‘The Ninth Configuration’: The movie Guillermo del Toro called one of the most important of his life
Throughout his career as a director, Guillermo del Toro has never been one to shy away from creative risks and bold choices. Known for his unique gems that blend magical realism with staunch anti-fascist critiques and sociopolitical commentaries, del Toro has emerged as one of the most original cinematic voices of his generation.
Building on the kind of work he delivered in Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, del Toro’s latest animated adaptation of Pinocchio received widespread acclaim and picked up multiple accolades during its award season run. The Mexican auteur, who is a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki, has always maintained that animation affords him the highest degree of creativity, and his version of Pinocchio is definite proof of that claim.
Although del Toro has praised the works of filmmakers like Federico Fellini and Werner Herzog on multiple occasions, there’s one particular movie that remains embedded in his mind as a definitive cinematic experience. It’s none other than The Ninth Configuration, William Peter Blatty’s 1980 psychological drama, which is considered to be the second part of his “Trilogy of Faith”.
During a conversation with the BFI, del Toro opened up about why the film means so much to him, expanding upon the movie’s religious and spiritual symbolism, which influenced him when he was working on some of his own projects like Cronos.
Del Toro began: “One of the most important movies in my life, emotionally, is William Peter Blatty’s Twinkle, Twinkle ‘Killer’ Kane [aka The Ninth Configuration]. It’s a movie about redemption through sacrifice and the giving of your blood to save others that speaks to the soul of somebody who believes in a messiah. It deals with the fragility of faith, which is essential to Blatty’s work – how faith is almost intangible and yet incredibly strong.”
He added: “I think it affected me because, although I am no longer a Catholic, I share the belief that there is a state of grace that can be reached not through moral purity but through almost ethical purity – by being yourself and being immune to the world. It’s a little ascetic, but it’s essentially the thesis of Cronos. In that film, the girl who does not mind dying is the truly immortal character.”
The Ninth Configuration is a strange source of inspiration, especially considering how the tone of the movie shifts from comical to something much more sinister as the narrative unfolds. It revolves around an officer’s attempts to provide treatment to unstable soldiers during the final stages of the Vietnam War, a daunting task that makes him question his own sanity. This served as Blatty’s directorial debut, which makes the approach to the movie all the more interesting.
