District 9 (2009)

Director: Neill Blomkamp

Story: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchel

Cast: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James 

Music: Clinton Shorter

Time: 112 minutes

Bottom-line: Clever use of aliens to show the dark side of human nature

 Hollywood has shown us, over the years, in films such as Independence Day, E.T and several other films, that aliens favour USA whenever they want to land on the earth. In District 9, Neill Blomkamp chooses District 9 in Johannesburg as the landing site of aliens. In his debut film, Neill uses mock-documentary and surveillance styles of photography to show a thriller film, which also a hidden meaning behind it.  

An alien mother ship hovers over Johannesburg, but nothing is coming out of it. The ship just hangs in the air, and the government finally decides to physically enter the ship. Inside, they find malnourished and sick aliens. The government, after the consent of several people, decides to temporarily keep the aliens in District 9. Government bureaucrat Wikus van de Merwe (Copley) is made in charge of shifting the aliens from District 9 to a farther and safer location, District 10, as the people demand so. However, he comes in contact with an alien fluid, which slowly starts converting him into an alien. The authorities decide to use him for biotechnological research, and he flees, making him a fugitive. As Wikus continues to slowly transform into an alien, he knows there is only limited time before he find a way to cure himself, and to escape from the authorities led by Koobus Venter (James). What he does forms the rest of the film. 

Sharlto Copley as Wikus

The film was inspired by the infamous District 6 in Cape Town, where blacks were forcibly asked to relocate. The term used to denote the aliens in the film is ‘prawn’, which is used in nearly every conversation regarding the aliens. As someone rightly said, if you substitute the word prawn with black, Jew, or any other derogatory term, the film slowly begins to open up to the darker side of human nature. Another thing the film shows is the greediness of humans. From the time Wikus is taken to the hospital till the last scene, the government never thinks of protecting him. They only chase him all around town, and they even tap his emotional calls to his wife, just so that they can use him to get millions of dollars worth of research. 

David James as Koobus

There is no story in the film. From the outward appearance i.e. from your first watch, you feel that this is a boring and dumb film, and the aliens don’t play any role at all. They don’t attack anyone; they are not really friendly like E.T either, so what is the point of using the extra-terrestrial beings?? Like I said in the bottom-line, this film shows aliens in quite a different way: they are used to represent all the backward and oppressed people of the society. 

For such a low budget (seriously, in 2009, $30 million is low budget, especially when you have another 2009 film Avatar made on a budget of around $250 million), the special effects are pretty awesome. At the same time, the aliens looked gross and disgusting, especially in the close-ups. Yes, I know Ridley Scott showed even more gruesome stuff in Alien and James Cameron showed equally gruesome stuff in Aliens, but well, I just felt sick when looking at the aliens. As I said, the aliens don’t attack the people or anything and in fact, two aliens are reasonably friendly (they are the main alien characters), and the smaller one looks kind of like E.T. 

One such alien

I liked the acting of Copley and David James. Copley’s supposedly-friendly attitude towards the aliens (he even asks them to sign a form, agreeing to their relocation!), his expression when he realizes that he is turning into an alien, and his sad and loving expressions and voice modulation when he talks to his wife are all superb. David James plays Koobus, a character who is bent on capturing Wikus, and who is willing to kill anyone for money (as he says in a dialogue, when he is about to kill an alien, “I can’t believe I’m being paid to do this!”). 

The photography is another I particularly liked. To make the film authentic, Neill has also shot some locations in District 6. But what makes the film unique, is that many scenes are shown as though they are shot from a surveillance camera. Several scenes are also shown where the characters talk directly into the camera. These elements make District 9 more of a documentary type of film. Of course, the scenes that are shown from a surveillance camera are not always clear, but that adds to the effect. I felt that the graphic violence was too much in the film. The film was going well, and then here and there, just like Blood Diamond, people suddenly take out their guns and start firing away at everything. With the aliens giving the viewers enough chills with their gross looks, the violence could have reduced, even if it made the film more authentic. 

To sum up, Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 is strong in terms of technical aspects, and also has some excellent acting by Copley and James. The story may be simple and boring, but it takes more than one watch, and some googling to understand the hidden meaning. One you do find out what the film actually reflects, you will like the film. 

My Rating: 3/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 90%