[FILM] District 9

[tamaranth]

District 9

Not what I was expecting (I haven't sought out reviews) and very good, though revoltingly visceral in places.

"If they'd been from another country we might have understood."


This is an alternate present -- before I noticed the time-stamps on some of the video sections, I'd noted that it didn't feel futuristic. It's set in 2010, but not our 2010. (And there's no real sense of the state of the wider world.)

This is a film about race, about difference, about treating those who are different as inferior. (Suspect a lot of the MNU's methods with aliens are modelled on apartheid policies: it's no accident this is set in South Africa.) Also: giving the aliens good European names (e.g. Christopher Johnson) -- just as Black slaves were given good Christian names: another form of repression / oppression. Nicknaming the aliens 'prawns' -- yet another belittlement. You are not like us. You are insects, bottom-feeders, lesser.

Subtitling! Black speakers get subtitled even when they're speaking better and clearer English than whites (who are never(?) subtitled). Aliens get subtitles because they're speaking in an alien language: Nigerians don't get subtitles when they're talking non-English amongst themselves. (does this make the Nigerians more alien than the aliens?)

Liked the mix of video / news report / documentary formats: it slips from that collage of impressions and viewpoints to a more traditional film format at the point where we see inside an alien's home, with no humans present.

They certainly had the BBC's tone down perfectly in the 'UK1' news clips!

CGI impressive; BFGs! Some of the actual violence funny rather than disturbing, some of the non-violent scenes made me look away. (OMG TEETH.)

Wikus is an improbable hero: not heroic, not even likeable for much of the film, but slowly won me over. (Impressive acting from Sharlto Copley, who apparently never wanted to be an actor but it happened by accident.)

As far as I recall, there were two (2) female speaking roles in the main plot (as opposed to sociologists etc in documentaries, or extras in the party scene or the medical scenes.) On the other hand, Christopher Johnson's gender is by no means clear. (Ditto the rest of the aliens.)

Recommended, though not for children or those wanting some mindless entertainment. (But SF-heavy trailer selection included 2012, which has OTT CGI and a mockable 'plot' ...)

Edit to add links:
negative review, with thoughtful discussion of the Nigerians
interview with director Neill Blomkamp the aliens were all Canadian

Comments

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure I'd class Wilkus as a hero. Sure, he sacrifices himself at the close, but his previous actions have been fueled by self-interest (both before and after contamination) and he's pretty much lost the battle to remain human by the time he clambers into the exo-armour.

[jhaelan.livejournal.com]

Definitely an interesting film... I'm unsure any of the characters were likeable, but I recognised some of them

[mymatedave.livejournal.com]

As I've seen written elsewhere, and I agree entirely on this point, the only real hero in the film is the alien known as Christopher Johnson.

[gummitch.livejournal.com]

...which has OTT CGI and a mockable 'plot'

And John Cusack!