In 1982, without warning, a huge alien mothership parked over Johannesburg, South Africa, but made contact with no one. After three months, humans pried their way aboard to discover over one million aliens inside.
The South African government set aside District 9 of Johannesburg as a haven for these aliens, but it soon turned into a lawless slum dominated by shady Nigeria weapons traders.
By the 21st century, the residents of South Africa (who seem to have at least somewhat put aside their racist attitudes toward another) are united in their wish for the “prawns” (the derogatory term used to by humans to refer to the aliens) to leave.
The South African government hires a corporation, Multinational United, to relocate the aliens to a new (and also low-quality) district far from human habitation, and Afrikaner Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) is chosen to oversee the operation.
Sure enough, the aliens don’t want to leave, and all hell breaks loose.
Doesn’t sound like your typical Best Picture nominee, does it?
It’s been a long time I was so engrossed in a movie. “District 9” had the perfect mix of originality, “cool” factor, cerebral plot and historical allegory to keep my glued to the screen for two hours.
The film is a heavy-handed metaphor for apartheid, the separation of the races in South Africa during the second half of the 20th century. Humans confine the aliens to slums, treat them as second-class citizens, and try to remove them to inferior areas, just as South African whites did to blacks.
At one point, Wikus stumbles upon an alien science experiment, and after a substance spills on him, he begins to transform into an alien himself. Ironically, it is not until this point that he truly exhibits some kind of humanity and compassion to the aliens’ plight.
The presentation of the film is also unusual, as it is done in documentary style, made from the point of view of the humans. As such much of it seems to have been filmed on handheld and security cameras, and the film is spliced with interviews with “experts” on the events.
The expansion of the Best Picture field to 10 allowed the Academy to branch out and give more diverse films the chance to be recognized with a nomination.
“District 9” may have benefitted from this new rule, as it is only the fifth science fiction film to ever receive a nomination (after “A Clockwork Orange,” “Star Wars,” “E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial” and now “Avatar”), and there is a pretty good chance “District 9” would not have been nominated without expanding the field.
However, to me, the benefit of expanding the field to 10 was supposed to be to give me more entertaining films to root for.
Unfortunately, this did not happen. I was entertained enough by “Avatar,” “The Hurt Locker” and “Up in the Air,” but none of them held my attention well enough to be Best Picture-worthy.
“District 9” stands alone as the most original, engaging, action-packed and well-produced movie of the year, and for that, it deserves the Oscar for Best Picture.
Harry Nelson is the opinion editor for The Reflector. He can be contacted at [email protected].