District 9: Review

District 9: Review

I went so see District 9 at the cinema last night.  It was a very interesting film; certainly most unlike anything else I’ve ever seen.  For a start, the aliens were the goodies, and the humans were the baddies.

The film is about a colony of aliens living in the titular District 9 in Johannesburg.  They arrived in an alien space ship in 1983, which just stopped over the city.  Eventually, the South Africans cut a way into the ship, and found large numbers of emaciated aliens.  They started a ‘refugee’ camp for humanitarian reasons in the centre of the city.  Over time, this camp developed into a slum, with millions of aliens living in abject poverty.

The film is about a proposed resettlement.  A large military contractor, MNU, is given the task of evicting the aliens, and encouraging them to move into a new, supposedly better, settlement, in the new District 10.  Whilst attempting to serve eviction notices, the lead official from MNU is contaminated with a black liquid, which leads to unexpected developments in the story line.

I’m not sure that I would say I enjoyed the film, but it was certainly very interesting to watch.  It dealt very well with man’s inhumanity to man (through, in this case, aliens), and the problems that arise from these temporary settlements.  Apartheid and xenophobia were major themes within the film.  The aliens, who were given the name “prawns,” were kept locked up in District 9, partly because of fear, but partly because of the resentment of them taking “our” land, and because they were misunderstood and not trusted.  Also prominent within the film was the whole question of military contractors: can they be trusted?  Are they corrupt?  Do they trample over basic human rights in pursuit of profit?

The conclusion of the film was both unexpected and clever, and left many questions unanswered.  I suspect that these will be tied up in a sequel, but I almost hope they won’t be – that the viewer will be left to decide what happened next for themselves.

In conclusion, District 9 is deeply thought provoking.  I had expected it to be a comedy, so was a little disappointed that it was not, but it was neverthless an interesting film.