No.081　《District 9》　第九区　人性深处的恐怖区域

英文导读

District 9 is a 2009 science fiction thriller film directed by Neill Blomkamp. It was written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James.

The story, adapted from Alive in Joburg, a 2005 short film directed by Blomkamp and produced by Sharlto Copley and Simon Hansen, pivots on the themes of humanity, xenophobia and social segregation. The title and premise of District 9 were inspired by events that took place in District Six, Cape Town during the apartheid era. The film was produced for $30 million and shot on location in Chiawelo, Soweto, presenting fictional interviews, news footage, and video from surveillance cameras in a part-mock documentary style format. A viral marketing campaign began in 2008, at the San Diego Comic-Con, while the theatrical trailer appeared in July 2009. Released by TriStar Pictures, the film opened to critical acclaim on August 14, 2009, in North America and earned $37 million in its opening weekend. Many saw the film as a sleeper hit for achieving success and popularity during its theatrical run, despite a modest budget and relatively unknown cast.

Thirty years ago, aliens made first contact with Earth. Humans waited for the hostile attack, or the giant advances in technology. Neither came. Instead, the aliens were refugees, the last survivors of their home world. The creatures were set up in a makeshift home in South Africa's District 9 as the world's nations argued over what to do with them.

Now, patience over the alien situation has run out. Control over the aliens has been contracted out to Multi-National United (MNU), a private company uninterested in the aliens' welfare—they will receive tremendous profits if they can make the aliens' awesome weaponry work. So far, they have failed; activation of the weaponry requires alien DNA.

The tension between the aliens and the humans comes to a head when an MNU field operative, Wikus van der Merwe, contracts a mysterious virus that begins changing his DNA. Wikus quickly becomes the most hunted man in the world, as well as the most valuable—he is the key to unlocking the secrets of alien technology. Ostracized and friendless, there is only one place left for him to hide: District 9.

The film won the 2010 Saturn Award for Best International Film presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, and was nominated for four Academy Awards in 2010: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, and Best Editing.

The film received very positive reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes reporting that 91% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on a sample of 244, with an average score of 7.8 out of 10. The website wrote of the consensus, "Technically brilliant and emotionally wrenching, District 9 has action, imagination, and all the elements of a thoroughly entertaining science-fiction classic." At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has received a score of 81 based on 36 reviews, indicating "Universal Acclaim". IGN listed District 9 as 24 on a list of the 25 Great Sci-Fi films ever.

获奖情况

2010年第82届奥斯卡：最佳影片提名、最佳改编剧本提名、最佳视觉效果提名、最佳剪辑提名。

影片信息

导演：尼尔·布洛姆坎普

编剧：尼尔·布洛姆坎普、特丽·塔歇尔

主演：沙尔托·科普雷、詹森·库伯、威廉·艾伦·扬、罗伯特·胡布斯

类型：剧情、动作、科幻、惊悚

制片国家（地区）：美国、新西兰

上映日期：2009-08-14（美国）

片长：112分钟

又名：《第九禁区》《D-9异形禁区》《第9区》

剧情简介

1990年，一艘巨大的飞船出现在地球上空，人类惶恐不安，战战兢兢地等待着对方可能会施予的来势凶猛的侵略与袭击或者是科技方面飞跃性的进步时，外星飞船始终没有动静。

人类小心翼翼靠近它，强行走进舱内，结果发现他们来到地球并不是为了侵略和联姻，而是要寻求庇护。原来这是一群来自外星的难民，他们最终被地球人接纳，并隔离在南非约翰内斯堡的一片区域内生活，此地名为“第九区”。

经过长达20年的繁衍，外星难民的数量扩张至180万之多，且和周边人类的矛盾冲突不断，越来越多的人类呼吁将“大虾”赶出地球。

控制和管理外星人的任务，已经被政府承包给了一家被称为“跨国联合组织”（MNU）的私人公司，MNU经过磋商，决定将外星难民迁移到更为偏远的区域。MNU外星事务部门的特工威库斯（沙尔托·科普雷饰）专门负责搬迁工作。威库斯感染了一种神秘的病毒，他的身体随着DNA的重组发生了惊人的变化，MNU对其不断实验，最后甚至想将其分解以取得所有有用的身体组织，这惹恼了威库斯，他挟持研究人员逃出。他成为了全世界追捕的对象，因此只能躲到自认为最安全的第九区，可是也就是在这里，威库斯整个人都发生了巨大的变化，渐渐地变成了外星人的模样……

制作花絮

本片是导演尼尔·布洛姆坎普根据自己的一部电影短片《约翰内斯堡的外星人》演绎而来的，本片同时也是尼尔·布洛姆坎普的第一部剧情长片。

本片的片名是根据美国近代的一个传闻而来，几十年内一直传闻美国有第51区，专门负责处理外星人事务，但这个消息并未得到官方承认。而《第九区》的含义也就是影射了“第51区”。

本片的构思源自导演尼尔·布洛姆坎普年幼时在南非种族隔离的经历。

本片在非洲的贫民窟实地拍摄。

本片里出现的大部分动物肢解尸体的场景都是真实的。

大批非洲国家的部队中的真实武器被用于本片的拍摄，所以本片里出现的枪械大都是真实的。

重点学习

The creatures were set up in a makeshift home in South Africa's District 9

文中的set up是英语中的一个很常用的固定搭配，在文中，它是“安排”的意思，比如：You set up the deal! （整桩生意是你一手安排的！）Set up较常用的意思还有“建立，开办；竖起；建起；引起，导致；提出（意见等）；创造（新纪录）”等，比如：A fund will be set up for the orphans.（一项为孤儿设立的基金即将建立起来。）

Patience over the alien situation has run out

文中的run out是英语中的一个固定搭配，如果某东西run out, it becomes used up so that there is no more left. 也就是“耗尽”的意思，比如：Conditions are getting worse and supplies are running out.（情况越来越糟，给养也快耗尽了。）另外，该搭配其他较常见的意思主要有“跑出去；匆匆离开；（液体）流出；到期，期满”，比如：When the lease ran out the family moved to Cleveland.（租赁合同到期后，这家人搬到了克利夫兰。）

单词时间

thriller[ˈθrilə] n. 惊险小说；使人毛骨悚然的东西；使人毛骨悚然的小说

xenophobia[ˌzenəuˈfəubiə] n. 仇外；对外国人的畏惧和憎恨

segregation[ˌseɡriˈɡeiʃən] n. 隔离，分离；种族隔离

premise[priˈmaiz] n. 前提；上述各项；房屋连地基

surveillance[sə:ˈveiləns] n. 监督；监视

documentary[ˌdɔkjuˈmentəri] n. 纪录片

sleeper[ˈsli:pə] n. 卧车；卧铺；枕木；睡眠者

popularity[ˌpɔpjuˈlærəti] n. 普及，流行；名气；受大众欢迎

refugee[ˌrefjuˈdʒi:] n. 难民，避难者；流亡者，逃亡者

weaponry[ˈwepənri] n. 兵器，武器（总称）

friendless[ˈfrendlis] adj. 没有朋友的；无依无靠的；孤单的

positive[ˈpɔzətiv] adj. 积极的；正的，阳性的；确定的，肯定的；实际的

consensus[kənˈsensəs] n. 一致；舆论；合意