In Theaters Aug 17 2009 @ 12:14 pm
REVIEW: District 9
Directed By: Neill Blomkamp
Written By: Neil Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
Starring: Jason Cope, Robert Hobbs, Sharlto Copley
Running Time: 112 minutes
Rated R for bloody violence and pervasive language
It’s a cliché, and it’s obvious, and any hack film professor could tell you this, but I guess it has to be said: the alien movies we create are always products of their time. Or, at least, the good ones are. The space aliens on the screen are always stand-ins for terrestrial aliens — whatever sort might haunt our dreams at the moment.
The 1950s were, of course, the heyday of the genre, and the aliens, without any obvious variation, represented either the fear of Russian Communism (The Thing from Another World!) or the fear of the fear of Russian Communism (Invasion of the Body Snatchers). As that fear waned, so, too, did the genre (aside from the occasional hippy-dippy counterpoint like Close Encounters of the Third Kind). The ‘80s and ‘90s were unsurprisingly short on alien movies (aside from Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day, which accurately captured the spirit of its time by being grinningly, unashamedly stupid).
As fear slowly came back into vogue in the 21st Century, however, various directors attempted to revive the genre by tapping into it. Steven Spielberg attempted this with War of the Worlds, which tried to paint the aliens as 9/11-esque terrorists; Scott Derrickson attempted to scare us with environmental destruction in The Day the Earth Stood Still. Sadly, both felt a bit warmed-over (it probably didn’t help that they were both remakes of sorts), and neither one came at all close to tapping into something culturally relevant.
The point that was missed with these, I think, is that real-world aliens are now rarely, if ever, sources of fear. The Cold War is long over, having left the so-called Second World in the dust. The only “Worlds” that remain are the First and Third — those of us who were fortunate enough to grow up with capitalism, and those who shoulder its concealed costs. (Marx was correct when he surmised that all of history was a dialectic struggle; he was laughably off the mark in imagining this would cease with the rise of Communism.) History has left our species divided, neither side knowing how to help (or even reach out to) the other. Kipling’s “White Man’s Burden” (whatever else you may say about it) has decayed into nothing more than a rotting pile of complacency and vague guilt.
District 9, the new alien-themed film from director Neill Blomkamp and producer Peter Jackson (director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Heavenly Creatures and Dead Alive) is probably the first film to truly understand this. Set in Johannesburg, South Africa, the film has overtones of apartheid, but ends up being about something even bigger: the intersection of two worlds “alien” to one another, the lack of easy answers for the problems inherent therein, and a stoic sadness for what’s left.
In District 9, the aliens aren’t invaders, they’re refugees. Their ship arrives in Johannesburg for no apparent reason other than a lack of anywhere else to go, and the hordes of aliens inside are impoverished and living in their own filth. With the government clueless and lacking the resources to do anything, the job of housing the aliens (derogatorily called “prawns”) is handed off to the for-profit sector, specifically a corporation named MNU. The prawns are quickly herded into a ghetto of corrugated steel shacks and banned from most of the human city. Their ghetto quickly devolves into a slum, the prawns continue to be exploited equally by MNU and Nigerian militias, and soon the humans want them out.
This is where the film begins. We’re introduced to Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copely), an MNU paper-pusher who has been promoted to head of the prawn relocation program. He begins to hand out the eviction notices to the prawns, in a mockumentary-style sequence that’s borrowed as much from The Office as anything.
Blomkamp isn’t really out to make the next great mockumentary – this angle is merely an attempt to give the proceedings a bluntness and callousness that they wouldn’t have otherwise. It’s also profoundly — and strikingly — unfunny, meaning that the humorous release of tension that Office fans are accustomed to is completely absent, making the film’s first act an extremely uncomfortable one. After setting this tone, Blomkamp more-or-less abandons this approach (a decision that is initially jarring, but turns out to be the right one, as it allows him to “humanize” his characters, if you’ll pardon the expression). The stoic first act leads into a middle that’s equal parts Melvin van Peebles and Franz Kafka; then the third act explodes into all-out war (complete with Jackson’s signature love for splatter). The film is an extremely uncomfortable one to watch, as ignorance leads to mistrust, mistrust leads to abuse, and abuse leads to the inevitable violence. It’d be virtually unwatchable for all but the most cynical and bloodthirsty, were it not for a solid moral core.
At the center of everything here is the brief intersection of two lives: that of van der Merwe, and that of prawn who goes by Christopher Johnson. Neither character is particularly likeable; van der Merwe is a weaselly demagogue and Johnson is an illegal weapons dealer. Both men are deeply evil, but both are also mere victims of the world they live in — cogs in the great machine. Their forced cooperation leads to something much smaller and quieter than anything around them, but also much more real and much more lasting. It is in these moments that the film finds its redemption.
The global system presents its participants with no viable alternatives but to abuse and exploit others. Some exploit others legally (via the corporate machine), and some do so illegally (via militias and the black market), but the end result is the same: misery, destruction, hatred. The only hope available to those that would seek it is in the same place it’s always been: sacrifice, friendship, love. That stuff never makes the headlines, and often it’s barely visible amid the war and deception, but it’s the only hope the universe has ever had for positive change.
On the one hand, District 9 is a difficult film to recommend to everyone. Not only is it extremely violent and gory; it’s bleak, cynical, and depressing. It is, however, likely to be one of the most important films of the year, and it’s filled with plenty of redemption for those willing to look for it. Furthermore, Jackson and Blomkamp have successfully brought the alien flick into the 21st Century — and in the process, they’ve created a film so culturally relevant that it simply cries out to be seen. Put simply, this is the voice of those who are miserable in their oppression, and of those who are miserably carrying out the oppression — and it’s packaged in a form that just might be the only way these voices will ever be heard.
on Aug 17 2009 @ 10:37 pm 1. Film-Book dot Com said …
Loved this film. LOVED IT.
“the alien movies we create are always products of their time. Or, at least, the good ones are. The space aliens on the screen are always stand-ins for terrestrial aliens — whatever sort might haunt our dreams at the moment.”
I found this parallel as well when I began researching the film. It’s sad that the South African people did something similar to a segment of their own population.
I will comment further after I type and post my District 9 review. Until then…
on Aug 18 2009 @ 4:58 pm 2. Daniel said …
Really great review, Luke, though i didn’t experience the symbolism as deeply as you did (I wish I had). Also, I have to raise my eyebrow at your description of Johnson as an “illegal weapons dealer” and “deeply evil”. Always in the eye of the beholder, isn’t it? It’s hard for me to see Johnson in that light by the way his kind has been treated, and I would consider him much more of a victim than Wikus.
I understand your point, but just throwing that in as a stick in the wheel…
on Aug 19 2009 @ 7:36 am 3. Luke Harrington said …
You make a fair point — I think when I typed “deeply evil,” my penchant for rhetoric was getting the best of me a little bit. Then again, where do we draw the line between “deeply evil,” “evil” and plain ol’ “bad,” anyway? I guess what I was trying to say was that they were both deeply involved in doing things that could be perceived as evil — but in a sense, each had those particular actions thrust on them by their position in life. Christopher likely felt he had no choice but to sell weapons in order to survive; Wikus likely felt he had no choice but to work for his father-in-law in order to earn a comfortable living. The only real difference here was the level of desperation; neither one was (initially) able to rise above their circumstances.
on Aug 19 2009 @ 11:49 am 4. Sam Juliano said …
“In District 9, the aliens aren’t invaders, they’re refugees.”
And therein lies the film’s essence, which allows for a wrenching examination of man’s inhamanity to man. I saw this this past Sunday night while vacationing in Hershey, Pa., and I walked out of the theatre shaking. It’s one of the best films of the year Luke, and I enthusiastically salute both this superb piece of writing and summary star rating which is dead-on with my own.
on Aug 19 2009 @ 3:13 pm 5. joel said …
Interesting review, Luke. I’d echo all of Daniel’s comments and add that while I don’t think District 9 is necessarily entirely successful in everything it sets out to accomplish, it’s by far the most interesting and ambitious movie of the Summer, and possibly of the year.
I think Blomkamp short changes a good deal of the political incisiveness of the film by populating his narrative with cardboard cutouts rather than characters. This might have worked better for me had he angled for a more black humor bent (and having just seen In the Loop and revisited Dr. Strangelove again, I think a little more sarcasm and humor would have worked). I also felt the plotting was full of holes you could drive a truck through, but like I said elsewhere: I can’t put this film under too fine a microscope when a pig carcass is used as a deadly weapon.
Still, I enjoyed it and it’s roused quite an interesting discussion. It stuck with me and got me thinking, which mainstream fare rarely does these days.
on Aug 20 2009 @ 6:57 am 6. Luke Harrington said …
Hey Joel, how have you been?
I have to agree with you on all, counts, I think. If it’s a question of ambition vs. success, ambition seems to have won out here. I’m a filmgoer who’s drawn to ambition, so I loved the film; if you’re more impressed by a film succeeding on its own terms, I guess you’re more likely to be critical of D9. It seems like Evan and I had this argument once or twice before (regarding Diary of the Dead, I think…). You reading this, Evan?
Thanks for the praise, Sam!
on Aug 23 2009 @ 1:16 pm 7. Film-Book dot Com said …
Good review Luke.
You forgot to mention Signs or was that deliberate?
“The only “Worlds” that remain are the First and Third — those of us who were fortunate enough to grow up with capitalism, and those who shoulder its concealed costs. (Marx was correct when he surmised that all of history was a dialectic struggle; he was laughably off the mark in imagining this would cease with the rise of Communism.)’
Very insightful. Many people forget the cost of our luxuries. Great reference, “you Marxist bastard” – Enemy at the Gates.
“their ghetto quickly devolves into a slum, the prawns continue to be exploited equally by MNU and Nigerian militias”
And the local authorities and civil rights groups know about it and do absolutely nothing. The gangs actually live in District 9 with the Prawn and this is allowed.
“van der Merwe is a weaselly demagogue and Johnson is an illegal weapons dealer.”
I do not remember seeing Chris sell guns, though he did have a large cache of them stored.
District 9 Teaser Trailer:
http://film-book.com/district-9-teaser-trailer/
District 9 Movie Trailer:
http://film-book.com/cohabitation-is-rocky-in-the-district-9-movie-trailer/
on Aug 24 2009 @ 4:48 pm 8. joel said …
I’m never one to argue with praising a director for trying too hard, and I often award extra points for swinging for the fences. Blomkamp does enough right here and for all that I disagree with, District 9 is better at most of what it sets out to do than just about anything else released this Summer. However, I think he was close to achieving a real masterpiece here and I wanted that, not what I got. It’s not a bad movie though and I enjoyed it, I’m just not going to get on the instant classic bandwagon.
on Aug 24 2009 @ 6:06 pm 9. Sam Juliano said …
How many “masterpieces” come our way in a given year, let alone in a single genre. And how many movies a year get on the “instant classic bandwagon?”
The fact that we got a film way better than we thought we were going to get is reason for celebration, not a time for muting our excitement with calls for perfection. This was one of the best films of 2009, end of story.
on Aug 25 2009 @ 11:10 am 10. Maurice said …
I saw this film on a Friday night at 11:30. I went in with my usual diet Coke and a granola bar along with a knapsack full of preconceived notions about the plot. This movie had little in common with what I was expecting, other than the ray guns. I was looking more towards an “Alien Nation” type deal, where a mean, bullying humanity begins to learn how to live and happily co-exist with our somewhat different Newcomers. Instead, I get a lesson about what a bunch of undeveloped halfwits occupy this planet. A reminder that I live on an ant farm with beepers and grade school isn’t as far back in the mist as I imagined. Also, that the only place that the Peter Principle is in full swing is on good old Terra Firma and that being in a government job gives you the right to wield power like a caveman hunting his food. This movie made me think.
Before I begin my rant, let me say that I have read scads of reviews about this film, all positive. Now that I’ve seen it, I’ve read more and reread some. None of them addressed the points I wanted to discuss. Moreover, none of my friends were able to discuss the plot lines that stood out in my mind with any hint of reason. I don’t want validation, I just want someone to admit that they are as bothered by what was portrayed on screen. Don’t bother jumping on the bandwagon, you’re too late. If you saw it, you would have posted already. You’d have been screaming along with me about all of the injustices man perpetrates on species other than his own.
In “Alien Nation” we are faced with a world that has been “invaded” by a collection of marooned ETs that kinda look like us but are stronger, faster and smarter then we. This despite the fact that in their society, they were only bred for hard labor, like slaves of a sort. They are integrated slowly into our society and are allowed, grudgingly, to begin lives of their own. They take human names, acquire jobs and wealth, buy homes, shop, send their kids to the same schools as terrestrials and generally begin to become like us. They are resented mostly because, well, they are ALIENS and like all ALIENS that come to earth, they are better than us. They can work longer hours, lift us humans by the neck (one handed, I might add) and learn Trigonometry by age eight. They have drug addictions, prostitute themselves to humans, are greedy and can be corrupted. Plus, they have a language no one on Earth can understand, let alone learn to speak. Very much reflecting the 80’s mentality, like in “The Wedding Singer.”
“District 9” presents us with aliens of similar ilk. They are basically migrant workers, can hoist a dumpster over their head and the one child in the film can operate the huge spacecraft they arrived in. The similarities end right about there. These “prawns”, as they are called, are forced to live in makeshift slums, seem to have no desire to better their lot and are denied even the smallest bit of dignity or respect from what might be deemed an inferior species. That would be us, my little langoliers. These poor swabs are reduced to the lowest of stations in life, are not permitted to mingle with the natural sentient beings and are, bizarrely, addicted to Cozy Kitten cat food. In the can. Lord, why couldn’t have at least been MREs, Slim Jims or some such? Canned cat food is so lousy you can’t use it for chum, let alone survive on it.
Now, this is despite the fact that they arrived in a huge spaceship for an unspecified reason. Coupled with the fact that these prawns can build superior weapons out of items commonly used in the construction of a meth lab, you’d think that they would be welcomed with open arms and that somebody, somebody on this ball of mud would have lied like a Clinton in order to get that technology. We could have used something edible and delicious to entice them for the knowledge of what kept the ship powered and in the air for 20 years. No. Far better to treat them like scum, lock them up and deny them basic rights that our pets are allowed. Nobody speaks their language but we understand it enough and they, in turn, are smart enough to learn to say “f**k” which they may have had in their native tongue anyway. Clearly, they are intelligent enough to strike a deal somewhere with some world leader but nobody seems interested in paying them for the sciences they possess. It’s just cheaper to corral and debase them.
The obviousness of the parallels to so many races in the history of this country are abundant but I think the treatment of Mexicans today stands out like a giraffe on prom night. The fact that we never bothered to glean anything from Mexican culture other than Doritos and steal Texas points a rather not so subtle finger of guilt in the direction of Americana. Face it: We could have easily replaced the CGI prawns with JOB [Just Over the Border] “Beaners” and had the same movie. We just would have needed to Photoshop a giant burro over the spaceship. Sure, the resemblance to Apartheid is obvious but it could just as easily have been Amarillo.
Which brings me to another point: What’s the deal with that Baltimore sized ship just hanging there anyway? The thing has power enough to hover for 20 years but we can’t figure a way to tow it out to sea? When CJ Jr. gets his claws on the controls, he fires it right up and moves it, like a slot car on a straight away.. Why not just do that rather than risk flying the command module back to it? Was Christopher Johnson the only qualified pilot on board the thing? Is there a chain of command or at least a food chain for these visitors to follow? Somebody got on the thing to remove the crew but no one ever went back with a cordless drill to remove some of the chrome and seats for their basement lounge. That’s mental.
The most painful part about this film is that these aliens are intelligent beings. They get angry, have language, a culture, class system, can reason and love their young. But no questions are asked or answered about them as a species or race. Sure, some lame attempts are made to discover how to use the weapons that they make and some of their physiology is examined but no one really takes an interest in them. They are in a confined area and watched all day long but no one knows anything about them. It is obviously a plot device but think about how it relates to mankind’s history. At one time, the Native Americans were thought to be only savages with no morals or ability to reason other than mating. Their nations were rounded up and obliterated and that happened barely 130 years ago. The same is now being done to cultures in remote locations like the Brazilian Rainforests and most of the world stands by and sighs.
The movie draws out the fact that no one stands up for these aliens. No one defends the slaughter of their children and no Christian/Right to Life organizations firebomb clinics or shoot the doctors performing these abortions. Also absent was Sally Struthers and her “They are starving because I ate all their food” campaign nor did I see a single billboard or bumper sticker demanding to “Free the Prawns’ which might have been a good thing because then the stupid “phone home” jokes were certainly to follow. I guess we would all be too busy watching “Whale Wars” and wringing our hands over the plight of the manatee to care. Another reflection on our times where we ignore the obvious until Geraldo brings it into our living room.
In our defense, these aliens are way ahead of us in technology, right? Their weapons can disintegrate or use a concussive blast to take out a target. Did you see all of the guys blowing up when Christopher Johnson turned loose on them with his blaster? Definitely superior firepower. They make the things out of cast off pieces of equipment and refuse they find, apparently just lying around. So, while they are too dumb to use the weapons to build an army, we are too dumb to pick all that crap up and keep the phaser fire to a minimum. Plus, you can build a transformer suit out of some cans, a bumper and old motor oil but then you want to trade it away for cat food? That’s as far as your reasoning goes, Meow Mix? I mean, honestly. These are mixed signals the film is sending me because I am unsure which species is the Abbott and which is the Costello. Why the heck were they stockpiling human RPG and AK-47s? Decor? Like some loony from “Trading Spaces” was having a bad Vern Yip day and went for the “totally Mail Call” look.
Okay, I went on too long with this little diatribe but one final observation: This is a movie not about how we treat strangers. It’s about how selfish we are with anyone outside our own personal circle of trust. People as a collective can be harsh and hostile because, deep down, we are individually selfish and spend much of our time envying those that have it better and wanting what the other guy has accomplished. If the other guy happens to be seven feet tall, has claws and came in a spaceship, instead of looking to see how they can better our world, it’s just easier to play stupid and bring him down to our level of inability to be better ourselves. It’s a sad reminder that, even in fiction, we are less civilized than we suppose.
Another great review, Luke. I was glad to read it.
on Aug 25 2009 @ 3:27 pm 11. Sam Juliano said …
Maurice, I salute you. What a fascinating essay here. Marvelous.
on Aug 26 2009 @ 2:27 pm 12. Monty said …
Maurice – go see the movie again. You missed a lot. There were only a couple of the prawns like us, the commander caste. The rest were the workers. Yes, the kid could move the ship – commander caste. We only saw 2 of them and one got killed. Remember the part about the command module dropping off the ship? We don’t know exactly what happened, but somehow the ship got stranded and only a couple of the commanders got off. Maybe a mutiny? or a life support failure. who knows.
If you are going to read that much hooey into a movie, at least watch the dang movie.
Also, Luke, when did Christopher become an illegal arms trader? Did you all see the same movie as me?
on Aug 28 2009 @ 7:43 pm 13. Seth said …
Good review, Luke. You seem to have put a lot of thought into the movie. I’m meaning to see this film sometime but will probably wait for netflix.
on Aug 29 2009 @ 12:42 pm 14. Sam Juliano said …
I saluted Maurice for the effort he put into that response Monty. I did not say I agreed with him. I agree that those who are going out of their way to find fault in DISTRICT 9 (the apartheid connection for example) don’t like the film all that much in the first place.
Come December, this will be sitting with the best films of 2009 on my list. Of this I am fairly certain.
on Sep 04 2009 @ 7:05 pm 15. Mike said …
Absolutely incredible movie. When i watch a movie i try not to “preconceive” anything because that either raises my expectation to the point where i cant enjoy the movie or diminishes them to the point where I’m hunting down faults in it. (Hint hint Maurice) So rather i WATCHED the movie and came to one simple conclusion.
I have yet to see another movie of this creative quality. Never would i expect aliens to be refugees, not with all the unoriginal garbage polluting the minds or writers. This movie made me care about the characters to the point where i actually felt anxiety. I don’t really care for characters much in movies because they usually end up being predictable and stale. (especially in modern alien movies) The intense violence and swearing is what makes it all the better too! Honestly i wouldn’t expect anyone (or anything) living in those kinds of conditions to have dialogue filled with happy, nonsensical crap. If you feel sad you act sad, if you feel mad you act mad and the movie portrayed the feeling the characters were having quite well.
When i see a movie 60% of the time i end up thinking they should have payed ME to see it. That is not the case for District 9 and it will be one of the few movies i buy when it is released on DVD. I recommend it to anyone who is even thinking about watching. (or if you weren’t because it is just that good)
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