jack_ryder (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jack_ryder) wrote2009-09-30 07:20 am
jack_ryder) wrote2009-09-30 07:20 am
District 9
murasaki_1966 and I finally saw this last night and I can't say I was disappointed because-
-it was exactly what I thought it would be like before I heard all the hype.
Kudos to Blomkamp for attempting a serious SF film in today's climate, especially one about a refugee crisis but I found it heavy handed and confused.
How much agency do the "prawns" actually have? There was no attempt (at least, if there was, I missed it) to give them any kind of distinct culture other than the now traditional slumdog aestheticised poverty.
The documentary aesthetic also bothered me. I think it's overused for across exposition but, as this was a film with a political intent, I felt I also needed to know who was making the documentary and for what reason. Like with Van De Merwe's Fly like transformation I was hoping for more, not exactly subtlety, but more exploration.
I can recommend the film (it is one of those parables that I fear will never be outdated) but I think we are so starved of genuinely thoughtful mainstream cinema that we tend to over-appreciate a fairly indifferently prepared meal.
-it was exactly what I thought it would be like before I heard all the hype.
Kudos to Blomkamp for attempting a serious SF film in today's climate, especially one about a refugee crisis but I found it heavy handed and confused.
How much agency do the "prawns" actually have? There was no attempt (at least, if there was, I missed it) to give them any kind of distinct culture other than the now traditional slumdog aestheticised poverty.
The documentary aesthetic also bothered me. I think it's overused for across exposition but, as this was a film with a political intent, I felt I also needed to know who was making the documentary and for what reason. Like with Van De Merwe's Fly like transformation I was hoping for more, not exactly subtlety, but more exploration.
I can recommend the film (it is one of those parables that I fear will never be outdated) but I think we are so starved of genuinely thoughtful mainstream cinema that we tend to over-appreciate a fairly indifferently prepared meal.
no subject
Sometimes we need to be aware of the inherent limitations of making a film.
Despite my misgivings - the realities of actually getting a film out there practically require Blomkamp to have a white protagonist. The allegations of racism I was skating around in a lower post (and I think other reviews have made more explicitly) should really take into account the economic realities of marketing films (i.e. - a black hero would practically guarantee that the film would be buried on direct to video.)