Review of The Ninth Configuration (1980) by Matt B — 22 Jan 2010
Bloated, boring, and heavy-handed. The film is based on very dated 1970s pop-psychology and pseudo-Catholic banter.
My main gripe with the film is the ending. (Spoiler alert).
Colonel Kane's suicide at the end in no way prove's god's existence, or even the existence of good in mankind. It just proves what we know: that Kane was crazy (and homicidal) the whole time.
Kane's obvious parallel is Jesus Christ. Are we to infer that Christ himself was insane? Or that his sacrifice wasn't really a sacrifice at all? Because how can the insane make a true, willful choice to sacrifice?
Blatty seems to understand that his ending precludes the supernatural element of religion, so he throws in the oh-so-hokey sequence at the end where Cutshaw finds the medallion--placed by the ghost of Kane--in his car. It's a scene that feels deeply forced, as if its author is unsure of the power of his climax.
A shoddy, theologically and metaphorically confused piece indeed.
This review of The Ninth Configuration (1980) was written by Matt B on 22 Jan 2010.
The Ninth Configuration has generally received mixed reviews.
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