District 9 is the best film of the Summer…I used to think it was Star Trek, but it has been beaten in every way by a superior science fiction film that cost far less to make and has a longer lasting emotional impact. It might be premature to make that statement though…we’ll have to see if Inglorious Basterds is as great as everyone that has seen it has said it is. Back to District 9: What made the film so special is that going into it, most people only knew that there were going to be aliens and some explosions. The fact that a story was to be had in this film wasn’t really known at all due to an amazing viral marketing campaign by the film studio. The movie is based on District Six. An inner-city residential area in Cape Town, South Africa that was declared “whites only” in 1966. The population of the area: 60,000 was forced to move 25 kilometers to Cape Flats during the Apartheid movement.
The initial trailer had an alien interrogation in which the alien’s language was completely undistinguishable, his face was blurred and we weren’t provided with subtitles. It was soon replaced by a visible alien with captions so we understood his language, people talking about them and a ship. Complaints about the way that the alien and the ship looked were widespread and the film seemed doomed from the get-go.
The interrogation was pretty foretelling of the beginning of the film. It starts as a documentary (without shaky camera work) about the alien arrival over Johannesburg, South Africa twenty years ago and how it sparked racism and a form of apartheid. Residential slums are built for the aliens, now called “Prawns”, a derogatory term by the locals. Suddenly, it shifts to present time, humans and prawns trade. Things like weapons, prostitution and even alcohol and computers are popular trade items. Twenty years later, the movie itself picks up. A group called MNU (Multi-National United) has been given the assignment of evicting the prawns to a new slum with smaller housing units, far away from the people. The people chosen to transport them, military figures and scientists are watched closely by rights groups that think they will mistreat the prawns. They are right. Something ends up going terribly wrong and we are given what I think is the best film of the Summer and maybe the year so far
Unfortunately, that is all I’ll say about the movie. I want you to see it and form your own opinion. As you’ve read, I loved it. I think it is the best film featuring alien life forms since Aliens. The aliens and effects look a lot better than they did in the initial trailer. It isn’t a straight-forward sci-fi/action film, but wait until you see what the alien weapons and mech can do. This movie has a lot of deeper meaning and is a great satire.
As an added bonus, I’ve found the film that District 9 was based on. It was directed by the director of District 9, Neil Blomkamp and is called Alive in Joburg.
Last edited: Aug 18, 2009 @ 02:39 PM, 212 days ago
