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An entertaining mixture of allegory, satire and science
fiction thriller "District 9" uses a combination of the
documentary style filmmaking that has become popular over
the years (hand held jittery camera moves) as well as static
shots of talking heads that you would see in a real documentary
along with other cinematic techniques to tell a gritty first
contact tale and how our main character manages to rediscover
his humanity after interacting with an alien species. The
last third delivers on the promise of action but I thought
it could have been a bit more imaginative at the end in
implementing that section. This is an extremely good movie
that manages to pack a variety of elements into its story.
***
Was there considerable hype associated with the movie?
Yep. Ignore the hype and judge the movie on its own (if
you can) and you'll find an exceptional movie that takes
the science fiction theme of first contact adding a very
human reaction to it--instead of wonder we get prejudice,
anger, persecution and a tale of an unwilling participant
who starts off as racist as the other people in the story
but gradually changes as he becomes assimiliated to the
aliens culture discovering they are nothing more or less
than a mirror image of humanity itself as brutal, nasty
and "alien" as they are kind, considerate and "human" with
the same desire that we have for belonging. ***
Government employee Wilkus Van De Merwe (newcomer Sharlto
Copley)is put in charge of evicting and resettling an alien
race of creatures that have become stranded on Earth. Forced
to live in slums not unlike those that existed during apartheid,
the creatures referred to as Prawns (because they resemble
shrimp)brought oodles of alien technology with them but
humans are unable to use them because the technology only
responds to their DNA.The organization he's working for
the MNU clearly have their own agenda beyond keeping the
aliens and humanity segregated. Merwe's mission goes horribly
wrong which puts him on the run and he finds the only sympathy
among the aliens that he and other humans find disgusting.
Throw in Nigerian arms dealers, a shadowy government agency
that is doing things that even Merwe wasn't aware of and
you have a strong thriller that has a message that doesn't
become too heavy handed. ***
Neill Blomkamp's first feature film packs quite a lot
into its 111 minutes; the film is at turns satrical, ironic
and while allegorical the director doesn't let the themes
of prejudice overwhelm the often moving story at its core.
The visual effects done by producer Peter Jackson's WETA
studios look marvelous and are well integrated into the
story running rings around what many other visual effects
houses might have done. As with all science fiction films
"District 9" focuses its social commentary on our world
today. Substitute the "Prawns" with any number of refugees
or cultures misunderstood by others, add in a healthy dose
of prejudice and imperialism and you could have a comment
on refugees that swarmed into other countries to avoid Nazi
little more than pay lip service by codemning him but not
taking action) or even the United States with its influx
of people persecution during World War II; the Kurds that
were brutally murdered by Muammar al-Gaddafi (while the
rest of the world didfrom other nations who faced xenophobic
violence and fear and you have a film that reflects on our
lack of humanity. The strength of Blomkamp's film derives
from the perforances and the fact that he's put his social
commentary within the context of an entertaining story--it
allows enlightenment without an iron fist slapping us with
its message. Nevertheless, that message stands front and
center in the film as Van De Merme moves from staunch believer
in the government policies to denial and then convert as
his eyes are opened to the persecution these aliens face
because they are "different". He recognizes that they became
little more than animals because humanity caged them and
created a form of social Darwinism robbing them of their
dignity reducing them to their base instincts to survive.
***
Blomkamp's film does borrow a number of motifs from
other films including "The Fly, "The Day the Earth Stood
Still" (Robert Wise's original film), Robert Towne's pivotal
episode of "The Outer Limits" "Changling" and even "Aliens"
but he integrates them so well into his story that they
aren't distracting. He also tackles a number of themes that
have been examined in other science fiction films in the
past including "Alien Nation" but grounds the story in reality
which gives it a stronger and more believable impact. While
"District 9" isn't completely original borrowing as it does
from other science fiction films and dramas it does manage
to make the parts much greater than the whole. ---
Image & Sound:
Blomkamp keeps his drama rooted in gritty reality by
using a variety of film techniques but ultimately what makes
the film blossom is the strong performance by Sharlto Copley
as a government worker used to looking down on the "prawns"
and cheerfully doing whatever he is asked to do. The Blu-ray
release looks extremely goo although be aware that it IS
very grainy and was meant to look that way. The jittery
camerar work that adds the sense of "reality" may be less
nausea inducing for those with motion sickness. The approach
though works for the film where it establishes a documentary
sense of reality at the very beginning. ***
Audio sounds terrific throughout the presentation whether
it be the opening "documentary" sequence where the audio
recording just adds to the "reality" of the film or later
during the explosive action sequences that dominate the
last quarter of the film the audio mix does a stand out
job of presenting the sound with remarkable clarity. ---
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