District 9 Analysis

For narrative construction we also had to pick a film and analyse its plot and sub-plot. I decided to do the 2009 film District 9 by Neil Blomkamp, as it is one of my favourite films.

Key Characters in the Film

Wikus van de Merwe:
Wikus is the protagonist in the film. He is very much the protagonist rather than the typical hollywood hero. Wikus is a simple man, he is a burueacrat working at MNU, he lives for his wife, he is given the job of dealing with the prawn relocation by his father-in-law and boss Piet Smit, who he deeply wants to please. Wikus is at the beginning of the film a very unremarkable and ordinary person. He like the rest of the peopel of Johanesburg want to sort out the prawn problem. Wikus is not very authorative and is very much thrust into the events of the film that drastically alter his life.

Christopher Johnson:
Johnson is a rebellious protagonist. He is one of the view intelligent prawns left after so many died arriving on earth (the prawns have a hive system of drones, building all the way up to one queen). Johnson is trying to get his people home, he also has a son whom he deeply cares about protecting and keeping away from MNU, who dont look well upon the prawns with children due to the over population problem they have with the prawns. Johnson's motivation is saving his race, particularly after he breaks into MNU with Wikus and finds out that the humans have been testing on and dissecting the prawns. He is more the hero that Wikus, fighting for a higher cause than just his own survival but for the survival and well being of his race. However as the film progresses Wikus becomes for selfless and heroic, becoming more like Christopher Johnson.

Colonel Koobus Venter:
Venter is an antagonist rather than a villain. District 9 is not a black and white film as so many hollywood films are, with set heroes and villains. Koobus is a very violent and sadistic man, who enjoys inflicting pain on the prawns. He considers the prawns a lesser species and would be happy to exterminate them. However unlike so many villains he is using power given to him by the people of Johannesburg and whilst he is very sadistic and is going further than many would, they all share a similar distrust towards the prawns, hence the segregated district, and voice that they want the prawns to leave. He is motivated by his hatred of the prawns and subsequently Wikus.

Piet Smit
Piet is Wikus' father in law and also boss at MNU. He doesn't really like Wikus and doesn't believe he is good enough for his daughter. But he puts Wikus as head of the relocation operation partially as a good will gesture but also as a test. However a much more sinister side to his character is revealed after Wikus is infected, when he orders for Wikus to be taken away and tells his daughter that Wikus is dead and that she can't see him. This is because he is ordering for MNU to run all kind of tests on Wikus before finally ordering for Wikus to be vivisected.

The film keeps you engaged by making you really empathise with the character of Wikus whose life is being drastically changed, and because of all the horrors inflicted on him. You also empathise with the character of Christopher Johnson and the prawns as an entire race, with deep parallels being drawn to apartide South Africa, because of the way they are treated during the film you find yourself more on their side as it where than that of the human race. It is almost ironic that during the film the people of the human race, who consider the prawns a lesser species, commit so many inhumanities.

Plot
The film begins with Wikus being tasked with the relocation of the prawns to a new district.
Christopher Johnson is looking for fuel in district 9 to help power the mothership to take the prawns home.
Whilst trying to evict the prawns Wikus comes into contact with the fuel and begins to get sick as he is turned slowly into a prawn. MNU take Wikus in and begin to test on him, forcing him to fire Prawn weapons on living Prawn targets. Piet Smit gives the order to vivisect Wikus.
In sheer desperation Wikus escapes trying to flee to familar places, but his wife has been told he is dead. And the press have been told he has an alien STD. The human race turn their back on him so he is forced to flee and hide in district 9.
Christopher Johnson tells Wikus that he can heal him, but he needs to get back the fuel so they can activate the mothership. They steal weapons from a Nigerian Arms dealer and his gang, before breaking into MNU.
Inside MNU Christopher Johnson is disgusted to find out that the humans have been dissecting the prawns. Johnson says he must save his people before he can help Wikus and needs all the fuel to take the mothership home, but they he will be back. But it will take three years.
Wikus in a rage takes control of the mothership control module trying to fly it up to the mothership to force Johnson to cure him. However it is shot down and they are captures by MNU. Before the can be taken back in Obesengo's men attack the MNU and take Wikus hostage.
Johnson's son activates the mothership bringing it to pick up the command module, and sends a mech suit to save Wikus. Wikus relents and tells Christopher Johnson to go and protects him while the mother ship takes the command module up to the ship. The ship takes off an leaves Wikus alone on earth. Koobus damages Wikus' suit forcing him to eject and is about to execute him when he is attacked by prawns protecting Wikus.

Sub-Plot
Obesengo is a paralysed Nigerian arms dealer, obsessed with the prawns and their technology. He is attempting to partake in voodoo involving eating prawns to "gain their power". He is facinated by Wikus and believes that by consuming him he will be able to use prawn technology.

Piet's lies to his daughter, that Wikus is dead, while they had Wikus in a lab being tested, and the further cover up that Wikus had sex with an alien.

One of the recurring themes throughout the film is the things Wikus makes. At the beginning an interview with Tanya Wikus' wife shows some of the things Wikus makes out of scrap as presents. When Wikus is forced to flee to district 9 after the human race turn their back on him, he leaves a flower made out of scrap metal on the doorstep of his house. At the end of the film we see a prawn constructing a similar flower out of scrap, this demonstrates that Wikus has fully transformed into a prawn, but has retained his human side. At the end their is another interview with Tanya showing that someone kept leaving the metal flowers.