I had heard of the movie Soylent Green so many times over the years that I may have been dulled to the experience of seeing it for first time – which I did just a few hours ago. The most impressive moments aren’t fantastical, rather they’re an intimate and very modest dinner between two old friends as well as a death-bed scene – though it could be said that we are meant to mourn for two: our planet and the elderly character of Sol Roth. Reminded me of much more luxuriant movies like WALL-E, Blade Runner and Brazil.
District 9 is as good as everyone says it is. The story-telling is fresh, the techniques never distract and the protagonist is perfect (the personification of institutional racism – an Eichmann in Johannesburg). We want to cheer for life, no matter what form it comes in. If movies are judged by how effectively they make us empathize with strangers, this one is an unequivocal success.