District 9 - Review, Discuss, Commentary ***SPOILERS*** possible

[NKemp3]

Um, I'd think that it's understandable that everyone on the planet would be distracted from the man-on-man Apartheid when ALIENS LAND ON THE FUCKING EARTH.

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I honestly don't understand this point. What the fuck did you want them to do? They were addressing actual apartheid, through the use of alien stand-ins. If they did actual apartheid, a lot of people wouldn't bother even seeing it. Using aliens draws more people into dealing with concepts that they otherwise wouldn't give two fucks over if they saw actual black people being treated this way.

I wanted an actual acknowledgment of historical fact.

Look, the film is, by and large, very well done and, on many levels, I found the character interactions to be quite moving. There is value to its central commentary about how humanity treats people who are different. But I won't ignore, gloss over, or excuse the fact that there's no mention whatsoever of what was actually taking place in South Africa at the time these aliens arrived.

D9 is a movie about Apartheid-like conditions, set in South Africa. The significant event of the arrival of aliens took place during Apartheid. There is no mention whatsoever of how that event affected the very real Apartheid that was taking place. If this film wants to be a serious commentary on "actual Apartheid" (as you put it), for it to ignore the historical context of Apartheid in its chosen setting of South Africa is a mistake. What better way to inform viewers about Apartheid than by mentioning and addressing historical fact somewhere in the film? Failure to do so devalues the very real sacrifices people made and glosses over the atrocities committed.

The film didn't have to be about South African Apartheid, but it did have to at least explicitly confront the issue somewhere in its narrative.

I agree. And I don't see why any rational person would ever argue with the point you just made so splendidly. If te timeline for this film had been WW2 and the countries it was taking place in were Germany, Poland, Austria, etc, I'm sure both the studio and the audiences would EXPECT some reference to the Holocaust situation.

 

[NKemp3]

Gee, ya think?

Well, honestly, there's a way to do subtle without being SyFy about it. They don't need a random black character go, "YOU DID THIS TO US AND NOW YOU'RE DOING IT TO THEM", but all they needed to do was just have a black character identify with the aliens.

No, I'm tired of movies being that on-the-nose.

I agree 100% with Kajima.

What? When are any movies bankrolled by any studio ever truly on-the-nose when it comes to race relations involving blacks and whites? Truth is Hollywood runs from it all the time (it would rather remind us for an eternity of how evil the Germans were in WW2, but films about the Civil Rights movements in America or even films which present the South in a truly negative light during the Civil War are extremely rare). And even worse than Hollywood is the mainstream audience (aka white folks) who don't have the time, patience or tolerance to look at any movie involving white oppression of blacks. The reactions found on message boards typically for such rare films are gems like "who cares?", "why not show black racism for once!" and the longtime favorite "why don't they get over it by now". The last one is so ridiculous because those same folks probably don't mind every retread of American history in films in which white Americans overcome the tyranny of the British empire during the Revolutionary War or defeat the Nazis during WW2. No, in those instances the mainstream does not mind bringing up the past again and again and again.

Of course South Africa isn't America but the point remains. Racism is a topic that is not truly explored in movies. Its a topic that many folks are uncomfortable with. These days the industry is probably more at ease dealing with homophobia than it is with racism. And that's fine. But if the filmmakers wanted to make a more powerful film and use South Africa's history of Apartheid as a historical backdrop without really hitting the audience over the head with it then the better way IMO would have been to make the human lead in the film a black person. That would make it less on-the-nose but at the same time increase the overall impact. Because it would be quite insidious for a black person born into the Apartheid system to go about treating the aliens the same way whites in his position would have treated people like him years earlier. It would demonstrate, without having to say it starightforward, how we as human beings do not learn from our mistakes in the past; instead we learn to adopt the actions and tactics of our antagonists, oppressors (current or those in a distant past) and use it for our own means when we see fit. In other words we are all flawed and all capable of having extreme prejudices.

The added bonus, if they had gone with a black lead, would be that any audience member with any understanding of South Africa's history would be saying to themselves why doesn't this black character understand that he/she is now seems to have quickly forgotten what the other side of oppression and racial inequality looks like. That would make for a more fascinating lead character in my mind and better sell the point that some of you are claiming the filmmaker is trying to get across. Seriously when I experience this story of inhumanity towards these aliens seen mostly through a white person's point of view it doesn't have much impact. After all if white South Africans could do that to their fellow human beings not too long ago, its not all too surprising that they would also treat vistors from another world in a similiar fashion.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Well, honestly, there's a way to do subtle without being SyFy about it. They don't need a random black character go, "YOU DID THIS TO US AND NOW YOU'RE DOING IT TO THEM", but all they needed to do was just have a black character identify with the aliens.

No, I'm tired of movies being that on-the-nose.

I agree 100% with Kajima.

The problem is that it becomes erasure. Although, I do accept the premise that being a part of government documentary, it would make sense to erase the problematic parts of history.

Sort of like WW2 propaganda videos not mentioning Japanese internment or segregated armies, I suppose.

I think you need to just go see the movie.

 

[NKemp3]

Which is ironic since Halo was supposed to cost something idiotic... what did MS want? A 200 million budget?

Can someone fill me in on the problems of getting a Halo film off the ground and running? Who was asking for a ridiculous budget?

 

[James Cole]

The film has time stamps saying 2010. And the aliens came between say 1989 and 1991 for "twenty years ago". By then apartheid was almost at its end in South Africa, and FW de Klerk, the last white leader, was beginning the transition negotiations.

And at Wikus' desk, he has the 1994 flag up which shows that the aliens coming didn't stop majority rule from occurring.

 

[NKemp3]

The film has time stamps saying 2010. And the aliens came between say 1989 and 1991 for "twenty years ago". By then apartheid was almost at its end in South Africa, and FW de Klerk, the last white leader, was beginning the transition negotiations.

No offense but what difference does that make? Such an oppressive system is not forgotten overnight, the repercussions remain with the citizens to this day. Also wouldn't it had been a nice angle if apartheid, in this film, had come to an end in large part because of the alien arrival, giving all South African citizens of all races a common enemy to worry about?

 

[JacksonArcher]

I think making the Prawns an outright enemy in the story would have been cliché and generally a bad idea. I liked how Blomkamp humanized them by the story's end.

As for this whole apartheid issue... The director was born out of South America. He has gone on record saying the aliens were an allegory for apartheid but he didn't want to "blungeon people over the head" (to paraphrase) by making this an overt allegory. It's a science fiction film for cryin' out loud. It's fiction, but with a hard-edged, verite feel. I think people are blowing this entirely out of proportion to the point of missing the entire point of the film.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Also, making the lead black would have ruined one of the major plot points.

 

[Snick27]

Well ive seen the movie tonight, and wow, what a disappointment.
1st. Why do filmmakers still have to use shakey cam? I hate any movie that has that camara moving around and shaken while im trying to center on the person or action going on. That itself ruined the movie for me. Just stick the dam camara in the ground and let me watch what is goin on.

2. What was with the whole Documentary feel of the movie? Seemed like half the movie was a documentary about the events that led up to the what little we actually saw. Why couldnt the writers just start the movie and have years ago this ship landed and blah blah and then get on with the story. The flashes to people talking about Wikus and events really took away from the movie and to me slowed it down and made it boring. To me this would of been a nice extra on the dvd but i still want to watch the dam movie.

And how did the fuel for the ship turn Wikus into one of those aliens?

The story wasnt too bad, heck was a good story and nice special effects, but got ruined with how the film was shown. Could of been soo much better, a shame.

 

[Agent Richard07]

Wikus reminded me of Steve Carell. Just thought I'd mention that.

Everything looked so authentic and tangible. The Prawns were a real discovery. Never once did I think they were CGI. That was impressive. A Best Visual Effects Oscar nomination should be a shoe-in at this point.

The only thing that looked funny was that pig that was thrown about 40 feet into the shed.

 

[Trekker4747]

District 9

Rated: R for bloody violence and pervasive language.

My Grade: A

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Near as I can tell, for me, District 9 ends the "Summer Movie Season" for me, looking ahead nothing else is coming out between now and the end of the month (when the Summer Movie Season pretty much ends) that sticks out as something I want to see and Districe 9 ends things on nearly as good a note as it started ( Star Trek.)

District 9 is a fantastic movie with some stunning special effects that makes you feel for its key alien character.

District 9 takes place in a South African city where a space-ship has parked in the skies. After hovering there for a few weeks the local military baords it and finds a large civilization of aliens there (who are given the "slur" name of "Prawns") who're eventualy restricted to living in a walled-off slum. The movie follows a government/corporate worker assigned to help relocate the aliens out of the city-proper slum to a "new" slum further away from the city.

Much of the movie is filmed "Cloverfield"-style as if done with hand-held cameras as some of the premise is around a COPS-style documentary of the agents walking around thee slum to get the aliens to sign their relocation papers. If there's one "drawback" to the movie it's that these "documentary" scenes (with the actors talking to the camera) blend in seamlessly with the typical camera/"foruth wall POV" most movies use (as these scenes are also done with a hand-held camera style) so at times it can be confusing if we're watching the "documentary" or if we're watching "from our own prespective."

The movie is supposed to be an alagory using sci-fi to the treatment of people in the real South Africa. My knowledge of that area's history is spotty so it's hard for me to say how well it works in that regard.

The alagory aside the movie is very engaging and the creature and ship/mecha effects done are stunning and flawless. What's remarkable is how much the "lead alien" comes across as a character and how much we buy the partnership he has with our lead human character. Stark, stark contrast from *ahem* certain other all-CGI characters and how they related to on-screen human characters. But I'm not going to open that jar of worms.

Brilliant, fantastic movie, that engages you and keeps you interested and fascinated. This is Sci-Fi pretty much at its best.

Good film making. Good effects. Good story. Good characters.

Good movie to see. So go see it.

 

[Kelso]

I enjoyed it. Though, it wasn't nearly as good as the pre-release reviews made it sound.

It was cornier than I expected and there were some fairly major plot points that were poorly explained (or not at all).

Enjoyable film, though. I recommend it.

 

[romulus]

Saw it today.

At first I was like, what Johannesburg? I didn't get into it right a way, it seemed to be taking itself too seriously and some of the violence seemed gratuitous... it was throwing me off a little. But it I got over it, the story was good and so where the VFX. It seemed less cheesy (even considering the ending) than much of sci-fi. I kind of like that it did take itself seriously (but to much) now.

 

[Agent Richard07]

It was cornier than I expected and there were some fairly major plot points that were poorly explained (or not at all).

A lot of their predicament, including their arrival could be explained away by a lack of fuel, but who they were exactly and why they were on a ship travelling through space remains unanswered.

 

[Anwar]

The movie was told mainly from Human POV and Wikus' own experience. Makes sense they wouldn't explain everything.

 

[romulus]

It doesn't really matter, the story they where telling didn't really need explaining exactly why they got there like they did.

 

[firehawk12]

I think you need to just go see the movie.

Plan too. Too many documentaries to watch first though.

That said, just reading about it makes it seem highly problematic is all.

Which is ironic since Halo was supposed to cost something idiotic... what did MS want? A 200 million budget?

Can someone fill me in on the problems of getting a Halo film off the ground and running? Who was asking for a ridiculous budget?

MS tried to cobble together a partnership between two studios. They wanted a huge guaranteed budget and all ancillary rights to the film and both studios (Universal and Fox, maybe) balked and walked away.

I still blame MS for that deal collapsing. They wanted too much for something that wasn't guaranteed - and they could have funded the movie themselves, since they're freaking MS anyway.

I wonder if they could make a Halo movie for 30 million though.
This movie would suggest "yes".

 

[DarthPipes]

I think making the Prawns an outright enemy in the story would have been cliché and generally a bad idea. I liked how Blomkamp humanized them by the story's end.

Agreed. The Prawns are dangerous and there's more than good enough reason for concern. But you do end up sympathizing with them at the end. Since they weren't fighting the American government, I was totally rooting for them at the end.

Agreed that the main alien, Christopher, totally comes across as an authentic feeling character. The son was great too.

According to Entertainment Weakly in their cover story last week, the director said he would love to return to the world of District 9. The end is ripe for a sequel but I just don't think it could measure up to this film and it would put a damper on the experience if it didn't. District 10 would be the likely sequel name I would think.

 

[Bisz]

Just saw the movie tonight.

Fantastic!!!

I think that everything about this movie worked perfectly, just perfectly. It wasn't what I expected, which is an acomplishment in this day and age where plots are more recycled then the paper scripts are printed on. It was paced very well, the visuals were amazing (30m budget, really?!?! Wow!).

I'll disagree with the people saying that aparthaid should have been addressed in the movie... the movie is about aparthaid, we don't need an actual line of dialogue about it, the whole movie is about it.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

I just got back from it. In my opinion this is arguably one of the ten worst films I have ever seen. A completely formulaic story that once again recycles the evil corporation/military hunting some guy for a secret he possesses. The opening documentary style narrative goes on far too long and ends up having little to do with the film. The attempt to go back and for the from the documentary to the real action was handles amateurishly. This is also a film of convenience where things exist simply because they need to to advance the plot. The bad guys were bad simply because there needed to be bad guys. The kind of film where once you get out you have a million questions that are a variation on "well why did this happen"?

My girlfriend on the other hand thought it was one of the most emotionally compelling films she has seen since the Wrestler. She thought it did a very good job of introducing us o the aliens and by not elaborating on their culture too much it made a good point about whether people forced into ghetto situations do so because of their inherent nature or because they are forced to.