District 9
Movie aliens through the years have come in all shapes and sizes. There have been the good ("ET"), the bad ("War of the Worlds") and now the ugly.
In "District 9," the aliens are truly ugly, and that's sort of the point. They were stranded on earth 20 years ago when their mothership broke down in the skies over Johannesburg. Once it became clear they were no menace to mankind, humans gave them the nickname "prawns" and stuck them in a squalid detention camp, with barbed wire and armed guards to keep them isolated from the rest of us.
Told in a documentary film style, the story opens when the private contractor overseeing the camp prepares to round up the prawns and relocate them to a new refugee facility. The boss's bumbling son-in-law is put in charge of the paramilitary operation. But in the process, he discovers a canister of mysterious fluid, which explodes in his face. And the trouble begins.
What follows is a darn good action picture with unlikely heroes in a frantic chase for survival. Sharlto Copley, who plays the hapless bureaucrat at the center of this life-changing crisis, is amazing to watch. There are moments when the picture borrows a bit too liberally from David Cronenberg's "The Fly" and "Iron Man." But despite those lapses, director Neill Blomkamp, along with his collaborator and producer Peter Jackson, has clearly made a statement with his first movie.
"District 9" has much more going for it than well-executed action and suspense. The world envisioned here has gotten past the fascination of first contact with alien life forms. Humans have concluded that these visitors are disgusting and a huge drain on resources, so it becomes okay to hate them. They become the new minority, the outsiders. Even those South Africans who were the most recent victims of discrimination join the chorus of prejudice against these undesirables.
"District 9" is a revelation, one of those films with an unknown director and cast that comes out of nowhere and forces us to sit up and take notice. It's a thrilling and multilayered surprise.
Sin Nombre
Outsiders are at the heart of another low-profile but highly-charged picture. "Sin Nombre," now out on DVD, is also the work of a first-time feature director, Cary Fukunaga. In this case, the outsiders are our neighbors to the south, desperate to escape dead-end poverty for a new life in the United States.
Sayra (Paulina Gaitan) has left Honduras with her father and uncle, and Casper (Edgar Flores) is fleeing for his life from his Mexican gang. Their two lives intersect when they both end up stowing away on the top of a freight train headed for the border.
Like "District 9," this film excels as a suspenseful thriller. The perils facing the characters on their journey north -
from police, border guards, pursuing gang members and the dangers of riding atop a speeding train -
are frightening and real. Casper's violent life as a gang member is presented in graphic and gritty detail. "Sin Nombre" is unflinching in its portrayal of the brutal conditions that drive immigrants to our border, and the hazards they face along the way.
The plot may focus on the distinctly different lives of the two main characters, but both stories merge into one wrenching tale of survival. Both Sayra and Casper find common ground in each other's determination to make a new life for themselves.
"Sin Nombre" is in Spanish with English subtitles, and an occasional technical or editing glitch contributes to a bit of confusion. But Fukunaga skillfully orchestrates the action to keep the film moving at a swift pace.
Beyond its suspense components, the film's issues are universal, and the struggle its characters undergo is timeless. The picture is not about politics. But as we experience immigration through the lives of these two young, desperate people, it becomes clear that building bigger fences or higher walls will not solve the problem. It's not about eliminating immigration, but about eliminating the reasons they must leave their homes in the first place.
Premiere of "Coal Country"
On Oct. 7, at 7:30 p.m., the Kentucky Theatre will host the premiere of the documentary film "Coal Country," written and directed by Phylis Geller and executive produced by Mari-Lynn Evans. The picture explores modern coal mining and includes interviews with miners, activists and others on the front lines of the battle over the issue of mountaintop removal.
In addition to screening the film, the evening will include appearances by country music artist Kathy Mattea, Appalachian singer/songwriter Jean Ritchie and Kentucky author Silas House. Admission to the premiere is $25. For $125, you can attend a pre-movie benefit dinner at 5:30 p.m. at Natasha's with the event's special guests and receive reserved theatre seating.
Proceeds from the evening benefit the Cumberland Chapter of the Sierra Club and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to www.kentucky.sierraclub.org.