Peter Jackson's "District 9": The SciFi Hit's High-Tech Anti-Apartheid Message

Aug 5, 2009 Source: dailygalaxy.com

At Diego's Comic-Con, "District 9" wowed its fanboy premiere and set Twitter afire with reports that the movie is one of the most original sci-fi films to come along in years. Filmed in a quasi-documentary style by South African newcomer Neill Blomkamp and produced by Oscar-winning genre-master Peter Jackson, the movie follows the social and geo-political repercussions of aliens crash-landing in Johannesburg where they are sequestered in an apartheid-style homeland, treated like refugees and forced to work for humans. They soon find a kindred spirit in a government agent that is exposed to their biotechnology.

Thirty-year-old Blomkamp saw "...South African society -- both the good and bad of the society there -- and he wanted to put a science fiction spin on what he witnessed growing up because he's a science fiction geek," Jackson said during a Com-Con interview. "I really like the idea that here was a guy who was making a movie based on life experience, not just on some movie that he was a fan of. 'District 9' is not reflective of any movie that I can imagine. It's really very original, which I love about it, and that's totally Neill."

"It all had a huge impact on me: the white government and the paramilitary police -- the oppressive, iron-fisted military environment," Blomkamp said in an interview with The LA Times' Chris Lee. "Blacks, for the most part, were kept separate from whites. And where there was overlap, there were very clearly delineated hierarchies of where people were allowed to go."

After 48 seconds of documentary-style interviews with people expressing concerns about recent immigrants, District 9 zooms into high gear with a spaceship crash landing impact. An alien interrogation ensues, but by then an intriguing framework sells the idea that this won’t be your ordinary special-effects-crazed thriller. The concept for this movie is unique. In a world where aliens existed the first thing a government would need to do to manage their existence, with regulations and restrictions, curfews, news of where you can and can't go.

"District 9" producer Peter Jackson took pains to explain to the LA Times that "It's a unique take on the science-fiction genre," he said. "It has dramatized sequences and uses home movie clips. But it's not like 'Cloverfield.' It doesn't remind you of anyone else's movie."

The movie's off-line promotions employ signage that deliberately echoes "Whites only" placards once seen in the South as well as cultural touchstones from Blomkamp's upbringing in apartheid-era South Africa. "Warning: Restricted area for humans only," reads an ad painted on a New York City wall.

D-9.com serves as a primer to the self-contained world of "District 9," detailing security guidelines for humans and "non-humans."

Article from: DailyGalaxy.com