i'm being treated rather well by the world of sci-fi this year; what with watching sunshine and moon and now this amazing amazing thing. there are no prizes for spotting the similarities and commentaries between this film and the apartheid situation in south africa, and around the world actually. this is a film about racism. and a really brilliant and strangely informative way of looking at it. especially when it starts looking at the integration of different cultures. there is a very subtle discussion about people of mixed race in there too, in a particularly gruesome way.
unhidden subtexts aside, i was completely entranced and knocked apart by this. every second of it. i actually had a moment about halfway through where i realised my mouth had dropped open and i hadn't shut it in about half an hour. it was all dry and stuff.
i loved how it was filmed, that it was set in johannesburg, how many conventions it disobeyed, the special effects. i loved the ambiguity of the alien race: why they are there & what caused them to be stranded? i loved that they gave the aliens such obscure and unexplainable habits, and a mysterious culture that you never get into. all of it contributes to the whole racism commentary.
the journey of the central character wickus was particularly well done and well acted. you really dislike him to begin with. well you would, he was a racist bastard. but through one of the strangest character journeys i remember seeing, he becomes a noble hero.
i won't go any more into it, i really wouldn't want to ruin it for anyone. this film is brilliant.
9/10
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