‘When dealing with aliens, try to be polite, but firm…’
Allegory within cinema can be tricky. People don’t want to be preached to or chastised when they go to the movies. When done well, however, it can be potent. District 9 confronts the horrors of apartheid through the prism of an actual alien invasion and the result is a film that will go down as a bona fide sci-fi classic…
Filmed in the style of a documentary (although director Neill Blomkamp wisely dispenses with this conceit liberally when required), District 9 is the story of Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley), a cheerful government agent who is tasked with clearing an alien slum on the outskirts of Johannesburg. After coming into contact with some dubious-looking black fluid, Wikus begins a horrifying transformation.
A monster movie posing the question ‘But who are the REAL monsters?’ is hardly a new concept but never has it been rendered as imaginatively or as memorably as this. The combination of visual and practical effects to create the ‘prawns’ is incredible, particularly for a first-time director. Copley is a revelation as Wikus, undergoing one of the most compelling character arcs in sci-fi history. Blomkamp throws everything at the wall in his debut feature: body horror, action sequences, pathos and even black humour, in a style reminiscent of the early work of Sam Raimi, and as with The Evil Dead and Raimi, everything pays off here to create a film that is a genuine modern classic. Indeed, District 9 was nominated for four Oscars including Best Picture and can count itself very unlucky to have lost out to The Hurt Locker.
With a little distance, District 9 has only become more salient and poignant. There is a nagging feeling that if an alien ship were to actually appear above a major city the inhabitants would be treated exactly as they are here. By the end of the film, despite clocking in at under two hours, it feels that both Wikus and the audience have undertaken an epic journey to the heart of darkness. Quite simply one of the best debut features of all time and one of the best sci-fi films ever.