District 9

The best science fiction is able to tell a story that has relevance to the world we currently live in. Like a good Twilight Zone or Star Trek episode, good science fiction is more about us and our lives in society today than it is about space ships and aliens. This brings us to “District 9,” a movie with more relevance to the geo-political and socio-economic realities of today than any movie I’ve seen in a long time.

“District 9” is the story of a race of aliens who were stranded on earth twenty years ago and have been since relocated to a slum in Johannesburg, South Africa. When the burden of these refugees becomes too great for the government, a private company with their own agenda is brought in to relocate them to an internment camp. And while on the surface this film is about aliens it’s really not at all about aliens. I could write a twenty page analysis describing what this film is really about, but for your sake I’ll make it short. It’s too easy to make the connection between what happens to the aliens and apartheid in South Africa. The aliens are treated as second class citizens and forced to live in squalor with no rights at all. Their “human rights” if you will, are constantly being violated and the most heinous ways. I know very little about apartheid and the legacy of colonialism on South Africa, but what I do know comes mostly from movies (sadly). This film is similar in certain ways to a film about the true story of black activist Steve Biko entitled “Cry Freedom.” This film draws from so many sources and it is endlessly fascinating.

Straight from the beginning you’re aware that you are watching something unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. The pseudo-documentary style imbues the film with a gritty realism that is striking and jarring in a science fiction film. This is easily the most original sci-fi film since the first “Matrix” movie. And it is refreshing to see a sci-fi film that returns to the form, as opposed to another “Star Wars,” which reinvents mythology but has no real relevance to contemporary life. Aside from the direct comparison to apartheid, many others parallels can be drawn, such as to the war in Iraq and how it has been managed or mismanaged. It’s hard not to see the private security company, MNU, which takes over the operations and incites needless violence, as an alien version of Blackwater. It’s easy also to make connections to the situation in Darfur. This film also has relevance when it comes to how we treat prisoners, and the ethics of torture. In some ways it’s about institutional racism, politics, and the media. It’s about how drugs are introduced to a community to establish control. This film is also about gangster-ism and arms dealing, and the military industrial complex. This film draws upon a lot for other elements of the plot as well. While watching I was reminded in one instance of the film “Blood Diamond,” and in another of David Cronenberg’s “The Fly.”

This film is rich in its storytelling. It’s also remarkably entertaining. The action sequences are insanely well done, and the special effects are superb. The main character is incredibly flawed, cowardly, and despicable despite his ultimate redemption, and performed perfectly. The whole cast of relative unknowns does a great job of contributing to the realism of the film. The film is handled well by the director, with many interesting and inventive shots peppered throughout the faux-documentary. He keeps the camera constantly shifting perspectives and jumping around the timeline. This is a film I could watch again and again and still find new things to appreciate. My only hope is that they don’t ruin it with unnecessary sequels.