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Film Analysis Of Neill Blomkamp's District 9

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Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 transcends the bounds of Hollywood’s usual, cliché alien movies. Through its imposing cinematography and mise-en-scène, an element of compassion is woven in throughout District 9, inverting the audience’s expectations with a shocking, novel narrative. The first fifteen minutes open up in a ‘mockumentary’ style, establishing the environment with interviews, news footage, corporation logs, and found footage of the alien ship hovering over Johannesburg. The film’s opening scene communicates that the extraterrestrials first arrived during the 1980’s and have been living amongst the people of Johannesburg as an unwelcome threat ever since. However, as film’s narrative progressively informs the viewer, their …show more content…

The small glimpse of the aliens harboring their ship made them appear horrifying; whereas, when they properly make their first appearance in the camps, they are accurately shown as pathetic and sickly. The different mise-en-scène in these two shots uncovers the two interpretations of the supposed threat. This informs the audience’s perception of the aliens as vulnerable and lost due to their imprisonment by the Multi-National United (MNU) Security Force. The mise-en-scène of the camps further captivates the viewer with images of destruction, barbed wire, and dilapidated homes in a Johannesburg slum. The choice of the setting being Johannesburg sets a different expectation for the viewer, as most Hollywood alien movies take place in major American cities; the foreign setting clearly establishes the film’s unique tone. This tone highlights the film’s clear allusion to the South African Apartheid by depicting comparable events. Mise-en-scène plays a huge role in this connection, as the camera rolls by a chain of signs that say, ‘For Humans Only’, ‘No Non-Human Loitering’, ‘No! Not Welcome’. This communicates that the human population is against the alien presence, preferring segregation instead of unity. These images have a direct connection to South Africa’s past, while also being reminiscent of the European refugee camps and the Jim Crow laws in America.
In continuation, the mise-en-scène used in the camps

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