Elvis D
El quinto cortometraje de Neill Blomkamp presenta un concepto muy interesante que sería llevado a la gran pantalla tiempo después. Alive In Joburg es un cortometraje en el que el director aborda el tema del apartheid aplicando elementos ficticios como seres alienígenas. Se hizo con un formato que emula una especie de documental y hasta incluye entrevistas reales para darle más credibilidad. El mundo que el cortometraje presenta tiene a estos seres alienígenas que en su planeta de origen eran sirvientes o esclavos y que huyeron a la tierra para dejar esa vida. Pero lo que la película muestra da a entender que estos seres ahora están obligados a vivir con la población negra. En este punto no solo se toca el tema del apartheid, sino que también se puede identificar indicios hacia la inmigración y la discriminación. Los alienígenas vendrían a ser inmigrantes que abandonaron su tierra natal por vivir en condiciones precarias, pero al llegar a territorio extranjero, el gobierno los restringe a vivir en una zona donde no hay buenas condiciones. Se puede entender esto como una referencia a los casos de inmigración donde los inmigrantes que buscan una mejor vida son recluidos en sectores de bajo nivel en el territorio extranjero. Este comentario social que el cortometraje plantea es bastante interesante y le da bastante potencial. Lo malo es que al ser un cortometraje, tiene sus limitaciones y hay bastante por explorar. Además, no ha envejecido del todo bien debido a que la calidad de la imagen es mala. Hay muchas escenas que son difíciles de apreciar y que no permiten disfrutar mejor lo que el cortometraje cuenta. Lo único que se ve más o menos decente son los efectos especiales. El maquillaje de los alienígenas está bien y el CGI para las secuencias de los trajes robóticos se ve decente. Claro que estos efectos tienen la calidad de una producción de serie B y la calidad del cortometraje hace que se vean mínimamente mediocres. El concepto principal es lo único que se puede apreciar del todo y al menos pudo ser mejor aprovecho en District 9. Este cortometraje sirvió más que nada como un borrador para que Neill Blomkamp realizara su primer largometraje. Podría decirse que el cortometraje en sí no está mal por su concepto, pero ya se ve obsoleto comparado con las mejoras que tuvo al ser adaptado en District 9. Alive In Joburg es un cortometraje mediocre que ha envejecido bastante mal y solo su concepto fue lo bastante ingenioso para ser convertido en largometraje. Verlo es solo recomendable para quienes quieran conocer los inicios del director o ver como se concibió la idea de District 9. Mi calificación final para este cortometraje es un 4/10.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
11/03/25
Full Review
Audience Member
With its decent production values given Neill Blomkamp's fairly limited resources at the time and solid premise when it comes to the way it discusses apartheid, Alive in Joburg provides a pretty darn good prototype for the movie that would become the sci-fi mockumentary classic, District 9.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/23/23
Full Review
Audience Member
This is a very interesting short film that would obviously go on to inspire the critically acclaimed, Oscar nominated, 'District 9' and for something that is just about 6 minutes long, it's quite thought provoking. We get a little glimpse into a very different world and while we only see a little bit of it, probably for production reasons, it works well to its advantage and really conveys a powerful theme. Sharlto Copley makes an appearance, which is great and it even has the same music style that would go on to be used in the feature film. I also liked how the title was shown a few minutes in, even though I thought that was kind of funny because it seemed so close to the end but this was actually a good length. The visuals are dirty and grimy and it really sells everything that is going on, we learn a lot about the aliens and people's reactions to them and when the credits roll around I was left thinking about a few things.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
02/25/23
Full Review
Audience Member
"We don't want to be here, this place doesn't want us... we have nothing, nothing."
I feel like Neil Blomkamp has been receiving a lot of criticism lately for Elysium and Chappie, but there is no doubt in my mind that much of that has to do with how much expectations we put on him after delivering one of the better sci-fi pics of the decade, District 9. His style hasn't changed much, but of course the social commentary from that film hasn't had the same impact in his most recent films. In 2005 Blomkamp made an interesting short that would later be the basis for his feature film District 9. In Alive in Joburg he already had the social commentary of the story worked out through this documentary style film making and even had Sharlto Copley play a small role in a film he would later star in (and which would change his career). The social commentary here is just as sharp as in District 9, and Neil actually incorporated interviews of many South Africans referring to Zimbabwean refugees in real life which in the short are made to be referring to the aliens that have invaded Johannesburg. It is a clear metaphor of racism and division of social classes (referring to South Africa's Apartheid era). It's also impressive to see some of the special effects here, which look great for a film shot on such a low budget. So impressive that it caught Peter Jackson's attention at the time who wanted Neil to direct the screenplay adaptation of Halo, but the project was later shelved. I'm glad Blomkamp was given the funds to expand this small film into a full feature length movie, because it turned out to be one of the best sci-fi movies of the decade: District 9.
http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
02/08/23
Full Review
Audience Member
"We don't want to be here, this place doesn't want us... we have nothing, nothing."
I feel like Neil Blomkamp has been receiving a lot of criticism lately for Elysium and Chappie, but there is no doubt in my mind that much of that has to do with how much expectations we put on him after delivering one of the better sci-fi pics of the decade, District 9. His style hasn't changed much, but of course the social commentary from that film hasn't had the same impact in his most recent films. In 2005 Blomkamp made an interesting short that would later be the basis for his feature film District 9. In Alive in Joburg he already had the social commentary of the story worked out through this documentary style film making and even had Sharlto Copley play a small role in a film he would later star in (and which would change his career). The social commentary here is just as sharp as in District 9, and Neil actually incorporated interviews of many South Africans referring to Zimbabwean refugees in real life which in the short are made to be referring to the aliens that have invaded Johannesburg. It is a clear metaphor of racism and division of social classes (referring to South Africa's Apartheid era). It's also impressive to see some of the special effects here, which look great for a film shot on such a low budget. So impressive that it caught Peter Jackson's attention at the time who wanted Neil to direct the screenplay adaptation of Halo, but the project was later shelved. I'm glad Blomkamp was given the funds to expand this small film into a full feature length movie, because it turned out to be one of the best sci-fi movies of the decade: District 9.
http://estebueno10.blogspot.com/
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/23/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The mockumentary sci-fi short that spawned the superb 'District 9' - stunningly conceived.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/11/23
Full Review
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