I have never imagined that District 9 is such a good movie. It is one of the best films I ever seen, it goes with my top list of all time favorites, and it’s mostly a science fiction, a genre I’ve always liked, but I rarely have had the opportunity to watch such a good one. Here, the science fiction is actually just a cover for deeper messages, but it is a good cover.
The Adaptation
The film story is an adaptation from a shortie named Alive in Joburg, directed by Blomkamp and produced by Sharlto Copley and Simon Hansen, which depicts humanity, xenophobia, and social segregation. The title and premises of District 9 were inspired by the events in District Six, Cape Town between 1968 and 1982. On February 1966, the extremist South African government declared District Six a whites-only area under the Group Areas Act, with removals starting in 1968. By 1982, more than 60,000 people had been relocated to the sandy, bleak Cape Flats township complex some twenty-five kilometers away.
A Science Fiction Masterpiece – District 9
Political Science Fiction
I really don’t want to spoil it by revealing any action, I’m only telling that it’s realistic, dynamic and positive. The aspect can be a little bit creepy, but it’s like life itself, creepy sometimes. It is a film with apartheid in South Africa, a magnificently beautiful country, directed by Neill Blomkamp, a South African from Johannesburg who studied in Canada, written by himself and his wife, Terri Tatchell, leading to an Oscar nomination for “Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published” (they lost in favor of Precious) and produced by the Lord of the Rings‘ stepfather, Peter Jackson. Actually he got nominated for producing as well, because this is the picture who lost Best Picture in favor of that Hurt Locker piece of Iraqi war.
District 9 – Sharlto Copley
[source for all pictures: imdb.com]
Up you can see Sharlto Copley, the guy who impersonated the main character, Wikus Van De Merwe, another South African from Johannesburg. In the video below, is the character Wikus in a shortie directed and produced by the actor.
A Science Fiction Essay
It’s decently recent (sometimes I say a movie made in the 80’s is recent as well), it is surrealistic, it is funny to tears. I’ve said it’s “science fiction”, I said it’s “realistic”, and now I’ve said it’s “surrealistic”. You have to watch the movie and decide yourselves that it is all that and more, 🙂
District 9 – Poster
It has an 8.2 imdb rating (with this it made top 250 on 145 position at the time I’m writing, it is directed by Neill Blomkamp and written in collaboration with Terri Tatchell, his wife. As I said, it is produced by Oscar awarded Peter Jackson, and it stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James. Duration: 112′
The Trailer
This science fiction masterpiece is an apartheid parody with a lot more feedback outside South Africa.
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District 9 definitely has a deep political notation attached to it. What do you think about the movie’s message?
I think it was expressed in the post :).