Short Takes: District 9

District 9 (2009)
Dir. Neill Blomkamp
Starring: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt
Grade: A

To say District 9 is one of the most unique and original films I’ve seen in a long time seems almost like an understatement. While the film did take me back to other sci-fi stories like “Enemy Mine,” it truly stands on its own in terms of sheer creativity, distinct vision and expert execution.

The film begins with documentary footage informing us of the arrival of an alien ship over the skies of Johannesburg, South Africa. The ship is imposing, it is not shiny and pristine, but rather used, ragged, within its last gasps. The situation inside is even worse. Having grown impatient with the hovering aircraft, a team is sent up to explore the situation. They break into the ship and discover over one million creatures in dire condition. The aliens are given asylum but when they engage in criminal and overall disruptive activities, they are collectively placed into a camp of sorts. Completely segregated from the city proper, the camp, more of a slum, is known as “District 9” and is under strict surveillance by government forces. Part of this surveillance entails confiscating any alien weapons. In an interesting turn, the weapons can only be controlled by the aliens because of some alchemy involving their DNA.

The film stars South African actor Sharlto Copley in the role of Wikus van de Merwe, a fumbling official from the Multinational United (MNU) put in charge to relocate the growing number of aliens (derogatorily and routinely referred to as “prawns,” a type of insect common to South Africa) into a new camp further away from Johannesburg. Wikus’ work consists mostly of getting the inhabitants of District 9 to sign agreement forms for their evictions. Throughout his visits, we are able to witness the cruel treatment given to the aliens as they are abused at best and haphazardly killed at worst. One such alien, Christopher Johnson, is seen looking through the piles of garbage for alien technology. His shack is full of computer parts and his young son appears to be a bit of a technological wiz. During one of Wikus’ alien home visits, he discovers a small canister which he carelessly handles to the point that some of its contents explode all over him. Soon afterwards, Wikus beings to experience strange symptoms and begins a slow but stoppable transformation into something not quite human, which sets the stage for the remainder of the film.

The film is more complex than what I’ve described and includes other characters, including Nigerian gangs, corrupt political officials and assorted villans, and makes for a fascinatingly well-layered film that inhabits its own universe so assuredly and believably that it is hard not to be wrapped in the story. While the majority of the aliens are unsympathetic, so are the humans. Indeed, Christopher and his son are seemingly the only two aliens who have more to worry about than what they’ll be eating on any given day and their relationship is lovingly (and movingly) portrayed. Wikus, on the other hand, is dumb and naïve enough to make him likeable most of the time.

But what makes “District 9” one of the best films of the year is its confident dedication to the story-telling and its respect for the audiences’ intelligence. It does not go out of its way to seek likeability in the inhabitants of its world, but rather to showcase the bad and the good in equal measures and to still leave quite a bit of room for hope.