Doing the right thing

Rating: 9/10 (4 March 2014)

I had no idea what this was about when I began watching it but am so glad I did. This film really shows what can be done with a small budget and a lot of vision. The character progression of Wikus is shaped by his deteriorating situation and increasing problems. That he is unequipped to cope is not surprising, given the predictable and thoughtless cushioned life he has led until now, but just as every human is driven by the instinct to survive, he begins to shake off his naive ineptitude and meet adversity head-on.
The fact that each forced step away from familiar boundaries and taboos is met with initial reluctance, demonstrates that despite the dehumanising treatment he is forced to endure, and the pressing need to ensure his own survival, Wikus never loses his own humanity or sense of who he is. Interlaced with the dramatic and relentless rush towards his fate, his fussy adherence to rules he can't quite let go of is tested to the limit by the constant discovery of betrayals perpetrated by the authority he once represented.
Many heroes, even reluctant ones, having taken that fateful step towards action-hero, become something else, something super-human or possibly less than human. Despite the clear physical changes he is undergoing, Wikus finds the mental strength he never knew he had to do the right thing. He takes a stand and remains his own man - just a faster, motivated and more enlightened one. His growing relationship with Christopher Johnson is the extra-terrestrial equivalent of all those mis-matched cop movies where reluctant partners are forced to work together and eventually gain a grudging respect and fondness for each other.
This is a very touching film but also a very funny one, as the bumbling Wikus we see at the start is literally transformed in the most startling ways. It is so well-judged, that the desperation of his circumstances and the humour in the script run happily along side by side and are never at odds with each other. This is a very human film about men and aliens. The smile never left my face.