Hugo Fregonese's Apenas un Delincuente

Apenas un Delincuente / Hardly a Criminal (1949, Argentina, directed by Hugo Fregonese)

This year’s AFOFF selection of the stellar 1949 Argentine noir Apenas un Delincuente was inspired by Allan’s ‘The Fish Obscuro’ column although the film isn’t as much in the shadows now as it was prior to 2022. That is because Apenas un Delincuente / Hardly a Criminal (1949) was part of a 2022 Hugo Fregonese retrospective that premiered at Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna and then later that year at MoMA. In addition, Apenas un Delincuente was the inspiration behind Rodrigo Moreno’s 2023 thoughtful film The Delinquents. In fact, both Apenas un Delincuente and The Delinquents share the same core story of a bank fraud but both films diverge in different directions.

The bank fraud in Apenas un Delincuente was inspired by a real-life incident and is one of those stories that emphasizes that reality is stranger than fiction. In the film, José Moran  (Jorge Salcedo) is a bank employee who fancies the rich nightlife and his day job is only a means for him to pay off his nightlife which also includes a gambling habit. José has run up a huge debt due to gambling losses and subsequent borrowed sums from loan sharks. His salary can’t cover off his debts and he is constantly trying to avoid the loan sharks who are looking to collect their payment. One day, the loan sharks arrive at the bank and demand their money. With no place to run, José gives them another customer’s deposit. Seeing how easy it was for him to use someone else’s money, José starts drawing up a plan to steal even more money from the bank. His ideas are strengthened when he learns that the maximum jail sentence for bank fraud is six years regardless of the amount stolen. José calculates that he can steal enough money, hide his loot, serve 6 years in jail, come out and comfortably live the rest of his life. His rationale is that this one time fraud followed by 6 years of jail time will yield him more money than working an entire life at the bank. José thinks his plan is perfect but like all film noirs, there are elements that José doesn’t factor in such as his family’s vulnerability or street smart gangsters. These unseen factors turn his plans upside down leading to a pulsating action packed finale.

Hugo Fregonese packs in a lot in just under 90 minutes. The first half of the film not only sets up the plan and execution but also gives enough of a family backstory which helps explain José’s decisions. The second half depicts fascinating prison power dynamics before the film incorporates car chases and a good old fashioned shoot-out. I hadn’t seen any of Hugo Fregonese’s films prior to Hardly a Criminal. The impressive execution of the film means that was a huge cinematic blindspot on my end. In reality, Fregonese wasn’t that much in the shadows if I had only looked in the right spots. He was a global film director who started his career in his native Argentina in 1940s before moving to direct films in Hollywood in 1950s such as Apache Drums (1951), Man in the Attic (1953), Black Tuesday (1954). He then moved around Europe to direct a string of films (The Beasts of Marseilles, The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse) before returning to Argentina. If others haven’t seen a film by him, then Hardly a Criminal is a great starting point.

On another note, the running time of Moreno’s The Delinquents (3 hours 9 min) is double in length to Apenas un Delincuente (88 min) and doesn’t have any car chases, bullets or a backstory. Yet, both films are precious in their own right. In fact, the difference in treatment highlights how creativity can ensure that we will never run of worthy films to view.

Cross-published at Wonders in the Dark.

Best Films from Rest of Asia Poll

Wonders in the Dark is having their "Rest of Asia" film poll. The countries covered are South Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Mongolia, Tibet, Nepal, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Laos, North Korea, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

There is a wealth of rich cinematic works from these countries and a Top 20 is not enough to do justice especially since it is easy to make a list consisting entirely of films from South Korea and Philippines. Lav Diaz could easily take over half of this list on his own. However, this list is a bit more inclusive and consists of films from 9 out of the possible 18 countries eligible for the poll.

Top 20 Films from the Rest of Asia Poll

1. Manila in the Claws of Light (1975, Philippines, Lino Brocka)
2. Tropical Malady (2004, Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
3. The Housemaid (1960, South Korea,  Kim Ki-young)
4. Memories of Murder (2003, South Korea, Bong Joon Ho)
5. Insiang (1976, Philippines, Lino Brocka)
6. Evolution of a Filipino Family (2004, Philippines, Lav Diaz)
7. Right Now, Wrong Then (2015, South Korea, Hong Sang-soo)
8. Tirador (Slingshot, 2007, Philippines, Brillante Mendoza)
9. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010, Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
10. Sepet (2004, Malaysia, Yasmin Ahmad)
11. Made in Bangladesh (2019, Bangladesh, Rubaiyat Hossain)
12. The Missing Picture (2013, Cambodia, Rithy Panh)
13. ILO ILO (2013, Singapore, Anthony Chen)
14. The Scent of Green Papaya (1993, Vietnam, Anh Hung Tran)
15. Between Two Worlds (2009, Sri Lanka, Vimukthi Jayasundara)
16. The Salt in our Waters (2020, Bangladesh, Rezwan Shahriar Sumit)
17. Burning (2018, South Korea, Lee Chang-dong)
18. Wonderful Town (2007, Thailand, Aditya Assarat)
19. From What is Before (2014, Philippines, Lav Diaz)
20. Woman on Fire Looks for Water (2009, Malaysia, Woo Ming Jin)

Top 20 via country breakdown:
Philippines: 5
South Korea: 4
Thailand: 3
Bangladesh: 2
Malaysia: 2
Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka: 1

Best Films from Austria, Belgium, Greece, Holland, Ireland, and Switzerland

Doing a deep dive into a specific region or nation’s cinema often reveals blindspots and gaps in one’s knowledge. This proved to be case when compiling a list of top films from Austria, Belgium, Greece, Holland, Ireland, and Switzerland for Wonders in the Dark’s “Rest of Europe” spotlight. The gaps again highlight the lack of viable legal options to see many classic films from these six nations. There are some exceptions though when it comes to older films from these regions such as Chantal Akerman’s 1975 film Jeanne Dielman and Paul Verhoeven’s 1973 Turkish Delight, both of which are easily available. The oldest film in this list is Michael Cacoyannis’s 1956 Greek film A Girl in Black and that isn’t a surprise because until the late 1990s, his films such as Stella (1955), Zorba the Greek (1964), Attila 74 (1975) were the most common Greek films available to rent on VHS tapes at my local video stores (yes those physical spaces). Next most common Greek films available were those of Theo Angelopoulos. Things changed after 2010 when newer Greek films became available due to works of New Greek cinema playing at most film festivals and finding distribution after their festival runs.

Top 15 films from “Rest of Europe” Poll: Austria, Belgium, Greece, Holland, Ireland, and Switzerland

1. Homo Sapiens (2016, Austria, Nikolaus Geyrhalter)
2. L’Enfant (2005, Belgium, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)
3. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975, Belgium, Chantal Akerman)
4. The Vanishing (1988, Holland, George Sluizer)
5. Rosetta (1999, Belgium, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)
6. Father and Daughter (2000, Holland, Michael Dudok de Wit)
7. Turkish Delight (1973, Holland, Paul Verhoeven)
8. A Girl in Black (1956, Greece, Michael Cacoyannis)
9. The Weeping Meadow (2004, Greece, Theo Angelopoulos)
10. Lourdes (2009, Austria, Jessica Hausner)
11. The Boat is Full (1981, Switzerland, Markus Imhoof)
12. In the Name of the Father (1993, Ireland, Jim Sheridan)
13. Revanche (2008, Austria, Götz Spielmann)
14. A Town Called Panic (2009, Belgium, Stéphane Aubier/Vincent Patar)
15. Dogtooth (2009, Greece, Yorgos Lanthimos)

Honourable mention:

Man Bites Dog (1992, Belgium, Rémy Belvaux/André Bonzel/Benoît Poelvoorde)

Best Films from Africa and Middle East

Wonders in the Dark recently concluded a Best Films from Africa and Middle East poll. The inclusion of Iran, Israel and Turkey in this poll meant that the list is vastly different than the combined results of my previous Best films from Africa and Arab World list. Here is my submitted entry. 

Top 20 films from Africa and Middle East.

1. Taste of Cherry (1997, Iran, Abbas Kiarostami)
2. Touki Bouki (1973, Senegal, Djibril Diop Mambéty)
3. Crimson Gold (2003, Iran, Jafar Panahi)
4. The Time That Remains (2009, Palestine, Elia Sulieman)
5. Soleil Ô (1967, Mauritania, Med Hondo)
6. Timbuktu (2014, Mauritania, Abderrahmane Sissako)
7. Black Girl (1966, Senegal, Ousmane Sembene)
8. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011, Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
9. The House is Black (1963, Iran, Forugh Farrokhzad)
10. Chronicles of the Years of Fire (1975, Algeria, Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina)
11. Close-Up (1990, Iran, Abbas Kiarostami)
12. A Man of Integrity (2017, Iran, Mohammad Rasoulof)
13. Return to Homs (2013, Syria, Talal Derki)
14. A Separation (2011, Iran, Asghar Farhadi)
15. Al-mummia (The Mummy, 1969, Egypt, Chadi Abdel Salam)
16. Cairo Station (1958, Egypt, Youssef Chahine)
17. Salt of This Sea (2007, Palestine, Annemarie Jacir)
18. Tilaï (The Law, 1990, Burkina Faso, Idrissa Ouedraogo)
19. The Little Wars (1982, Lebanon, Maroun Bagdadi)
20. Waltz with Bashir (2008, Israel, Ari Folman)

Note: I have listed the primary country only for the co-productions above.

Titles by country:

Iran: 6
Senegal: 2
Palestine: 2
Mauritania: 2
Egypt: 2
Turkey: 1
Algeria: 1
Syria: 1
Burkina Faso: 1
Lebanon: 1
Israel: 1

It isn't a surprise that Iran dominates this list with 6 titles given the strength of its cinema.

John Abraham's Amma Ariyan

Amma Ariyan (Report to Mother, 1986, India, John Abraham)

My selection for the 6th AFOFF is inspired by Allan’s incredible ‘The Fish Obscuro’ section. I always used to look forward to see what film Allan would post about in this section. Often, the titles were discoveries for me as I hadn’t seen the film or had only heard about them. Allan also included how he saw the film (DVD2, DVD1, not on DVD) and that highlighted the lack of proper distribution for many films he was seeing. Over the last few years, we have had many more streaming options to see films yet distribution of many foreign films still remains a problem. Case in point, John Abraham’s 1986 film Amma Ariyan (Report to Mother).

Abraham’s name is vital when discussing India’s Parallel Cinema even though he only directed four features and tragically died at a young age of 49 in 1987. However, I hadn’t seen any of his four features and never came across a DVD/Blu-Ray of his films. That changed over the last 2 years when I finally saw his last film via the link posted below. Incidentally, Amma Ariyan also received a proper screening in 2021 via Bologna’s Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in a special section on Parallel cinema curated by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Cecilia Cenciarelli and Omar Ahmed.

On paper, the story of Amma Ariyan is simple but the brilliant execution is what makes this film stand apart. In the film, Purushan (Joy Mathew) is a young man on his way to Delhi to pursue a better future when he comes across a dead body that the police say is unidentified. Purushan can’t get over the sight of the dead body and feels the face is familiar. So he postpones his journey to Delhi and goes about trying to identify who the person is. His quest leads him to meet people from all walks of life, including musicians, theatre artists, who end up helping identify the deceased as Hari, a tabla player. Purushan wants to travel to Kochi (formerly Cochin) to inform Hari’s mother of his death.  He is accompanied by all the different people who helped confirm Hari’s identity. Thus begins a road journey unlike any other where people who have nothing in common work together towards a common end goal.

The film’s structure consists of multiple flashbacks where each person sheds a little more light on Hari’s past and that helps piece together events that preluded Hari’s death. The story is set against the backdrop of the Naxalite movement in Kerala when police tortured and beat up youth. The details of the political ideologies and struggles aren’t spelled out but the omission of details works in the film’s favour as that lends the material a universal flavour. Multiple countries, including those in our contemporary times, have cases of police abusing their power and beating up innocent people based on differing political ideologies. In that sense, Amma Ariyan is powerfully relevant to our current world.

The community nature of the film also has relevance in our current world. In the film, all the people who help identify Hari form a community and drop everything to go inform Hari’s mother. They want to do their part in helping out in whatever manner they can and share the grief of Hari’s death. The film’s ending features an emotional walk of the group including the mother. Over the last few years, we have seen many movements where people from different backgrounds have come together to share in a common sense of loss. Even in social media retweets or reposts of a tragedy are one form of people sharing in someone’s loss.

Amma Ariyan (Report to Mother) floored me, emotionally and technically. Technically, the film stands apart from other Indian films I have seen. Renowned film scholar Dr. Omar Ahmed notes the non-Indian influences on the film:

With the extreme wide-angle shots, a liberated camera continually on the move and a quasi-documentary aesthetic, John’s style recalls the Latin American Third Cinema of the 1960s (especially Mikhail Kalatozov’s Soy Cuba) manifesting a creative hybridity in which indigenous film practices and modernist cultural sensibilities intersect with broader international influences. -- BFMAF

I can’t imagine how such a precious film did not get proper distribution earlier. For now, I hope more people can view this film and appreciate what it has to offer.

Note: Cross-published on Wonders in the Dark.

Top French Films of All Time

Coming up with a Best French Films of All Time list is not an easy task given the thousands of worthy films to choose from over a century.

Top 30 French Films roughly in order of preference:

1. Pickpocket (1959, Robert Bresson)
2. Le ballon rouge (The Red Balloon, 1956, Albert Lamorisse)
3. La règle du jeu (The Rules of the Game, 1939, Jean Renoir)
4. Le Trou (1960, Jacques Becker)
5. Playtime (1967, Jacques Tati)
6. Le samouraï (1967, Jean-Pierre Melville)
7. Les quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows, 1959, François Truffaut)
8. Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows, 1958, Louis Malle)
9. Le salaire de la peur (The Wages of Fear, 1953, Henri-Georges Clouzot)
10. Cléo de 5 à 7 (Cléo from 5 to 7, 1962, Agnès Varda)
11. Orphée (Orpheus, 1950, Jean Cocteau)
12. L’Age D’or (1930, Luis Buñuel)
13. L’Intrus (2004, Claire Denis)
14. L’armée des ombres (Army of Shadows, 1969, Jean-Pierre Melville)
15. L’Argent (1983, Robert Bresson)
16. À bout de souffle (Breathless, 1960, Jean-Luc Godard)
17. Beau Travail (1999, Claire Denis)
18. Du rififi chez les hommes (Rififi, 1955, Jules Dassin)
19. La passion de Jeanne d’Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc, 1928, Carl Theodor Dreyer)
20. Que le bête meure (The Beast Must Die, 1969, Claude Chabrol)
21. Touchez pas au grisbi (Hands off the Loot!, 1954, Jacques Becker)
22. Hiroshima mon Amour (1959, Alain Resnais)
23. Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live, 1962, Jean-Luc Godard)
24. Les Vampires (1915, Louis Feuillade)
25. Holy Motors (2012, Leos Carax)
26. L’année dernière à Marienbad (Last Year at Marienbad, 1961, Alain Resnais)
27. La Jetée (1962, Chris Marker)
28. Paris nous appartient (Paris Belongs to Us, 1961, Jacques Rivette)
29. La maman et la putain (The Mother and the Whore, 1973, Jean Eustache)
30. Le genou de Claire (Claire’s Knee, 1970, Eric Rohmer)

List submitted for Wonders in the Dark's French film poll.

Top Scandinavian Films of All Time

Wonders in the Dark is having a top 20 Scandinavian films poll. The list of countries also includes Iceland, so in essence, it is a Nordic countries poll. That means the film output will primarily be from 5 countries - Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland. One day, I hope to see films from Faroe Islands and Greenland.

As Sam Juliano pointed out, the challenge is restricting the number of Ingmar Bergman films for this list. I could have slotted half of this list with Bergman films. Instead, I restricted that number to 5 Bergman films or 25% of this list. In addition, I also managed to keep Lars von Trier entries to just 3 films.

Top 20 Scandinavian films of all time list:

1. The Seventh Seal (1957, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
2. The Emigrants / The New Land (1971/1972, Sweden, Jan Troell)
3. Babette’s Feast (1987, Denmark, Gabriel Axel)
4. Ordet (1955, Denmark, Carl Theodor Dryer)
5. The Phantom Carriage (1921, Sweden, Victor Sjöström)
6. Wild Strawberries (1957, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
7. The Celebration (1998, Denmark, Thomas Vinterberg)
8. Songs from the Second Floor (2000, Sweden, Roy Andersson)
9. A Winter Light (1963, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
10. Dancer in the Dark (2000, Denmark, Lars von Trier)
11. The Man Without a Past (2002, Finland co-production, Aki Kaurismäki)
12. Shame (1968, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
13. Scenes from a Marriage (1973, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
14. Breaking the Waves (1996, Denmark, Lars von Trier)
15. Pusher (1996, Denmark, Nicolas Winding Refn)
16. Children / Parents (2006/2007, Iceland, Ragnar Bragason)
17. Show Me Love (1998, Sweden, Lukas Moodysson)
18. Force Majeure (2014, Sweden, Ruben Östlund)
19. Pelle the Conqueror (1987, Denmark/Sweden, Bille August)
20. Steam of Life (2010, Finland, Joonas Berghäll/Mika Hotakainen)

Films from different countries:

There are 22 films for the 20 spots.

Sweden (11): The Emigrants and The New Land count as one entry
Denmark (7)
Finland (2)
Iceland (2): Children and Parents count as one spot

Unfortunately, no film from Norway made the cut.

Best Films from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan

Wonders in the Dark is having a poll to determine the best 15 films from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

It is tough to narrow down just 15 films from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan especially since they all have a rich history of cinema going back almost a century to the 1920s-early 1930s. On top of that, there are many diverse genre films from this part of the world making it challenging to pit one film style against another. Ultimately, I opted for the following 15 films.

Best Films from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan

1. In the Mood for Love (2000, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
2. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (2000, Taiwan, Edward Yang)
3. Flowers of Shanghai (1998, Taiwan, Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
4. Platform (2000, China, Jia Zhang-ke)
5. Eat Drink Man Woman (1994, Taiwan, Ang Lee)
6. Election (2005, Hong Kong, Johnnie To)
7. Spring in a Small Town (1948, China, Fei Mu)
8. Raise the Red Lantern (1991, China, Zhang Yimou)
9. West of the Tracks (2002, China, Wang Bing)
10. What Time is It There? (2001, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang)
11. Chungking Express (1994, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
12. Infernal Affairs (2002, Hong Kong, Andrew Lau/Alan Mak)
13. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Taiwan/Hong Kong/China, Ang Lee)
14. Devils on the Doorstep (2000, China, Wen Jiang)
15. Ash is Purest White (2018, China, Jia Zhang-ke)

One surprising aspect of this list was finding out that I included 5 films from the Year 2000. That means 1/3 of all the films in this list came from one year. The stellar quality of these 5 films does indicate that 2000 was a strong year for Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.

In the Mood for Love (2000, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
Yi Yi: A One and a Two (2000, Taiwan, Edward Yang)
Platform (2000, China, Jia Zhang-ke)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Taiwan/Hong Kong/China, Ang Lee)
Devils on the Doorstep (2000, China, Wen Jiang)

In the Mood for Love is one of Wong Kar-wai’s most iconic films. Yi Yi is considered one of Edward Yang’s best films while Jia Zhang-ke’s second feature, Platform, helped propel his name globally. Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon certainly established a new found love for wuxia in the West. Wen Jiang’s powerful 2nd feature Devils on the Doorstep got plenty of attention after it won the Grand Jury prize at Cannes 2000.

[Updated List, May 11, 2022]

Best Films from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan

1. In the Mood for Love (2000, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
2. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (2000, Taiwan, Edward Yang)
3. Flowers of Shanghai (1998, Taiwan, Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
4. Platform (2000, China, Jia Zhang-ke)
5. Boat People (1982, Hong Kong, Ann Hui)
6. Eat Drink Man Woman (1994, Taiwan, Ang Lee)
7. Election (2005, Hong Kong, Johnnie To)
8. Raise the Red Lantern (1991, China, Zhang Yimou)
9. West of the Tracks (2002, China, Wang Bing)
10. What Time is It There? (2001, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang)
11. Chungking Express (1994, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
12. Infernal Affairs (2002, Hong Kong, Andrew Lau/Alan Mak)
13. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Taiwan/Hong Kong/China, Ang Lee)
14. Devils on the Doorstep (2000, China, Wen Jiang)
15. Ash is Purest White (2018, China, Jia Zhang-ke)
16. Spring in a Small Town (1948, China, Fei Mu)

Best of Former Soviet Bloc films

Wonders in the Dark is having a “Former Soviet Bloc” film polling. The films can either be classics prior to the break-up of U.S.S.R or new contemporary works. That makes this a tough decision but here is my vote for the top 20 films.

1. Dekalog (1989/90, Poland, Krzysztof Kieslowski)
2. Underground (1995, Yugoslavia, Emir Kusturica)
3. Satantango (1994, Hungary, Béla Tarr)
4. Closely Watched Trains (1966, Czechoslovakia, Jirí Menzel)
5. Ashes and Diamonds (1958, Poland,  Andrzej Wajda)
6. Man Is Not A Bird (1965, Yugoslavia, Dusan Makavejev)
7. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005, Romania, Cristi Puiu)
8. My Joy (2010, Ukraine, Sergey Loznitsa)
9. Revenge (1989, Kazakhstan, Ermek Shinarbaev)
10. Loves of a Blond (1965, Czechoslovakia, Milos Forman)
11. Daisies (1966, Czechoslovakia, Vera Chytilová)
12. Ikarie XB1 (1963, Czechoslovakia, Jindrich Polák)
13. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007, Romania, Cristian Mungiu)
14. Innocence Unprotected (1968, Yugoslavia, Dusan Makavejev)
15. Police, Adjective (2009, Romania, Corneliu Porumboiu)
16. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000, Hungary, Béla Tarr/Ágnes Hranitzky)
17. I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians (2018, Romania, Radu Jude)
18. The Turin Horse (2011, Hungary, Béla Tarr/Ágnes Hranitzky)
19. Mirage (2004, Macedonia, Svetozar Ristovski)
20. Cabaret Balkan (1998, Yugoslavia, Goran Paskaljevic)

On another note: this reminds me of a time long ago when I did a spotlight on Eastern European cinema and paired it with soccer.

Best Canadian Films of All Time

Wonders in the Dark is running a Best Canadian film poll where each participant is required to submit their top 15 Canadian films.

My Top 15 Canadian Films of All time

1. One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk (2019, Zacharias Kunuk)

The film documents a historical encounter in 1961 Baffin Island between a Canadian government agent and the Inuit leader Noah Piugattuk. The agent wants Piugattuk to send kids from the Inuit communities to schools in a city/town. The film shows a conversation with no violence but it is clear that the next encounter will involve force. Given the recent discovery of children’s remains buried around residential schools in Canada, it is clear that the implications of a ‘friendly conversation’ in Kunuk’s film extended beyond the confines of Baffin island and tragically impacted all parts of Canada.

2. The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (2019, Kathleen Hepburn/Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers)

3. A Married Couple (1969, Allan King)

4. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001, Zacharias Kunuk)

5. Les Orders (1974, Michel Brault)
6. The Barbarian Invasions (2003, Denys Arcand)
7. The Sweet Hereafter (1997, Atom Egoyan)
8. Montreal Main (1972, Frank Vitale)
9. Incendies (2010, Denis Villeneuve)
10. Fire (1996, Deepa Mehta)
11. The Red Violin (1998, François Girard)
12. Vic + Flo Saw a Bear (2013, Denis Côté)
13. Videodrome (1983, David Cronenberg)
14. Mon Oncle Antoine (1971, Claude Jutra)
15. The Forbidden Room (2015, Guy Maddin)

Honourable Mentions:

Bollywood Bound (2002, Nisha Pahuja)
I Killed My Mother (2009, Xavier Dolan)
My Winnipeg (2007, Guy Maddin)
The World Before Her (2012, Nisha Pahuja)
Waydowntown (2000, Gary Burns)

Allan Fish Online Film Festival

Hands Over the City (1963, Italy, directed by Francesco Rosi)

Francesco Rosi’s 1963 film Hands Over the City (Le Mani sulla città) feels contemporary despite being released almost 6 decades ago. Given the film’s topic of corruption and urban sprawl, it will always feel contemporary as long as politicians spend more time slinging mud at their rivals and lying to protect their crimes while letting innocent civilians suffer. The words “urban sprawl” are part of our everyday language yet it was Rosi’s film that gave an incisive look into how such a situation could occur. The city in Rosi’s film is his beloved Naples but as the film dives into the close connection between city planners, politicians, land developers and businessmen, it becomes evident that there is a universal aspect to the film.

The opening shots of Hands Over the City begin with a few aerial shots of Naples which highlight the city as a maze of buildings. After the opening minutes, we learn that it will get worse. That is because we are shown an informal meeting between a few businessmen who all want to profit from fast land development. The city council is about to propose expanding along the city's core, which makes sense from an urban development point of view. But these businessmen and land developers want to build outside the city because the land is cheap and they can earn more profits in the future. The businessmen can get away with this because one of the leading land developers is also on the city's board and he has a lot of friends on the council. The promise of fast money is enough to swing the votes in his direction.

There is a lot of money to go around when the city expands outside the core because there is more investment needed to provide necessary infrastructure such as water, electricity, parks, etc. The film shows that all the businessmen involved in such organizations have friends on the city council. Handshakes and promises are the two things that decide the city’s future. Land permits and architectural plans are passed in a matter of days as opposed to the normal waiting time of 6 months. One of the consequences of this quick development results in an apartment wall crashing down resulting in a few deaths.

An investigation is conducted to uncover the real reasons for this building's collapse. However, there is a lack of interest in the city council to determine why the building wall collapsed. Only one councilman accuses his fellow colleagues of having "dirty hands" regarding the land dealings. This results in one of the film's lasting images where all the councilmen shout "our hands are clean" and wave their 'clean' hands at the honest councilman.

As the investigation continues, it is apparent that the truth won't ever come out because behind each lie is a handshake and a promise. Watching this film, one can truly appreciate the complicated series of lies and promises that exists in each political party. Politicians today spend a lot of time lying to the media in order to prove their innocence even though there is plenty of evidence which implicates them. Their lies are akin to the “our hands are clean” image.

The film gives a fly-on-the-wall perspective to the audience and at times it feels like we are being led into a secret world about how politics really works. As per the production notes, Rosi got some of the city councilmen to play themselves in the movie. That adds a bit more to the realism of the heated council scenes. The core discussions and fighting between different sides can be extrapolated to our world and can explain why different political parties can never find a common ground and why some issues never get resolved.

Francesco Rosi returned to Naples in 1992 to film a documentary (Diario napoletano) to see how the city had developed compared to 1963’s Hands Over the City. The first part of the documentary takes place in a university class where Rosi is presenting the movie to students, some city planners, professors and architects. As it turns out, in some cases, things unfolded in Naples as per the movie's fictional situations and the sprawl got worse over the decades after the film was made. Some of the professors in the documentary offered solutions to improve things but it became clear that there is no over-night solution. When a city grows outward traffic congestion is one of the worst problems. Driving through the city, Rosi was able to truly get a feel for how bad the situation is. Unfortunately, Naples is not alone in this problem. The issue of urban sprawl is a problem impacting major cities across most continents. In this regard, Hands Over the City is still an essential and relevant film for our society. The dynamics of how each city chooses to expand may vary from the situation in the film but it is clear that plenty of the decisions made for new land development are driven by money. We can only guess at some of the real discussions that take place in a city but Rosi's film depicts some situations for us to ponder upon.

Cross-published as part of 3rd Allan Fish Online Film Festival.

Allan Fish Online Film Festival 2018

Aristotle’s Plot (1996, France/UK/Zimbabwe, Jean-Pierre Bekolo)

At its core, Jean-Pierre Bekolo’s Aristotle’s Plot is about that vital debate of commercial vs artistic cinema, the blockbusters of Hollywood vs a nation’s local cinema. The film also offers the chance to discover a unique voice from African Cinema. Jean-Pierre Bekolo is not a well known name even though his debut 1992 film Quartier Mozart gained some recognition on the film festival circuit. The energetic and humorous Quartier Mozart combined folklore with some jaw-dropping moments. Still, the debut could not have prepared for what Bekolo attempted next in 1996 with Aristotle’s Plot.

At a running time of just 68 minutes, Aristotle’s Plot packs a lot of ideas and memorable dialogues about the meaning of cinema. The story features two characters on opposing side of the cinematic debate, a local gangster who consumes only Hollywood action films and a struggling independent filmmaker who wants people to care about African cinema. The gangster goes by the name of Cinema because he claims “he has watched 10,000” films. His rival is a filmmaker named Essomba Tourneur (E.T for short) who prefers to be called a Cineaste. The difference in view between the two is shown early in the film after Cinema claims to have seen 10,000 films, E.T counters and asks “oh yes, but how many of them were African?”. To which Cinema replies “very few” before going on to add that he doesn’t think much of African films. That debate about the worth of African cinema is repeated on a few occasions and highlights that locals flock to Hollywood films but stay away from African cinema. Even a local policeman claims to have never seen a single African film but is aware of Hollywood stars.

Cinema and his gang hang out at Cinema Africa where they watch non-stop Hollywood action films. Inspired by those action films and characters, his gang members have names such as Bruce Lee, Cobra, Nikita, Schwarzenegger and Van Damme. E.T is dismayed that locals identify more with Hollywood than local culture or stories. With assistance from the police, E.T is able to wrestle Cinema Africa away from the gang and starts showing local African films. As it turns out, his showing of African films doesn’t find many interested people and one screening only has a single person turn-out. Upset at the loss of their Cinema Africa, Cinema and his gang have grand plans of creating their own new Cinema. However, they still long for those action films they used to see and attempt to regain their old Cinema Africa resulting in a final stand-off.

The entire film is one long running joke which doesn’t spare both commercial and artistic cinema; the film pokes fun at commercial cinema and its endless sequels or characters who can’t be killed and even takes a few jabs at the pace of events in some artistic films. As a result, there are many lasting images and dialogues which linger long in the memory. Perhaps, one of the most memorable images is watching E.T cart reels of his film in a shopping cart.

 

This brilliant yet simple image symbolizes the problems of making an independent film, where a director is forced to be a beggar in order to complete their work. The film also evokes Godard and is a bit early for its times. Back in 1996, Hollywood didn’t dominate multiplexes and box-offices around the world like it does today. The distance between Hollywood and local cinema has only increased in the last two decades since this film was released. The character of E.T is now a reality in a majority of nations where local filmmakers struggle to get their films seen.

Cross-published on Wonders in the Dark.

Allan Fish Online Film Festival

Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures (2005, Brazil, Marcelo Gomes)

Allan Fish was a pure cinephile who spent countless hours hunting down precious films from all corners of the world. He wrote about many such discoveries at The Fish Obscuro section on Wonders in the Dark. Of the many titles he covered, one that sticks to my mind is the 1964 Brazilian film Noite Vazia by Walter Hugo Khouri. This is a remarkable film whose discovery I owe solely to Allan. The film is unlike any of the other Brazilian films of the Cinema Novo that I have seen and is far from the rugged Brazilian landscapes of Glauber Rocha’s cinema. In fact, Noite Vazia feels closer to the sentiment of Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni.

In order to pay tribute to Allan’s review of Noite Vazia, I opted for Marcelo Gomes’ Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures. This selection brings Brazil, Italy and England together from my perspective. Marcelo Gomes’ thoughtful Brazilian road film reminded me of Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore. As for the English connection, I discovered this film at the BFI London Film Festival which was the first international film festival I travelled to. The film and the BFI London festival kickstarted my love for global cinema and film festivals, a path that eventually led me to find the Wonders in the Dark website and get to know Sam and Allan.

The road film has a special place in cinema and over the decades we have seen some stellar films all set on the road where the main character takes a journey in their car or a motorcycle. The act of taking the journey on a long road leads to a transformation and a change in the character. Sometimes the character goes looking for change in order to escape from their current life. This aspect certainly applies to Johann (Peter Ketnath) in Marcelo Gomes’ film. Johann is a German who has moved to Brazil to escape the conflict back home. He makes a living by driving across the vast Brazilian countryside selling Aspirin, a new medicine as per the film's setting in 1942. It would have been difficult for Johann to sell aspirin to people used to rejecting change but he comes up with a clever sales tactic of using the alluring cinematic medium to make his sales. This is where Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures has shades of Giuseppe Tornatore’s The Star Maker albeit with a slight variation. In The Star Maker, the salesman is a cheat but in Gomes' film, Johann is not a cheat even though his methods portray him as a mercenary. Along the way, Johann picks up a local (Ranulpho played by João Miguel) who wishes to leave his village life behind and head to Rio. The two become good friends and Ranulpho travels along with Johann by working as his assistant. But then the War that Johann escaped from finds its way to Brazil and Johann has a difficult choice to make – to return to Europe or continue his free spirited way. The movie shows how different people’s idea of freedom varies and what makes one person happy can be torture for another.

One of the most striking aspects of the film is the cinematography. Gomes and cinematographer Mauro Pinheiro Jr. overexposed the 35mm film reels thereby creating a bleached look to the film. Watching the film in a movie theatre conveyed the heat and brutality of the scorching Brazilian countryside. Unfortunately, this striking aspect of the visuals doesn’t come across in the online version of the film as the colours are muted and not as sharp as they were in the cinema. Still, it is a film worth viewing in any manner whatsoever.

Film Link

English Subtitles: The original English subtitles are not present with the film but you can select the Auto-translate subtitles feature by clicking on the Settings Icon. This does mean that the auto-translated English subtitles are not as good as the official released version.

Cross-published on Wonders in the Dark.

IKARIE XB 1

Jindrich Polák’s IKARIE XB 1 (1963) is one of the most significant Science fiction films ever made yet it is also relatively unknown even though its fingerprints can be found on numerous Sci-fi works such as Gene Roddenberry’s STAR TREK series (1966), Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) and even INTERSTELLAR (2014). In many ways, IKARIE XB 1 laid the template for future sci-fi works, especially regarding the interior spaceship design and multi-national crew, elements that are associated with STAR TREK. Michael Brooke has noted in his IKARIE XB 1 essay that both Gene Roddenberry and Stanley Kubrick had viewed Polák’s film while researching for their works. However, there appears to be more than simple set design that is borrowed from IKARIE XB 1. The camera movements and shots in IKARIE XB 1 around the spaceship command centre/bridge, corridors/hallways and outside the ship have been used in many other films over the decades. In addition, the depiction of crew dynamics and psychology of some crew members is another memorable aspect of IKARIE XB 1, although credit for that can be attributed in part to Stanislaw Lem. 

The names of Pavel Jurácek, Jindrich Polák are listed in the screenplay credits of IKARIE XB 1 but the movie is based on a novel by Stanislaw Lem as noted by Allan Fish in his memorable 2015 essay. Lem’s novel ‘Solaris’ is his more famous film adaptation but ‘The Magellan Nebula’ adapted into IKARIE XB 1 deserves worthy praise for exploring the dynamics of a multi-racial/multi-national crew consisting of both sexes and different age groups. Stanislaw Lem is known for his Science fiction writing but he also wrote non-fiction which brimmed with ideas about technology, artificial intelligence (although Lem called it “Intellectronics”), virtual reality (Lem called it “Phantomology”) and man’s place in the universe. Therefore, it is not a surprise that his work helped lay the groundwork for future Sci-fi films which showed machines/computers taking control and humans ultimately losing their mind on board a spaceship. The latter is something shown in IKARIE XB-1, although it takes place long after the music and dancing has stopped, long after all communication has ceased.

IKARIE XB 1 takes place in 2163, two centuries after the film was released in 1963. A multi-national crew is en route to find life in the Alpha Centauri solar system. We meet a captain whose thoughts and concerns are conveyed to us via a voice-over narration (if you listen carefully, you can see the birth of a future Captain Kirk here). The camera moves around the command centre depicting each crew member on their panel, a shot repeated many times in STAR TREK. Initially, we see the crew enjoying themselves, working out in a large gym with enough space for the members to practise gymnastics and even shower together (shown without the nudity of STARSHIP TROOPERS). One character (MacDonald, played by Radovan Lukavský) is shown talking with his wife back home on earth via a giant screen about what it will be like to be reunited with her and their unborn daughter who will be 15 years old when the ship returns to Earth (the father-daughter age gap dynamic is explored further in INTERSTELLAR).

The celebration and crew discussions are suddenly halted when a deserted alien ship is discovered, a story arc explored by numerous films over the years. Although, in the case of IKARIE XB 1, the alien ship turns out to be an old human exploration vessel from 1987. All the crew of the 1987 ship are found dead but their bodies are frozen in the last action they were doing before they met their end. The discovery of the old crew ship sets in motion events which cause confusion and some anxiety in the lives of the Ikarie crew members. In addition, radiation from a nearby dark star threatens their lives leading to one crew member, Michal (Otto Lackovic), losing his wits and demanding to go back to earth. The mental breakdown of a character is now a common element found in many Sci-fi films, an element that leads to either horror or plenty of blood. But in the case of IKARIE XB 1, there isn’t any horror or gory finale related to Michal’s breakdown. Instead, the film ends on a hugely positive note and indicates a new dawn lies in store for the crew.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that a Czech film like IKARIE XB 1 laid the foundations for many Sci-fi films set in outer space. After all, it was Karel Čapek’s 1920 Czech play that coined the word ‘robot’, a term that is now forever part and parcel of the Sci-fi genre and even our real world. In a similar manner, Jindrich Polák’s IKARIE XB 1 is a film that is a huge part of the existing Sci-fi genre and contains elements that have been used in many variations in a huge number of memorable Sci-fi films.

Note: cross-published on Wonders in the Dark as part of the Sci-fi countdown.

The Truman Show

Many ideas in Science fiction films may appear far fetched when the film is first released yet over time, some of those ideas end up becoming far more believable due to technological advances or changes in our society. For example, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY depicted computer devices which allowed one to read information from around the world, including newspaper articles. Such a device may have seemed unbelievable back in 1968 when the film was released but now laptops and the internet are commonplace. Similarly, the immense popularity of a reality tv show as presented in THE TRUMAN SHOW didn’t seem that plausible back in 1998 even though there were a few examples of such shows that already existed when the film was released such as MTV’s THE REAL WORLD. However, THE TRUMAN SHOW appeared to take the idea of a reality show too far. The film depicted a young baby born and raised entirely in front of the world via a 24 hour non-stop television show created by Christof (Ed Harris). 1.7 million people witnessed the birth of Truman Burbank and the audience kept climbing as Truman grew up into an adult (Jim Carrey). Truman lives and works entirely in the world’s largest constructed TV set, a fictional town called Seahaven, where all the other inhabitants are actors and extras employed with the sole purpose of assisting Truman as he goes about his ‘real’ life. When the film first came out, it appeared unrealistic that people would devote hundreds of hours watching Truman do mundane everyday tasks. But now in 2016, THE TRUMAN SHOW appears to have foreseen our current television landscape which is populated by hundreds of reality tv shows which depict ordinary people going about their daily activities or in some cases, taking part in a contest on a constructed set. On top of that, the rise of social media and smartphones has allowed far more reality to be presented non-stop either as entertainment or a form of news. Today, reality is always available, in one shape or form.

THE TRUMAN SHOW is directed by Peter Weir but the story is written by Andrew Niccol who is no stranger to Science fiction. Andrew Niccol wrote and directed GATTACA (1997), one of the best Sci-fi films ever made. Yet, both films could not be more different. On the surface, GATTACA is easily identifiable as a Sci-fi film due to its futuristic tone, visuals and story. While, THE TRUMAN SHOW appears to be a variation on conventional scripted television shows as there are no commercial breaks and the main star is not an actor. However, scratching beneath the surface shows that THE TRUMAN SHOW shares ideas with another Sci-fi film about reality vs illusion.

“This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill -- the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill -- you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”

The above words spoken by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) in THE MATRIX are the direct opposite of the choice that Christof (Ed Harris) gives Truman Burbank in THE TRUMAN SHOW.

In THE MATRIX, Morpheus wanted to open Neo’s (Keanu Reeves) eyes to the reality, he wanted Neo to see the bits and bytes for what they really were. Morpheus didn’t want Neo to stay asleep. On the other hand, Christof doesn’t want Truman to wake up from his slumber. He doesn’t want Truman to even reach towards the red pill. When Truman is finally on the verge of truly waking up, Christof tells Truman: “There’s no more truth out there than there is in the world I created for you.”

These words clearly highlight the difference between Morpheus and Christof. Morpheus never proclaimed to be a God, nor did he envision himself as a creator of a world. Whereas, Christof always envisioned himself as the creator of Truman’s world. Christof oversaw every aspect of Truman’s life, right from his selection for the game show as a baby. He witnessed Truman’s first steps, first day of school and when Truman lost his first tooth. Christof controlled all aspects of Truman’s life, such as deciding where Truman went. For example, when Truman had ideas about leaving Seahaven, Christof placed obstacles in his path like a barking dog on the pier or a teacher squashing Truman’s hopes of sailing around the world to discover new places. Christof even decided when to get rid of Truman’s father on the TV show. And after a 22 year absence, he orchestrated the reunion of Truman with his father, complete with musical cues to heighten the emotional moment for a television audience.

Christof created Truman’s world and it was entirely to his advantage to ensure that Truman continued to believe in the illusion of the fake world of Seahaven. The manufactured Seahaven was Christof’s reality as well and he wanted to exist in it as long as possible. Early on in the film, Meryl Burbank (Laura Linney) who plays Truman’s wife says that there is no difference between her private and public life and that the TV show is her life. In that regard, she along with Christof continue to take the blue pill everyday. The film shows a few characters who tried to tear the fabric of the TV show but were taken away. Natascha McElhone’s character of Sylvia tried to tell Truman about the red pill but she was removed from the TV show. Instead, she is forced to continue her struggle to free Truman in the real world which lies outside of Christof’s closed off world. Christof is convinced that Truman will never wake up and mentions that “We accept the reality of the world with which we are presented.” These words have a resonance with the concept of reality that Morpheus talks about in THE MATRIX and have roots in Buddhism, where people accept the illusionary nature of the world before them. However, Truman does wake up. And when he is about to enter the real world, his signs off with his trademark TV show words: “In case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night.” With those words, Truman finally unplugs himself from Christof’s Matrix.

Note: Cross-published on Wonders in the Dark as part of its Top 100 Sci-fi films countdown.

District 9

"To everyone’s surprise, the ship didn’t come to a stop…over Manhattan or Washington or Chicago..but instead coasted to a halt directly over the city of Johannesburg.”

These opening words quickly establish that District 9 is going to be a much different film than other Science fiction alien movies that appear at the multiplex where the spaceship only stops over an American city. The shift to South Africa lays the groundwork for a film that explores complex issues related to politics, racism and is not content with being just another Sci-fi movie that is a battle between aliens and humans.

District 9 opens in a mockumentary fashion and interviews a few people who outline the early days of the alien arrival. The spaceship arrived back in 1982 and halted over Johannesburg. We learn that for 3 months the spaceship didn’t do anything, just remained suspended over the city. There was no first contact, no bright lights or any other events depicted in other Sci-fi films. It was humans who had to fly up to the spaceship and force entry. Once inside the spaceship, humans found malnourished aliens, creatures that were lean and starving. The appearance of the aliens as physically weak in District 9 is a deviation from conventional films. In other Sci-fi films and TV Shows, aliens are always shown to be strong and in some cases beautiful even if the aliens are arriving from a planet with no resources (food/water).

In District 9, once the aliens were extracted from the ship, they were placed in a camp named after the film’s title. The film them jumps to 2010, 28 years later, when it is decided that the aliens have to be relocated far away from the city centre. The contract for the alien relocation is given to Multi-National United (MNU) and Wikus (Sharlto Copley) goes along with a camera crew and the rest of the MNU team for a grand eviction event. Things don’t go as expected and Wikus becomes infected with alien fluid. This results in an alien mutation in him, a common theme in the Sci-fi genre, but with a twist. It turns out that the alien weapons can only be fired by the aliens because it requires their DNA. When Wikus gets infected, he can start firing the alien weapons that MNU had been unable to do for a long time. Naturally, he becomes a valuable commodity to MNU who want to conduct experiments on him. Wikus escapes but is a marked person and in the ultimate irony, he can only find a safe spot in District 9, the same slum-like camp where he was involved with the eviction of the aliens.

There are some action sequences in the film but the violence and action is nicely integrated in the story and the film doesn’t halt the overall narrative arc for a grand alien battle. The finale action scene takes place in the same slums that the rest of the film is shot in thereby making the action scenes an inevitable consequence of the hostility and tension brewing in the camp.

District 9 ensures that at each step, events are portrayed which reference other Science fiction films or tackle political and social problems. This is apparent in the opening 15 minutes of the film when a person being interviewed speaks the following words regarding the District 9 aliens or ‘prawns’ as they are called:

“They’re spending so much money to keep them here..when they could be spending it on other things. But at least—at least they’re keeping them separate from us.”

Such words have been spoken many times over the last 2 years, across Europe and North America. Politicians have used these words to further their campaign or garner support for their agenda. These words have referenced the refugees arriving in Europe and North America with the inference that the money spent on refugees could be spent on other things. Even though District 9 was released in 2009, these words make the film relevant to 2016.

“at least they’re keeping them separate from us.”

Segregation. This segregation is further emphasized by the signs that are visible in the film which indicate zones that are alien-free or locations where only humans are allowed. The setting of District 9 in South Africa and the film’s title makes this a direct reference to apartheid. In reality, there used to be a District six in Cape Town, where all the residents were forcibly removed during the apartheid era in the 1970s. Even though the film is directly rooted in South African history, the topic of segregation applies to many other societies from colonial times to present times. In modern society, there are battles, both in the real and virtual world, fought over the flood of refugees, immigrants and illegal aliens who cross the border without proper papers. Distrust of the foreigner is not a new concept and one that has existed for centuries. When the frustration with foreigners reaches a boiling point, riots, fights and wars take place. Similar events are shown in District 9 where daily riots, protests and fights between humans and aliens start taking place. This is what contributes to the decision resulting in the relocation of the aliens away from District 9. 

Along with the depiction of segregation, the film’s setting of the slums makes the content universal and applicable to other nations around the world. When refugees cross a border, they are placed in temporary camps, which is exactly what District 9 was meant to be. District 9 was a supposed to be a temporary holding place but just like in real life, the temporary camp ends up becoming a decades long stay. The problems that refugees face in camps around Asia and Africa, regarding social hierarchy and troubles with the locals, is exactly what District 9 covers in its representation of the everyday transactions that take place within the camp.

District 9 also highlights a relevant point regarding the impact on new generations raised in a temporary camp. In the film, an alien child is born and raised in the camp. The alien child asks his father what their planet is like and wants to go home even though he has never seen his home planet. This scene and the alien child’s questions are rooted in reality. Hundreds of children are born in refugee camps far away from their home nation and never get a chance to return to their homeland. As a result, an entire generation (or two) of people have no concept of understanding their roots and have to depend on stories or the rare picture of their homeland. In District 9, a hologram stands in for a photo of the planet the aliens left behind.

District 9 also tackles the concept of genocide. One key element that leads to genocide is when one group of people dehumanizes another group and considers the other group unworthy of living. In District 9, that concept is shown at face value as the tall, skinny and underfed aliens are the object of hatred of their neighbours. The sentiments of the people who live around District 9 indicates that if the South African government does not act to move the aliens, then something far more dangerous would likely take place. This act of potential violence against the aliens is also a twist on the regular Hollywood alien film template. In Hollywood films, aliens are portrayed as evil and go about wanting to exterminate humans on a large scale. District 9 shows that if aliens did land on earth, then it would be humans who would do more harm to the aliens than the other way around. Given the carnage humans have inflicted on each other over the last few decades, it is entirely believable that humans would be far more evil when dealing with aliens.

No alien film would be complete without a reference to Area 51 and District 9 manages to provide a smart variation on that element. The basis of many past sci-fi movies was that aliens were kept in Area 51 and government/military personnel used alien technology to develop weapons. District 9 picks up on this idea and expands it to illustrate private military contractors (MNU) wanting to harness the power of advanced alien weapons. Given the rise of private military contractors around the world, the film is properly updated.

Over the last few decades, Sci-fi movies have been reduced to spaceships, aliens, and lots of combats and explosions. However, the Sci-fi genre has always been richer than that. It is a genre that is alive with imagination, bursts with intelligent ideas and highlights the limitless possibilities that the human mind could tap into. Unlike other genres, Sci-fi films are never shy to stitch social issues, politics and human nature, in their framework. Even when Sci-fi films are set in an alternate universe or a far-away future, the stories are a reflection of either present society or the past. Sci-fi films hold a mirror up to our contemporary society and show us how humans treat each other, or mistreat as the case may be. In some cases, Sci-fi films extrapolate the future based on humanity’s current path.

District 9 embodies all of the above elements. The film shows an alternate future yet what it depicts is a reflection of our contemporary society and even our past. It is bold enough to incorporate topics of racism, segregation, genocide, poverty, refugees and border crossing. District 9 is a rare thing; it is an intelligent Science fiction alien film with plenty of political and social observations packaged under the guise of a summer multiplex film.

Note: this is cross-published on Wonders in the Dark website as part of their Top 100 Sci-fi films countdown.