Throwing aside the overly obvious real-life racial parallels, District 9 actually aims to do a pretty good job at telling a science fiction story with a difference, an aim which is aided no end by the fascinating concept on which the story is based. Sectionalised refugee aliens in Johannesburg, courtesy of a South African independent film certainly doesn't sound like the basis of your bog standard extra-terrestrial romp, but with Peter Jackson's assistance as producer, newcomer director Neil Blomkamp had plenty in his arsenal to make this work. All that being said, District 9 is a bit of a game of two halves for me. Stylistically intense (albeit a tad overly grotesque in places), the story is truly brilliant (driven almost entirely as a character drama rather than science fiction), and the fact that it is all set in the cinematically 'alien' landscape of South Africa is absolutely spot on. It would have been so easy to have commandeered the story and set it in the skies of Philadelphia or New Orleans, but an American backdrop would have lost every ounce of gravity that this final product has ended up with. However, and it's a big one, despite wanting to like District 9 for all the technical brilliance of the above, there's just something about it that makes it hard to do. Partly down to the frustrating mix of documentary extracts, found footage and 'real' narrative which never quite seem to gel together, the film is a little tricky to penetrate, and never quite managed to immerse me in the goings on of the people we're meant to be caring about. Although therefore able to appreciate it from afar, it's difficult to cast any meaningful judgement on a film that just didn't bring me along for the ride.
 |
| Are you happy with your gas and electric supplier? |
| Vital Statistics |
|---|
| Director | Neil Blomkamp |
| Cast | Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, David James |
| Length | 112 mins |
| Post Credits Scene | No |
| TFC Mash-Up | Independence Day swaps interstellar warmongering for alien refugees. Cue "what does it mean to be human?" filmmaking. |
| Star Rating |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment