Forgotten Film Friday: The Ninth Configuration

A retrospective by Brooks Rich

Merry Christmas, everyone. No this has nothing to do with Christmas. I mean it has Christian overtones and has to do with the struggles of faith but there's nothing holly or jolly in this film. This is a weird one and I will keep this short as I could have written a full in depth essay on this one back in film school. I would have had I know about it. This is one of those films I'll bring up that's not for everyone. It's a surreal film written and directed by William Peter Blatty, who wrote The Exorcist.

Sometime during the end of the Vietnam War a castle in the Pacific Northwest, sure yeah, is being used an insane asylum for military veterans. Inmates include a man putting on an all dog adaptation of Shakespeare and an astronaut who snapped on the eve of a mission. A new commanding officer is taking over, Colonel Kane, played by a brilliant and subdued Stacy Keach, but he may be crazier than the inmates.

There's a lot more to this. A lot more. But I think this film would work best the less someone knows about it going in. You kind of have to let it work it's magic on you. Some of you might be fucking furious at me for recommending this piece of shit. You'll think, Jesus, Brooks, the hell was that? But I think some of you will be moved by it. It's a film of two halves, the first half being more of a farce with the second half being a darker and more serious look at madness, human suffering, and faith. I know someone will be glad I introduced them to this. I know it.

There's a reason this has been forgotten. I know most of you have ever heard of it. It's a weird movie. It's maybe not even a fun watch. But man did I dig the hell out of it. It's a fairly recent discovery for me to. I almost didn't even put it under the Forgotten Film Friday category as it's even well known enough to be forgotten. But if this sounds like it might be up your alley, give it a watch. At the very least try it once.

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