District 9
The man who became prawn
After years of watching Hollywood movies, the viewer can already from the first few minutes of exhibition form an idea about what will happen. This is due to the standards used or the commercial requirement that the investment must bring a guaranteed profit. For this reason, it is always interesting to see a film like “District 9” (ZA, 2009), which brings a new look on well-explored themes.
“District 9” was shot between shacks in Soweto, Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. It is the debut of South African director Neill Blomkamp and also of the main actor, Sharlto Copley, childhood friends. The production was by Peter Jackson, who despite being known for the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy (USA, 2001/2002/2003), started his career with films out of the ordinary, such as “Braindead” (NZ, 1992) and “Heavenly Creatures” (NZ, 1994).
In the opening minutes of the film, excerpts from a documentary made with Wikus Van Der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) are mixed together with scenes from news that report the arrival of an alien spaceship in Johannesburg. After much anticipation, when men invade the ship, they find thousands of sick and malnourished beings.
The aliens are taken to an improvised camp in District 9, where they are surrounded and kept under surveillance. What was a huge source of scientific attraction, gradually proves to be just a nuisance for the local government, forced to support this group of undesirables more.
Twenty years later, the place is a huge slum, where the aliens, pejoratively nicknamed “prawns”, are kept as animals, fed on remains and exploited by Nigerian traffickers. Despite having advanced technology, they do not know how to use it, and even their powerful weapons only work with their DNA, being useless to humans.
A powerful corporation, Multi-National United (MNU) has a special interest in the aliens and is hired to guard and maintain them. The order is given to remove the aliens from District 9 and transfer them to another camp. In respect of the aliens’ “rights”, they will have to be notified and sign the eviction notice.
The man charged of this operation is the clumsy Wikus that had won his job for being married to Tania (Vanessa Haywood), the daughter of one of the company executives. The security of the executives is provided by the truculent Koobus (David James) and his men, all heavily armed.
In the midst of all the confusion of the dump, the alien Christopher and his son relentlessly research a precious liquid that is their chance to escape from Earth. While Christopher is interrogated, Wikus rummages in the shack, and when collecting a strange tube, he receives a splash of its contents. The liquid contains the alien DNA, and ingesting unintentionally Wikus has his genetic code altered.
Upon realizing what had happened, the MNU took over the unfortunate Wikus and subjects him to all kinds of tests. Now, it would be possible to manipulate the powerful weapons of the aliens, since they had the appropriate DNA.
Terrified, Wikus manages to escape from the laboratory, taking refuge in the most unlikely place of all, District 9 itself. Now, he will have to find a way to reverse the process of genetic alteration, before he fully turns into a “prawn”.
The construction of the hero is one of the most interesting aspects of this movie, because at the beginning Wikus is just one bigoted bureaucrat, who gradually will become aware of the painful condition of interstellar slum dwellers.
The story is very well developed, and if at any time the viewer has a deja vu of “Iron Man” (USA, 2008), it will be for a short time. The special effects, though tasteful, do not replace the characters, and serve correctly as support.
A very interesting aspect, although it is not openly explored, is the expression of prejudice and contempt of the population, in some real interviews, which were incorporated into the film. When asking real South Africans in Soweto what they thought of “illegal aliens” (which can be both “illegal aliens” and “illegal immigrants”), they complained about Zimbabweans who had fled the Robert Mugabe dictatorship .
“District 9” is undoubtedly one of the best science fiction films of recent years, not only for its technical aspects, but also for being able to provoke discussions on uncomfortable topics, such as racism and intolerance. This sort of thing, previously hidden by a civility cloak, now appears to be proudly flaunted by many followers of Trump, Bolsonaro and other populist leaders.