Number 2 at the UK Box Office (knocked down one by Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) and having grossed £6,380,720 in the Uk alone District 9 is the feature-length directorial debut of Neill Blomkamp adapted from his critically acclaimed short film “Alive in Joburg”. Despite a relatively unknown director and cast this film is far from not having big names associated to it as Peter Jackson takes the role of producer. When I came out of this film I couldn’t decide whether it was god or bad but I knew one thing; that is was powerful. The basic plotline is that an alien craft is stranded above Johannesburg with its inhabitants having no way to return home. This results in a ghetto being created for them to live in “District 9” where they live off waste and are treated like animals despite displaying obvious intelligence. Writing off District 9 as just sci-fi would be foolish as at the heart of the film is a human story. It’s a film about prejudice, politics and the human condition.
The film is shot in an interesting way. Before the films pivots (if you’ve seen it you know where I mean) it is shot like a documentary which gives the viewer an impartial takes on events and manages to fill in gaps in our knowledge with “guest speakers”. The film then changes to more of a drama and this is where character is explored in more depth and we are introduced to the darker side of this whole affair.
Some of the scenes that we are presented with are difficult watching but this is part of the films impact. It’s not just bloody violence which is difficult to watch but talk about controversial issues such as abortion and the violation of our human rights.
The film strives to make its characters seen real. Our protagonist isn’t perfect yet neither is he totally immoral but this aspect of the film makes Wikus generally unlikable. We sympathise with him and his plight but it can be difficult to connect with him and we are almost pleased when he becomes the very thing that he has bullied and ridiculed. The film has a deep sense of irony and can be likened to many power struggles throughout history when the aggressor becomes a victim of their own regime. I also feel that the final battle at the end is drawn out but granted I’ve never had much patience for extended action scenes. Also while on a low note some of the characters just seem overplayed and ridiculous (such as the Nigerian crime lord).
District 9 takes a strong political and social stand point. The aliens (a.k.a: Prawns) are going to be forced from their home of nearly three decades to a camp built specially for them which is described by Wikus as basically a “concentration camp”. When this sort of film comes out we can not help but consider the human condition. Are we orientated toward prejudice and fear of what we do not understand? Really this film is pretty deep and can be understood in many different ways by many different people. In Layman's terms this film is definitely worth seeing at the cinema and although I agreed with the message it was trying to put across I probably wouldn’t buy it on DVD.
Reading through this review again I really feel I should have rated District 9 higher but really I am quite stingy with my stars. Although I can enjoy action sci-fi they rarely get high scores for me but the deep political themes boosts District 9 up giving it a respectable 7.5/10
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Enjoy the trailer :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6PDlMggROA
Any views or comments? Feel free to email at wasd_blog@hotmail.co.uk
Faith Westlake
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