"District 9 is about the apartheid struggle in South Africa." Its funny some of the media says that the apartheid is insinuated...the director himself said the film is set during South African aparthied and that the aliens are stuck in the same neighborhood with the black folk.
Hey, for me, I'm looking forward to a sci-fi movie from Africa.... Said --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@...> wrote: > > I can see how some would think of "Alien Nation", "V", even "Independence > Day" (the shape of the ship), but that means nothing. Some concepts in scifi > are simply not new: the idea of aliens coming to Earth and then being > ghettoized isn't. But it's the treatment, the new way the story's told, the > committment to intelligent writing and acting, the unique spin of the > director and producer and actors, that makes all the difference. Peter > Jackson doesn't like to support crappy fare that's devoid of something for > the grey matter, so I'm more excited about this than I am, say, the American > remake of "V" that's being discussed. > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Martin Baxter" <truthseeker...@...> > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Saturday, August 8, 2009 7:51:36 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern > Subject: [RE][scifinoir2] Looking forward to "District 9" > > > > > > > Keith, I'm hyped for it as well. I've been avoiding any websites that > hawk it in anyway, primarily because of my aversion to critics. All but one > person I've spoken to regarding it are keen to see it as well. (That one > refers to it as an " 'Alien Nation' ripoff".) > > > > > > > ---------[ Received Mail Content ]---------- > Subject : [scifinoir2] Looking forward to "District 9" > Date : Sat, 8 Aug 2009 06:55:00 +0000 (UTC) > From : Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@...> > To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > > The "District 9" flick has me really intrigued. with its locale of South > Africa (so different from usual Hollywood story locatons), it's gritty look, > and the fact that it's a Peter Jackson joint, i have high hopes. Indeed, I'm > actually looking forward to it more than I have any other movie so far this > year, including Star Trek. Anyone heard any early buzz? I did find favorable > reviews via jumping from Rotten Tomatoes (something I loathe to do, but as > local newspapers fire more critics, I'm having to venture further afield to > even find real critics). > > http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/district_9/ > > *************************************************************************** > http://boxoffice.com/reviews/2009/07/district-9.php > > > > District 9 is about the apartheid struggle in South Africa. For those under > the age of 35 or so, apartheid was the system of racial segregation legally > established by the government of South Africa between 1948 and 1994. No > matter what else it seems to be about, District 9 , a film made a young, > white, South African director, is about apartheid. Co-writer/director Neill > Blomkamp spent his formative years living under the system of apartheid and > has conscientiously insinuated the issue into his film. The attitudes, ideals > and actions of the characters, from everyday citizens to government officials > and those in business, reflect those that were common during the apartheid > regime. The filmmakers, including producer Peter Jackson, have stealthily > laid the artifacts of these dark days beneath the guise of an Alien invasion > movie that is intense, graphically novelistic (though itâs an original > story) and just funny enough to keep you thoroughly entertained, even while > the s! ubtext is of a very serious nature. Buzz and an also clever marketing > scheme suggest this should be worth a few bucks at the box > officeâ"especially if the audience is mostly under 35. > > The film is told using a number of cinematic modes including documentary > footage, mockumentary footage, newsreel accounts, surveillance cameras and > the standard story elements of narrative fiction. This is actually less > chaotic than it sounds and serves to move the narrative along at a brisk > pace. Thereâs little need here for filler. The filmmakers can justify any > narrative exposition by putting a camera on the action (any potential camera) > and just showing us, or having the characters explain the action to the > cameramen. When all else fails Blomkamp inserts a movie moment and presses > on. Lovely. Mister Blomkamp is a fine director who cut his teeth on > commercials and music videos, and at the knee of director and special effects > guru Peter Jackson. Between the two of them (Jacksonâs company was employed > for the effects) theyâve come up with the best CGI effects film to date. > The spacecrafts, the cityscapes, the weapons effects and the aliens > themselves (which we are! told are 100 percent CGI) are all exceptional. But > the best thing in the movie is lead actor Sharlto Copley, a long time friend > of the director and fairly novice actor. Copley is pitch perfect, delicately > straddling the line between ordinary Afrikaans racist and empathic hero. > > The narrative of District 9 revolves around a giant alien spacecraft that > came to rest above downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, some 20 years before > the story began. Inhabited by one million crawfish-like, cat food and raw > meat eating, humanoid aliens, little can be discerned about where the ship > came from or who the creatures are. They are simply here. They are strong but > without direction or purpose, mostly docile and apparently of little use to > humanity. So we warehouse themâ"in District 9. Then, we decide to forcibly > move them to a different, shoddier, interment camp. > While other nations are far from guiltless of such cruelties, the emphasis > here is on the South African history. Still, the structures the film employs > are incisive and direct and, if youâre over 35, they might piss you off. > > Distributor: Sony Pictures > Cast: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt, Sylvaine Strike, William > Allen Young and Robert Hobbs > Director: Neill Blomkamp > Screenwriters: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell > Producers: Peter Jackson > Genre: Science Fiction > Rating: Rated R for bloody violence and pervasive language. > Running Time: 113 min. > Release date: August 14, 2009 > > > > > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds >
