To be considered the “best” picture, a movie must be more than the best-selling, the most attractive or the one with the biggest name. The film must be innovative, groundbreaking, captivating and connective with the audience to be considered the best. Out of the selection of movies up for 2010’s Academy Award for best picture, “District 9” covers this criteria the best.
Released in August 2009 by producer Peter Jackson, the director of the brilliant “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, the film was an under-the-radar science fiction piece set in South Africa. An alien spaceship broke down over the city of Johannesburg, stranding its inhabitants to the confines of a camp the humans built for them called District 9. After nearly three decades of captivity, District 9 turns into a slum, meaning it’s time for the over one million refugees to be re-located to a new camp. The main character, Wikus van de Merwe, has been assigned to help the moving process along and arrest anyone who opposes the operation. However, when Merwe discovers a mysterious liquid in one of the alien’s houses, his life and the lives of many others change drastically.
There are a few reasons why this movie should win best picture. For one, the film introduces a very unique conflict between the humans and the aliens. Unlike most science-fiction films, this one portrays the humans as the bad guys. They mistreat and mishandle the refugees to the point of near rebellion, which makes it interesting when the main character and an alien join forces for a common goal. The roles are reversed, as is the confused human who must ask the alien for help in the vital moments of his waning life. They develop a friendship to help each other. One is trying to save his own life. The other is trying to save his species and must return home to do it.
Another conflict was among the humans themselves. Once Merwe comes in contact with the liquid, he slowly turns into one of the aliens. This allows him to use the weapons brought by the creatures, which can only be activated by their DNA. Once the government and local crime factions learn of his power, they look to harvest him and his abilities , showing the mistrust humans can have with each other.
As far as science fiction is concerned, it is a refreshing and revitalizing film from the genre. It has an original and captivating storyline. The film also does not require any explanation for any events. It is an accepted fact that the movie is a completely fictional piece, leaving no need to comprehend the reasoning behind the plot.
The movie is a great interpretation of human struggle and conflict, and I believe no other movie illustrates this like “District 9.”
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