sign?”

Kane says yes.

Cutshaw dismisses it.

He meant the request as a mocking taunt, but Kane keeps his word.

They meet and debate the mystery of faith, reason for suffering, existence of God, nature of good and evil.

Kane argues that if evil exists in the world, so does goodness.

Proof of which is the existence of love, the selflessness of man, altruistic acts, that one person will sacrifice their own life in order to save another.

Cutshaw’s challenge to Kane is to give just one personal example of genuine altruistic self-sacrifice to back up his argument.

Tensions lead to a violent confrontation in a bar, involving Kane, Cutshaw, and a motorcycle gang led by Stanley (Steve Sandor) and Richard (Richard Lynch).

This movie is also notable as being the first to use the Howie Scream stock sound effect, in the moment when knife-wielding biker, Stanley, attacks Kane.

Like many movies, The Ninth Configuration, was poorly received on its release and widely criticized over the years.

I believe in credit where it’s due: Blatty helmed the entire project and achieved a memorable mind-trip, with a genre mix of comedy, drama, war story, tragedy and theological thriller.

You have to go into this movie with patience and an open mind.

Be sure to see the version labelled as the Definitive Cut; there have been several versions released over the years, differing in running time and with key scenes missing.

The Definitive Cut is the best version, with the inclusion of the prologue sequence, with the song San Antone playing, other scenes throughout, and a clearer ending.

I’ve always found watching The Ninth Configuration an entertaining and rewarding experience.

Stunning visuals.

Atmospheric setting.

Brilliant and, at times, hilariously written script.

All played out with an excellent ensemble cast that clearly had a blast making this movie.

I first saw it as a video store VHS rental in the early ‘80s.

I’ve seen it many times since then, and it is now part of my movie collection.

So many movies just follow a predictable format.

The Ninth Configuration dares to be a very different movie, in so many ways.

With understanding of the author and director’s vision, we can appreciate the achievement of everyone involved.

With so many layers to the story, a funny and quotable script, serious themes, effective plot twist, and an ending that is profound and genuinely moving, this is one of the most original and ambitious movies I’ve ever seen.

The Ninth Configuration was originally released in the United States on February 29, 1980.

A leap year.

Take a leap of faith and take the time to watch this surreal, thought-provoking, and underrated classic.

Introvert humor:

People: You look so unapproachable.

Me: And yet, here you are.

 

Let's go out today.

Me: Sounds good, I'll let you know.

Yeah I can't come out tonight.  Super busy.

Sorry, can't talk.  I talked to two people yesterday.

On this day in movie history - Sniper: The White Raven (2022)

Sniper: The White Raven

directed by Marian Bushan,

written by Marian Bushan and Mykola Voronin,

based on the true life and experiences of Mykola Voronin,

was released in Ukraine on August 24, 2022.

Music by Nadiia Odesuk / Nadya Odesyuk.

Review by Jack Kost:

Saturday, August 24, 2024.

My forthcoming nonfiction book on movies is going through its final revisions, with 437 pages complete.

I first saw Sniper: The White Raven back in April (2024), on The Movie Channel.

After watching it, I had to include and recommend it in my book.

Based on the true life and experiences of Mykola Voronin, an ecologist, teacher and writer.

He lived a simple life off the grid with his wife, Nastya, in Donbas, Ukraine.

In 2014, Russian soldiers invaded and murdered his wife.

Mykola, fueled by rage and the need for justice and vengeance for his wife, enlisted in the Ukrainian Army.

He trained, became a sniper, and fought back.

He switched from idealistic pacifist to warrior, assigning himself the codename Raven, in reference to the White Raven symbol his wife placed in stones outside their home.

Mykola vowed to defend Ukraine.

Russia senselessly invaded Ukraine again in 2022.

This movie and true story couldn’t be more topical or important.

Powerful.

Real.

Raw.

Tragic.

Heartbreaking.

We stand with Ukraine.

Victory to Ukraine.

Glory to Ukraine.

Slava Ukraini.

 

Cast:

Pavlo Aldoshyn, Maryna Koshkina, Andrey Mostrenko, Roman Semysal, Oleg Drach, Roman Yasinovskiy, Oleg Shulga, Vadim Lyalko, Vadim Kurilko, Vladyslav Dmytrenko, Eugen Volosheniuk, Oleksandr Bykov, Serhiy Artemenko, Egor Kozlov, Zachary Shadrin, Olena Chervonenko, Demyan Radzivilyuk, Alina Karpenko, Anatoly Tikhomirov, Yanina Andreeva, Evhen Chernykov, Igor Parkhomenko, Vitaliy Kovalskyy, Oleksiy Storozhuk, Vitaliy Belskyy, Aleksandr Dyumin, Oleksiy Nakonechnyi, Andriy Yakubov, Kyrylo Goz, Vitaly Kalyuzhny, Mike Parish, Adrian Petriw.

 

World Photography Day:

You're not trying to capture reality. You're trying to capture a photograph of reality.
– Stanley Kubrick.
 
Photography takes an instant out of time, altering life by holding it still.
– Dorothea Lange.
 
Whatever happens in front of the lens stays. What’s captured during the encounter is all that exists.
– Gregory Heisler.
 
I think photography is a universal language as far as storytelling goes, and I think that's what it's most successful at.
– Mary Mattingly.
 
It's amazing how photography can capture just a split second of something exquisite.
– Kiera Cass.

Recommended reading - The Best American Noir Of The Century (2011)

 

Best American Noir of the Century (2011).

Edited by James Ellroy and Otto Penzler.

Paperback.

 
ISBN-10: 0547577443
ISBN-13: 978-0547577449
 
Back cover description:
“Well worth its impressive weight in gold, it would be a crime not to have this seminal masterpiece in your collection.” – New York Journal of Books.

In his introduction to The Best American Noir of the Century, James Ellroy writes, “Noir is the most scrutinized offshoot of the hard-boiled school of fiction… It’s the nightmare of flawed souls with big dreams and the precise how and why of the all-time sure thing that goes bad.” Offering the best examples of literary sure things gone bad, this collection ensures that nowhere else can readers find a darker, more thorough distillation of American noir fiction.

James Ellroy and Otto Penzler mined the past century to find this treasure trove of thirty-nine stories, with selections from James M. Cain, Mickey Spillane, Elmore Leonard, Patricia Highsmith, Harlan Ellison, Jeffrey Deaver, Joyce Carol Oates, Dennis Lahane, and many more.

“Delightfully devilish . . . A strange trek through the years that includes stories from household names in the hard-boiled genre to lesser-known authors who nonetheless can hold their own with the legends.” – Associated Press.

James Ellroy is the author of the Underworld U.S.A. trilogy – American Tabloid, The Cold Six Thousand, and Blood’s a Rover – and the L.A. Quartet novels, The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz. His most recent book is The Hillicker Curse, a memoir.

Otto Penzler is the founder of the Mysterious Bookshop and Mysterious Press, has won two Edgar Allan Poe Awards (most recently for The Lineup), and is series editor of The Best American Mystery Stories.
 
Contents:
 
Foreword by Otto Penzler; Introduction by James Ellroy; Spurs, by Tod Robbins; Pastorale, by James M. Cain; You'll always remember me, by Steve Fisher; Gun crazy, by MacKinlay Kantor; Nothing to worry about, by Day Keene; The homecoming, by Dorothy B. Hughes; Man in the dark, by Howard Browne; The lady says die!, by Mickey Spillane; Professional man, by David Goodis; The hunger, by Charles Beaumont; The gesture, by Gil Brewer; The last spin, by Evan Hunter; Forever after, by Jim Thompson; For the rest of her life, by Cornell Woolrich; The dripping, by David Morrell; Slowly, slowly in the wind, by Patricia Highsmith; Iris, by Stephen Greenleaf; A ticket out, by Brendan DuBois; Since I don't have you, by James Ellroy; Texas city, by James Lee Burke; Mefisto in onyx, by Harlan Ellison; Out there in the darkness, by Ed Gorman; Hot spings, by James Crumley; The weekender, by Jeffery Deaver; Faithless, by Joyce Carol Oates; Poachers, by Tom Franklin; Like a bone in the throat, by Lawrence Block; Crack, by James W. Hall; Running out of dog, by Dennis Lehane; The paperhanger, by William Gay; Midnight emissions, by F.X. Toole; When the women come out to dance, by Elmore Leonard; Controlled burn, by Scott Wolven; All through the house, by Christopher Coake; What she offered, by Thomas H. Cook; Her lord and master, by Andrew Klavan; Stab, by Chris Adrian; The hoarder, by Bradford Morrow; Missing the morning bus, by Lorenzo Carcaterra.

Recommended reading - The Mammoth Book of Pulp Action (2001)

 

The Mammoth Book of Pulp Action (2001)

Edited by Maxim Jakubowski.

Mammoth Books.

 

ISBN-10: 0786709200

ISBN-13: 978-0786709205
 
Contents:

Kid clips a coupon, by Erle Stanley Gardner; Goodbye Hannah, by Steve Fisher; Sinners' paradise, by Raoul Whitfield; Motel, by Evan Hunter aka Ed McBain; Smile, corpse, smile!, by Bruno Fischer; Pulp connection, by Bill Pronzini; Brush Babe's poison pallet, by Bruce Cassiday; Gangsta wore red, by Michael Guinzburg; Caravan to Tarim, by David Goodis; Lady who left her coffin, by Hugh B. Cave; Death at the main, by Frank Gruber; Red goose, by Norbert Davis; First five in line, by Charles Willeford; Where there's a will, there's a slay, by Frederick C. Davis; Ride a white horse, by Lawrence Block; Best man, by Thomas Walsh; Dog life, by Mark Timlin; Don't look behind you, by Fredric Brown; College-cut kill, by John D. MacDonald; Lost coast, by Marcia Muller; Pit, by Joe R. Lansdale; Clean sweep, by Roger Torrey; Eye of the beholder, Ed Gorman.

 

Description:
 
Furious action, unbridled passion, seedy lowlife and beautiful women …
 

Crooked cops and ruthless bigshots, breathless chases, cheating molls and gun-toting villains – they’re all here in this great new volume of pulp fiction stories, featuring classic noir and hard-boiled crime authors from eight decades of crime writing.

 

In these enlightened times we know that, far from being a lower form of literature, pulp fiction is the term for what the best storytelling provides – hugely enjoyable pyrotechnic thrills and shocks galore.

 

This great new collection from popular literature’s best pulp writers includes such talents as: Charles Willeford, Ed Mcbain, Bill Pronzini, Ed Gorman, Lawrence Block, John D. MacDonald, Bruno Fischer, Mark Timlin, Joe R. Lansdale, Michael Guinzburg, Erle Stanley Gardner, Frederic Brown and many more.

Recommended reading - The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M. Cain (1934)

The Postman Always Rings Twice

by James M. Cain.

 

Description:

“A good, swift, violent story.” – Dashiell Hammett. 

An amoral young tramp. A beautiful, sullen woman with an inconvenient husband. A problem that has only one grisly solution — a solution that only creates other problems that no one can ever solve.

First published in 1934, The Postman Always Rings Twice is a classic of the roman noir. It established James M. Cain as a major novelist with an unsparing vision of America's bleak underside and was acknowledged by Albert Camus as the model for The Stranger.

“I make no conscious effort to be tough, or hard-boiled, or grim, or any of the things I am usually called. I merely try to write as the character would write, and I never forget that the average man … has acquired a vividness of speech that goes beyond anything I could invent.” – James M. Cain.