District 9
District 9 is a film that eluded me for quite awhile. It’s a project I always imagined myself a fan of, but for some reason never got around to. All I knew going in was that it was- aliens: a close encounter, albeit a grubby and unceremonious one, from gross bug aliens that touch down in South Africa. However, my expectations were put in check, as not only does this film avoid focus on the invasion itself, but the heart of its conflict is representative of something else, while still inexplicable and mysterious, entirely.
District 9 is chiefly told in a found footage format, intercut with employee interviews as if it were a documentary. There are plenty of benefits to this approach for this story specifically- for one, a chunk of the first act is made up of painfully realistic and heartbreaking sequences of a government agency forcefully evicting the aliens from their homes illegally (which is so palpable and real that it’s worth a watch now- literally right now- more than ever), and the documentary approach helps sell that sense of guilt and realism. The shooting style also helps excuse the several instances of clunky exposition and poor dialogue, given that those being interviewed are more likely to have tightly-written lines prepared and memorized in contrast to candid people in an everyday setting. Finally, since this film was reasonably small and budgeted accordingly, the cast is filled with no-names (at least for widespread American audiences), which feeds into the immersion of this being a documentary perfectly. Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise would instantly distract from the intended viewing angle, so casting rookies was the proper and only choice for helping maintain the illusion- there are times when you might even briefly forget this is a work of fiction.
Mostly due to its visual effects and makeup, this movie looks incredible. The alien designs are polished and razor-tight, and they do nothing but complement the real star of the show: protagonist Wikus van de Merwe’s slowburn transformation into an alien himself as if he was in a body horror film. This is the one aspect of District 9 that took me the most by surprise, with the alien claw bursting from the bandages where his arm used to be genuinely surprising me and giving me a jump. The makeup team did a phenomenal job bringing the disgusting and terrifying transformation to life, elevating the audience’s connection to Wikus’ motivation of turning himself back to normal. Speaking of which, I feel the main protagonist’s evolution and character development is also a strong suit, as it’s incredibly satisfying to see him go from uncaring government fascist to someone willing to sacrifice himself to help others in a reasonably natural and fluid manner.
Circling back to the themes and allegories at play, District 9 is an unabashed and obvious, yet poignant and forever topical, metaphor for segregation and xenophobia- specifically South Africa’s Apartheid movement. Director Neill Blomkamp is South African, as are the main actors, so it’s hard not to see this as a personal passion project for something the cast and crew know very well- Blomkamp even grew up in Johannesburg, where the film is set, and the title is a play on Cape Town’s very real District Six. While making this direct of a metaphor may dismiss higher critical thinking for the audience, it’s impossible to not be intrigued by the thoughtful commentary of a film that’s this focused and undistracted, in addition to the appalling and unnerving nature of its content. Nowhere is this pushed to a further degree than the sequence of the horrific treatment of Wikus in the lab. They cut him open, tase him to force his actions without mercy, discuss their plans to leave him to die as if he’s not in the room, and inform his wife that they “did everything they could”. It’s absolutely vile and watching it unfold forces a repulsive reaction, but it’s an important and unfortunately realistic watch nonetheless. It sort of feels like the culmination of that block of allegorical storytelling, which is strange considering it’s right in the middle. Everything after that is either a flashy, blockbustery explosion, or an insincere and over-the-top dud from generic villains.
Yes, despite the positive things I’ve had to say about District 9, the film falters at the end thanks to a pretty generic and uninteresting military shootout. Running out of steam about an hour in, the film loses its luster and I was tapping out by the end. I was expecting Wikus to bite the bullet at a couple different points, so I was unsurprised when his story concluded in the way it did, and the film didn’t make me care enough about Christopher Johnson to wonder if or when he was coming back from space like so many other people who watched this movie and have inexplicably been clamoring for a sequel for the last fifteen years, which District 9 doesn’t have the legs for (then again, I said that for Top Gun, too).
There is also a very strange lack of synergy with the film’s visual direction, as the signature handheld cameras are dropped a third of the way through and are scarcely, yet not never, picked back up. I’d wager a guess that it makes sense story-wise and that it only is filmed like a documentary when the government or labs or whatever are onscreen, and a quick Google tells me it’s to match the transformation Wikus is experiencing, but it is still a strange decision to switch gears so drastically midway through, especially without a smooth transition to wean us off it.
District 9 is a thoughtful, well-crafted and decently entertaining passion project that holds its high points above its head in spite of its flaws. Its sections, while still being twenty-minute-plus chunks, work best like Zack Snyder’s; a block of artful entertainment viewed in a vacuum rather than as a part of an overarching story. Its poignant themes, nail-biting intro, satisfying character development and beautiful special effects are overall enough to offset some clunky exposition, an unclear camera direction and a generic finale. My final verdict is to stop listening to me and give this one a shot and see for yourself (despite the fact that I just spoiled the whole thing), especially if you like sci-fi, aliens, or passionate auteur filmmaking.
