District 9 (2009): Dir. Neill Blomkamp. Written by Neil Blomkamp, Terry Tatchell. Starring Sharlo Copley. Rated R (bloody violence and pervasive language). Running time: 112 minutes.
3 ½ stars (out of four)
While Cloverfield hardly invented the hand-held, pseudo-documentary style, it popularized the technique as a way of creating a sense of realism in science-fiction films, opening the door for movies like District 9. But where Cloverfield was good, queasy fun, District 9 uses the style to tell a complex narrative that begins as an allegory and turns into a thrilling fugitive-on-the-run movie. Neill Blomkamp’s directorial debut is smart, thought-provoking, and just plain awesome.
A brief summary of District 9’s alternate history is necessary. In the late 1980’s, a massive spaceship enters Earth’s atmosphere, coming to a halt hovering above the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. The South African government finds hundreds of sick aliens inside the ship and offers them food, shelter and medical attention. After an unsuccessful integration into society, Johannesburg becomes segregated into humans and non-humans, leading to the development of District 9, a supposed home for the aliens. District 9 soon becomes something of a ghetto, complete with a black market for illegal weapons run by militant African drug dealers who seek to exploit the aliens.
If all this seems like a lot to take in, don’t worry. The film covers its backstory in an ingenious fake documentary opening. This sequence also informs us of the tension escalating between humans and aliens, until an independent contractor, Multinational United, steps in to evict the aliens from District 9. These scenes are fascinating in the way the material is treated with an un-ironic seriousness, complete with input from sociologists and clips of old news footage. Blomkamp’s confidence in the mythology of District 9 gives the film’s opening a sense of self-assuredness that makes it easy to buy into his fictionalized Johannesburg.
This alternate city however, is an allegory for the political and racial climate of Johannesburg during apartheid, with District 9 standing in for the real-life District Six where black residents were evicted from their homes by order of the South African government. Blomkamp and his lead, South African native Sharlto Copley, balance these scenes with an appropriate sense of absurdity while also revealing the injustices of recent history.
The real triumph of District 9 however, is that it does not limit itself to its allegorical inspiration, but rather uses this as a springboard for its own sci-fi action story. Blomkamp colors the film with great details such as the aliens’ affinity for canned cat food, or the use of the derogatory term “prawn” by most humans towards the aliens. The plot also takes several unexpected turns, some late in the film, becoming both exhilarating and horrifying. This is thought provoking social commentary in the tradition of The Twilight Zone while also providing all the chase sequences and exploding heads a late-summer action flick should have.
The film also features some of the most impressive visual effects of the year, boasting a seamless integration between CGI and live-action, never calling attention to the computer animation. This is no surprise considering producer Peter Jackson leant his special effects studio, Weta Digital, responsible for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, to complete effects shots along with other smaller studios. Throughout District 9, the focus is always on the characters and the interaction between humans and aliens; the effects never take the spotlight off the story.
At first, it seems the ending of District 9 is in need of an epilogue, but the open-endedness of the conclusion actually works very well. The ending returns to the documentary format, where a sociologist explains how the mysteries surrounding District 9 have been discussed and dissected to no avail by conspiracy theorists. Like all good conspiracy theories, the fun of District 9 is in the unknown, and reexamining and revisiting in an effort to find something new. And I’ll be more than happy to revisit District 9 very soon.
- Steve Avigliano, 8/22/09
Like many of the great Twilight Zone shows, this works both as a social commentary, and as a science fiction movie. If it didn't work on the science fiction level, it would be mere preachy sermon. One final note that you correctly pointed out was the effects were seamless.
ReplyDeleteThis film helps shine a light on a dark historic period in South Africa, while being quite entertaining.
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