An Alien District on Earth (District 9 (DVD))

Member Name: tanyatigerlily

Product:	District 9 (DVD)
Date:	12/09/09 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting story

Disadvantages: Violence and swearing

My husband and I decided to go and watch District 9 yesterday. I was in two minds about the film as I do not have terribly high expectations when it comes to South African made films. I found the film very different to any other South African film I've seen before and actually ended up enjoying the experience.

District 9 is a refreshingly different sort of sci-fi fantasy film as it is not set in the usual places . . . instead of an alien space ship dangling over Washington, New York or London you find it hovering above the Johannesburg sky-line. It has no recognised actors, but I think the movie is all the better for it. It is quite frankly really believable, as the humans don't act out of character. The computer graphics are excellent, with good weight and interaction with the real world.

The film was produced by Peter Jackson, who directed 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'King Kong', amongst others.

The film is past paced right from the beginning and uses a 'documentary' style as it explains how the alien space ship arrived more than 20 years ago. The South African government did not know what to do with the malnourished aliens. A camp, called District 9, was set up to house them and it quickly deteriorated into a crime-ridden slum. The film introduces us to Multi-National United, the agency employed to deal with the aliens and discover the secrets of their weapons. MNU builds a new camp for the aliens 200km away from the city for their 'benefit'. The main character, Wikus van der Merwe, and his team are sent into District 9 to hand out eviction orders to the aliens. The rest of the film is centred round what happens to Wikus once he enters District 9 and his dramatically changing circumstances and relationships.

I do not want to give away the plot or ending of the story as it will spoil it for those of you who may want to go and watch the film.

There are some definite similarities to the old apartheid regime of South Africa: mainly forcing a whole population to live in designated areas, eviction orders and signs stating 'humans only'. That is where the similarity ends as the film is not really about an 'us-vs-them' scenario. There are no protests and no resistance movement among the aliens; they simply seem to accept their lot in life. The aliens live in terrible conditions, fighting amongst each other for survival and subjected to the cruelty of the Nigerian gangsters who rule District 9. Adding to their woes is the inhumane treatment that they receive from all humans, especially the people working for MNU.

A warning to sensitive viewers: there is a lot of violence (blood and guts everywhere) and constant swearing. I am easily offended by excessive swearing in films, but somehow it didn't bother me in this film.

Summary: A captivating saga of what could happen if aliens visited earth and stayed