Director: Neill Blomkamp
Cast: Sharlto Copley/Jason Cope/David James

“It wasn’t like watching a movie; it was like living an experience” one of my friends said after watching District 9.
4 Oscar Awards nominations, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, and Best Editing, make District 9 one of the hottest movies of the year of 2009, comparable with Avatar. The film was produced by none other than Peter Jackson, thus assuring the box office. The director Neill Blomkamp was raised in South Africa until he was 18, and this film is a direct reflection of a similar camp called “District 6? which was used to segregate blacks until apartheid was finally lifted.

The story, adapted from Alive in Joburg, a 2005 short film directed by Blomkamp and produced by Copley, pivots on the themes of xenophobia, inhumanity and social segregation.

The film was produced for $30 million and presents fictional interviews, news footage, and video from surveillance cameras in documentary style. On August 14 2009, the film opened to critical acclaim, in North America and earned $37 million in its opening weekend. Many saw the film as a surprising hit for its relatively unknown cast and low-budget production, while achieving success and popularity during its theatrical run.

Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley), an MNU field operative, was assigned to relocate the aliens, derogatorily referred to as “prawns”, from District 9, a military-guarded slum in Johannesburg, South Africa, to an internment camp outside the city. Collisions between MNU and aliens and gang group take place continuously and you can never take your eyes off the screen during watching.In the end, MNU’s illegal experiments on the aliens are exposed. The aliens are shown to have successfully moved to District 10. Wikus’s wife reveals to have found a metal flower on her doorstep, which provides her with hope that her husband is still alive. In a scrap yard, an alien presumed to be a fully transformed Wikus is seen crafting a flower out of metal.

Wikus negotiates with Prawn

Sharlto Copley as Wikus van de Merwe, the main human protagonist, a mild-mannered manager at the MNU Department of Alien Affairs. This was the first time acting professionally in a feature film for Copley, a friend of director Blomkamp. His performance was so wonderful that I doubt why Academy Award didn’t nominate him for Best Actor.

The film is impressive not only in the wonderful performance and exciting plots, but also the soundtrack and its themes. The two are perfectly combined and cast a shadow on the viewers. You can’t miss it!