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District 9

“District 9” begins with a series of interviews of people who knew the film’s main character, Wilkus van der Merwe. The interviewees describe the events of the last 20 years starting with the appearance of an alien mother ship above the city of Johannesburg that contained a huge group of sick, malnourished aliens. The aliens, called “prawns” by the locals, were moved to a government-run camp within Johannesburg. It wasn’t long before the fenced-in, heavily guarded camp became a slum.

The film continues in its documentary-like fashion by showing Wilkus, a newly promoted employee of the MNU (Mulit-National United), which is now in charge of District 9, the alien slum. Wilkus is put in charge of the effort to relocate the aliens to a new camp far outside of the city. Followed by a cameraman, Wilkus and a large military team venture into District 9 and begin the daunting task of getting 1.8 million aliens to sign their eviction notices.

During this escapade, Wilkus finds a mysterious alien canister, and upon opening it is sprayed in the face by a black liquid. He soon becomes very sick and is rushed to the hospital. While cutting off the cast from Wilkus’s broken arm that he received from an alien, it’s revealed that his arm is now an alien arm, and he is rushed into “quarantine.”

The scientists at MNU decide to harvest Wilkus’s DNA, killing him in the process, but he breaks free from his restraints and is able to escape. Hunted by the government, he must turn to the aliens for help.

Any prospective viewer of “District 9” should know that it contains a fair amount of extremely disturbing images that may haunt him or her for weeks to come. Although it is certainly not a horror film, it doesn’t hold back. These images, however, do not detract from the overall quality of the film, because they do not seem to be put there for shock value.

All of the film’s visuals are there to make a point. Every scene is dull, with the colors toned down in every part of the city. And every place, besides the MNU offices and Wilkus’s house, is dirty, grimy, and depressing. Both the human and alien parts of the city are this way, although District 9 is, of course, the worst.

This, combined with the many signs that announce which places are alien-only areas and which are human-only areas, is an obvious reference to Apartheid. But the movie is more than just a big metaphor for South African race relations.

The main theme of “District 9” is human cruelty. The white men in sterile lab coats perform horrific experiments on the aliens, and even on Wilkus, without a hint of emotion. The black South Africans create an exploitive black market where they trade cat food for alien weapons. Normal residents of Johannesburg fight with the aliens, and declare that since they are not human, they have no right to live in their city.

It is clear early on that Wilkus is not a good guy. He is an oddly excitable fellow who delights in his work, but under pressure during his first foray into District 9, he shows his own cruelty and prejudice against the aliens. He talks down to them and curses at them, even as he tries to prevent the military guys from killing them. Even as he becomes an alien and is betrayed by his own human race, he continues to treat the aliens like they are animals. Wilkus also proves himself to be incredibly selfish. He somewhat redeems himself with a selfless act at the end of the movie, but it’s obvious that he is not meant to be liked.

And the aliens are often shown behaving like animals, fighting each other and occasionally ripping limbs off of humans who anger them. They participate in alien cockfights, using small, insect-like creatures that appear to be their offspring in fights that result in the death of one of the fighters. Although it could be easily argued that they were driven to this by 20 years of living in horrible conditions.

A film with no real “good guys” for the audience to root for is a daring move and a refreshing change. The viewer is reminded of real life. No one side is ever entirely without fault. Cruelty is everywhere.

The film’s pace is almost exhausting, and its transitions quick and sometimes dizzying. It keeps the viewers on their toes, to say the least. There is never a dull moment. But sometimes the building of some important characters seems to be neglected in the constant rush of action.

Although there is talk of a sequel, there shouldn’t be. Some might be disappointed with an ending that leaves a few things open, but there is value in it. Despite a few unanswered questions, the end of “District 9” leaves the viewer with enough to be satisfied and the feeling that those questions don’t really need to be answered. The important points were wrapped up nicely, and the rest we can assume wraps up the way we would want it to.

One sign of a good movie is when it resonates with you for days after you see it. “District 9” is one of those movies. It makes its point well: We treat those different from us badly, and often we treat our own no better. This film will depress you, and if it does, that’s a good sign. Little else needs to be said about it.

Written by: Lindsey Weedston

Reviewers Rating: 8.5
Reader's Rating: 9.00
Reader's Votes: 1

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