Director: Neill Blomkamp
A 2009 independent science fiction movie that was produced and largely filmed with South Africa, Peter Jackson was also a producer for the movie. The film is presented with many mock interviews with analysts and commentators as well as handheld footage from within the camp. Sharlto Copley who stars as Wikus improvised almost all of his line I am reliable informed.
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| The Alien spaceship |
In 1982, an alien mothership parks itself over Johannesburg and is unable to move so after much time the army is sent to raid the ship and meet the extraterrestrials who are mostly sick. The government decides to hold them in a camp called District 9 which quickly turns into a dangerous ghetto of illegal activity, poverty and decay. In the present day we follow Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) as he attemps to re-locate the millions of ''prawns'' to a new camp out of the city but soon runs into trouble.
The links to apartheid era South Africa are clear given the location and nationality of the writers and director. The film refers to contemporary evictions and forced removals to new suburban ghettos in post-apartheid South Africa as well as the resistance of its residents. This includes the high profile attempted forced removal of the Joe Slovo informal settlement in Cape Town to temporary relocation areas in Delft. It's an issue that is still not widely understood outside of South Africa itself. The themes of racism are applied to the aliens in this instance in some cases subtly and in others not so.
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| Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) with a alien or ''prawn'' |
The opening act of the movie is excellent in setting up and analyzing the makeshift camp that has been created for the aliens. The fact there are aliens living there is almost irrelevant as it is a close comparison with what we see in the world currently. We are helped by Wikus to understand the plight of the prawns who have been forcibly made to stay in the camp without access to the outside world and people. The final act turns into more of an action movie which was a bit of a disappointment and strays away from the films core message but it's still a very impressive movie.
3/4 Thought provoking and clever movie
I love this film. I thought it was one of the best from that decade. You're right, it's not quite perfect, but it had good character development, great special effects, and an original story to boot(as far as I know). It's not everyone's cup of tea though. I haven't seen Elysium, but it seems to be an inferior version of this movie.
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