District 9
Managed to get out to the movies succesfully for the first time in quite a while last night, and saw District 9. This excellent film derives from the old premise of aliens come to earth, spaceship hovers over a major city etc etc, but with some major variations on that theme. The major variation is that the aliens aren’t powerful super-intelligent invaders, rather they become impoverished refugees, mistreated and discriminated against by humans, and forced to live in a ghetto slum shanty town camp (couldn’t decide which word was best there so why not use em all?). And the second major twist, which makes the first one even more poignant, is that the spaceship is not hovering over New York or LA or some other big American city like most of these movies – rather it is set in Johannesburg, South Africa. Setting this movie in the continent of refugee camps, and in the nation of apartheid helps give the movie a strong underlying element of cutting social commentary. It’s not exactly subtle, but neither is it overplayed. We are presented with a selection of characters with a diverse range of biases and bigotry, including the flawed hero, but we are left to make our own judgements on the characters and the story. The documentary style presentation helps with presenting a range of perspectives. Special effects are well done, with the CGI blending seamlessly with the squalid African refugee camp conditions. This is a fantastic movie. Nice to see a “blockbuster” action movie which stimulates some serious thought and discussion, and coming from South Africa instead of Hollywood (although Peter Jackson of LOTR fame is a producer). Definitely worth watching, as long as you’re not too squeamish.
Here’s a trailer for it. I picked this one, because I thought the other one (number2 ) gave too much away..
Tags : Africa, johannesburg, Movies, sci-fi, south africa
Categories : Africa, Movies | 1 Comment
