District 9
Short description
An enormous spacecraft came to a halt above Johannesburg, and the visitors aboard turned out to be refugees rather than conquerors. With no hostile invasion and no technological windfall, the world's governments settled on a holding camp on the city's outskirts, District 9. Two decades later the camp has become a crowded, run-down settlement, resented by locals and administered by a private company, Multi-National United, whose real interest lies in making the aliens' weaponry work. Tensions rise as the company begins moving the residents to a new site, a job handed to field agent Wikus van de Merwe. An accident during the operation leaves him in an unusual condition, and the only place he can turn is the district he was sent to clear.
Neill Blomkamp directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Terri Tatchell, with Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham producing. It followed Blomkamp's 2007 short Halo: Landfall and was his first feature, ahead of Elysium and Chappie. Sharlto Copley, in his first major screen role, plays Wikus, with Jason Cope among the principal cast in the film's 97 credited acting parts.
Made for about 30 million dollars, District 9 took roughly 211 million worldwide, a strong return on its budget. Audiences rate it 7.9 out of 10 on IMDb from 750,000 votes and 7.5 out of 10 on TMDB from 10,665 votes. A critics' score of 8 out of 10 from 309 reviews places it close to the audience ratings.
What's left behind the scenes
- Part of the marketing campaign in North America involved placing movie posters at bus stops in major cities, as well as on building walls, etc.; the posters stated that these zones were intended only for humans and also included a phone number (866.666.6001) to call in case of non-human presence. The film's title wasn't displayed, but there was a link to its official website.
- All the aliens in the film were created on a computer, with the exception of the bodies lying in the medical laboratory.
- The film was sharply criticized by the Nigerian authorities. The country's leadership demanded an official apology from Sony for releasing a film depicting Nigerian women as prostitutes and Nigerian men as arms dealers and criminals (one of whom is also a cannibal). Furthermore, the leader of the Nigerian mafia in "District 9" is named Obesandjo – almost like former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
- At the 145th minute of the film, when Tanya shows the iron flower, you can notice ultrasound pictures taped to the mirror behind her, hinting at a woman’s possible pregnancy.
- Approximately six different endings to the film were created during shooting.
- The idea to expand the short film into a full-fledged mockumentary came from Peter Jackson’s wife and creative partner, Frances Walsh.
- The film's plot and title are a reference to the apartheid regime in South Africa and "District Six" in Cape Town. In 1966, "District Six" was declared a "whites-only" area and 60,000 people were forcibly separated from family and friends and relocated to the Cape Flats.
- Actor Sharlto Copley had never acted before and had no intention of pursuing an acting career. He landed the lead role after Neill Blomkamp filmed him in the short film "Survival in Joburg" (2006).
- When Vikus and Christopher infiltrate the MNU laboratory, the inscription "Tetra Vaal" is visible on the wall, which is a reference to Neil Blomkamp's short film ("Tetra Vaal" (2004)), which later became the film "Chappie" (2015).
- Composer Clinton Shorter spent three weeks preparing the soundtrack. Neill Blomkamp wanted the film's soundtrack to be "raw and dark," but also to retain African motifs. This was a difficult task for Shorter, who found most African music to be optimistic and joyful. Shorter couldn't achieve the heavy sound he wanted with African drums, so he used a combination of taiko drums and synthesized instruments to achieve the desired results, while the main elements of the African atmosphere were conveyed through vocals and percussion.
- Due to the large amount of handheld shooting required for the film, the producers and crew decided to shoot using the RED One digital camera. Cinematographer Trent Opaloch used nine RED One digital cameras owned by Peter Jackson for personal use. After filming, the post-production team warned that most of the material shot on RED could be processed in about an hour or an hour and a half per day. However, after the first five hours of processing the footage, 120 terabytes of data were filled, and additional disk space was required.
- The language spoken by the alien (clicking sounds) was created by rubbing a pumpkin.
- After the film based on the HALO game, which was to be directed by Neill Blomkamp, fell through, producer Peter Jackson offered Blomkamp $30 million to film whatever he wanted. The result was this film.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
