#EugeneKhumbanyiwa

[doomonfilm]

Thoughts : District 9 (2009)

Back in my early days of discovering YouTube, I came across a proof-of-concept style video that showed an alien taking on a group of heavily armed soldiers that, upon first glance, looked extremely and convincingly real.  That bit of footage left a lasting impression on many, and not too long after, word of a science-fiction film featuring aliens in Johannesburg begin to emerge, and though I’d not yet directly connected the dots, my excitement began to rise.  Eventually, trailers for District 9 hit the scene, and my excitement hit a fever pitch... one that was rewarded upon finally getting to see the film.

A strange, alien ship appears above Johannesburg in the year 1982, causing fear and panic below.  After investigation, it’s discovered that the ship is populated by a colony of malnourished, displaced aliens.  The population is moved to a slum known as District 9 by the South African government, which causes tension and unrest with the South African population due to the hygiene and unruly nature of the aliens, now dubbed Prawns.  After nearly three decades of this tension, a weapons manufacturer known as Multinational United (MNU) is hired to relocate the Prawns to a new district, away from the locals.  MNU executive Piet Smit (Louis Minnaar) hires his son-in-law Wikus (Sharlto Copley) to lead the relocation process, a task that is clearly above his skill level.  Meanwhile, in the Prawn community, a Prawn known as Christopher Johnson (Jason Cope), his son and his companion search for a compound fuel that Christopher has created, in hopes of enacting an escape plan.  Unfortunately, his search is interrupted by Wikus and his team, and in the midst of searching the place, Wikus is accidentally exposed to the compound.  As Wikus faces the effects of the compound, he is slowly removed from his role as leader, leaving the mercenaries of MNU to their own devices, which heightens the unrest in District 9.  With Wikus in fear of his life, he seeks refuge in District 9, whose fate hangs in the balance as the tensions turn to all out combat.

While immigration has always been a hot button issue in our world, the events of District 9 feel like art imitating life on an absurd level in light of our current political situation.  As easy as it would have been to place this film in a ‘marquee’ city (read : Los Angeles, Paris, New York, etc.), the placement of the film in Johannesburg is intriguing due to the already tenuous co-existence of natural-born Africans, the British that invaded and set up rule, and the range of people born into the middle of this tension, not to mention the shadow of Apartheid that the country will always live in.  The Prawn community are treated like invaders, but under closer examination, they are truly refugees lost in a foreign land, treated like criminals and kicked when they were already down.

Much of the social commentary in the film deals not only with immigration on a grand scale, but it focuses in quite well on the human element of it all.  The way that humans dub the aliens as Prawns due to identifying them as ‘bottom-feeders’ echoes the true human nature of cutting those we deem outside of our circle down to size in the simplest terms possible.  MNU, therefore, becomes symbolic in nature of how corporations are slowly becoming the new power in society, putting their administrative and militaristic shortcomings front and center.  I also find it interesting that the Prawns and their naturally destructive behavior becomes a factor that can be exploited by the humans, granting them access to alien technology by feeding off of the base needs Prawns exhibit.  They are further exploited by the warlords of the slum black markets, as many are preyed upon and eaten in hopes of gaining access to using the weapons.  Ironically, this inhumane behavior is echoed by MNU once they get their hands on Wikus, exposing the fact that their true goals fall directly in line with those of the warlords in the slums.

For the time, the integration of CG effects into the real world was nearly seamless, and in my opinion, has held up over the past decade quite well.  While science fiction has often been the grounds for making social commentary, the film still manages to feel original in its spirit.  The documentary style that weaves in and out of the narrative not only helps streamline exposition, but it further grounds the film in reality, making the alien presence and technology less jarring.  The Johannesburg location provides a rich texture of slum environments, as well as colloquialisms, slang and accents that give the dialogue a unique and pleasing rhythm.  As Wikus descends deeper into his Prawn transformation, the feeling of a Bodhi horror film emerges in the form of his loss of humanity... he loses teeth, fingernails, and even limbs to the transformation in a way that echoes films like The Fly or Tetsuo : The Iron Man.  The aged up nature of the alien technology present in the film is a nice touch as well, as my preferred science fiction aesthetic skews away from shiny tech.

The cast is mostly made up of incidental characters and talking heads meant to speak exposition and move the story forward, but the cast in charge of carrying the narrative weight stands out quite well in terms of balance.  Sharlto Copley embodies the nature of incompetence at the administrative level to a comically real degree, with his confidence and innocence being the only qualities that exceed his ineptitude.  Jason Cope, though never truly seen or heard, manages to bring a humanity to the Christopher Johnson role that connects the audience to his struggle, instantly making him the character most worthy of sympathy throughout.  David James hones in on all the qualities of a mercenary that turn him into almost a literal walking weapon, where results are valued infinitely more than reason or the life of those who hinder results.  Piet Smith serves as the administrative parallel to David James, with the bottom line replacing the need for results, even at the cost of trust from those he loves.  Kenneth Nkosi’s performance provides touches of the most consistent comedy, with his persistent awareness of the cameras reminding us of the ‘reality’ of the situation subtly, but effectively.

In the canon of science-fiction, alien invasion films, I hold District 9 in the highest regard.  It does everything it needs to do for the genre while simultaneously pushing the possibilities of the genre forward in terms of ideas and world integration.  The message of inclusion that lies beneath all of the flash is an important one, and one that deserves more and more attention with each passing year.