Posts Tagged ‘south africa’

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1136608/

Dir. Neill Blomkamp

The trailers for District 9 drew me in. The striking visuals and the idea of a film that combined sci-fi and an examination of apartheid attitudes and injustices were irresistible to me. I was curious but unsure of how it would form a two-hour story as the trailers, rather nicely, did not allude to the character tale. What I found upon watching was an absolute masterpiece and the most accomplished piece of sci-fi cinema for years.

The opening sequence of the film does a fantastic job of explaining the backstory of the aliens arrival and gradually introducing Wikus. His status as the main character of the piece is brought in quietly, turning the film from its documentary style into a traditional narrative piece without making the transition awkward or unwanted. The world is built very carefully and convincingly with the appropriate visuals of South African slums (and was filmed in a real slum) and the creation of derogatory language and attitudes. It takes established racist ideals and applies them to the aliens, allowing for a very harsh and realistic portrayal which connects with the audience deeply. This allegorical setup allows for a chance, albeit a slim one, for some actual bigoted people to re-examine their own attitudes as they will be less affected by their established prejudices, though this is really just some idealistic thinking on my part.

The main character of Wikus is portrayed in an astonishing performance by Sharlto Copely who had never acted before. He starts off as a despicable, but believable, bigot. He is a horrible character, seeing himself as much more important than the ‘prawns’ that he is charged with forcing out their homes to what is, essentially, an internment camp. What makes his performance, and the writing and direction of the piece, so brilliant is his evolution. It’s common in a film that has societal tensions at its heart to have a character who learns the error of their ways, but usually it is done in a single act, a shining Hollywood moment where they redeem themselves without ever showing that even an iota of thought has gone into this transformation. In District 9 Wikus does evolve but it is slow and honest; he keeps some of his bigoted and selfish nature for the majority of the film, even after seeing what the company he was working for has been doing to the aliens, even after they try to kill him simply because he can operate an alien weapon. He has to think, to make mistakes and to truly understand the plight of the aliens before he changes and it is done with absolute perfection in performance and direction.

The rest of the cast, and the digital performances of the aliens, are uniformly excellent. You feel connected to the aliens in exactly the same way you would a human, which is the true test of a CGI character when surrounded by real people, and one that I think has only been done this well once before, in The Lord of the Rings with Gollum. Blomkamp has said in that he felt a little disappointed that he had to have a humanoid alien because it is the only way to create real empathy with the audience, but while it does not fit to his original vision, it does not take from the story and emotion he wants to tell.

The production of the film is among the very best there is. The direction is fabulous, the cinematography both beautiful and appropriate in the right situations, the effects are convincing and the score is expertly integrated. It is a stunning first feature and I cannot wait to see where Blomkamp will go, he is already an accomplished director and it seems from this he could become a modern great.

I have heard from people who didn’t like the film, or called it boring, but I honestly cannot see where they are coming from. Often you can understand another perspective on a film but this is one of the few films where I literally cannot fathom how someone couldn’t enjoy it. Possibly my favourite film of 2009.