District 9
Science fiction is said to be a vista into the unknown and an interpretation for the familiar. Sci-fi movies are supposed to tell a frightening tale made up of pointy creatures, who stand as an allegory for the experience of the real world. The Other becomes an object to be feared or admired, but an out-worldly Other nonetheless.
District 9, however, accidentally (on purpose) brings the aliens into the one-time racial breeding ground of the world, to illustrate how easily and gradually the category of the Other is created. Starting from signs saying no aliens allowed, to creation of concentration camps, South Africa’s district 9 becomes a place fraught with racial tensions. But the problem is who is the Other here?
The story begins in present day (Director Neill Blomkamp said in an interview) when 20 years have passed since the aliens, now offensively referred to as prawns, arrived in Jo’berg. A company called Multinational United is given the task to shift these elements into another area, district 10, which is outside of the city. Wilkus van der Merwe, a bumbling awkward officer, is appointed to lead this operation, which soon turns him into a biological weapon and a target for MNU and Nigerian gangs. (Telling more, would be blasphemous!)
District 9 is a treat for viewers: Shot as a documentary (or mockumentary), with inputs from news reports and hand-held shots, District 9 is a voyeuristic look at race-relations. The effects are impressive and the acting, both terrestrial and extra-terrestrial, is striking.
Rating: 4/5
Strength: Good effects that seem part of the milieu, decent storyline, dumb protagonist who represents one-of-us. The music score is pretty impressive.
Weakness: Ending could have been tightened. I prefer a dystopic one, with lots of vacant faces who don’t even know what hit them.
Could have: been set in India? Why don’t messed-up aliens come to India?
