Thursday, August 20, 2009

District 9


Went to go see yet another movie in the queue: District 9, a documentary-esque exposé on a stranded alien spaceship hovering over Johannesburg, South Africa.

The trailer:


Pretty riveting allegory. And yes it is quite allegorical, as the tale is heavily influenced by South African apartheid and the social consequences of that failed ideology. The director is a young 29-year-old South African, and his experiences growing up shape the film. Racism, xenophobia, fear of the strange all run rampant.

The aliens have been stranded for 28 years now, and have begun to form humanlike qualities: violence, gangs, theft, prostitution; all the vices of a society. Revolted humans force the aliens into a segregated camp, District 9. Eventually, overcrowding and paltry living conditions result in the government instituting a forced eviction into newly minted District 10, miles and miles away from town. Mousy MNU agent Wilkus van der Merwe is set to take charge of the eviction. Until a dreadful accident occurs, throwing Wilkus into the world of the aliens.

Of course, it wouldn't be a good "evil government" scenario without the need to understand alien weaponry. Weaponry that is tied into alien DNA, rendering it useless to humans. Consequently, the powers that be are determined to find the key to humans using alien technology...and brutal experiments to achieve this knowledge are the result.

Bloody and gory. Who knew humans were similar to water balloons filled with blood when they explode. The grainy documentary footage results in many a camera lens splattered violently.

Powerful and thought-provoking. Forces you to consider similar human atrocities over the years against any ethnic group or race that is defined as "lesser".

Full Price.

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