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Tsotsi [2006]
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Re-birth of a Rainbow Nation? (8/10)
Review date: 2008-07-20 Rating: 8 out of 10
Based on a novel by South African playwright Athol Fugard, Tsotsi a slickly-produced, powerful drama set in a giant township outside Johannesburg. Presley Chweneyagae stars as the eponymous Tsotsi, a baby-faced assassin forced into surrogate fatherhood by the baby he unwittingly kidnaps during a bungled car jacking. Protecting the baby thus forces Tsotsi to examine his behaviour in the light of his own lost childhood, darkened by the death of his mother to AIDS and an abusive father.
`Tsotsi' is an apocalyptic but highly stylised vision of township blight, all brewing storm clouds and hyper-real colours. Large, prominent AIDS/HIV posters feature in several shots, adding to a mood of impending catastrophe as ominously as the punctuating lightening bolts and thunderclaps. The style, very much informed by hip hop video culture - or at least a hybrid South African version of it - brings to mind Mathieu Kassovitz's `La Haine', the camera in the initial sequences bouncing to booty-shaking Kwaito basslines. While the sets seem studio-engineered rather than shot on location, the visual slickness is offset by unselfconsciously naturalistic performances.
By focusing on black South Africa, both rich and poor - there is scarcely a white face in the film - 'Tsotsi' deals less with the legacy of Apartheid and more with issues of poverty, personal responsibility, penetance, and the impact of broken families on their children. This latter aspect, especially that caused by the global AIDS epidemic, makes Tstosi universal without resorting to explicit political finger-pointing. While the root causes of AIDS are not explored, one of its consequences is - the resulting breakdown of the family unit and its impact on social dysfunction.
Above all, `Tsotsi' is a simple and moving story about boys forced to be men by their circumstances, which is why Presley Chweneyagae is so perfect in the lead role: his soft, benign features belying a life of pain. Despite the apparently downbeat conclusion, there is a subtler note of optimism, that the young men of the townships can nurture the next generation in the most difficult circumstances, that they can learn from their experiences and do the right thing.
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Reviews
SPECTACULAR!
Review date: 2007-10-09 Rating: 10 out of 10
I will keep this review brief as I believe that it doesn't take long to portray with words just how utterly brilliant this film really is. If you are the kind of person who likes to see a gripping story, lots of suspense and a sense of realism in your films, you need look no further. I believe a truly great film needs a real meaning and an important message. Tsotsi is about real life problems and illustrates typical life standards in the poor areas of Johannesburg. The film is easy to follow despite the need of sub titles and I personally believe that it is one film which had I not watched it (without sounding corny), my life wouldn't be the same today.
Finding hope in desperate life of a young South African
Review date: 2007-08-05 Rating: 10 out of 10
Tsotsi is ultimately an uplifting film set in the brutal and hopeless world of a young man (Tsotsi) living in a shanty town outside Johannesburg.
Tsotsi is a scary character, callous and violent. He survives on the profit of crime and in the pursuit of one nights work an unlikely person gets entangled in his life. In his own distorted way Tsotsi has found someone to love and someone who is fully dependent on him for survival. A survival which seems precarious and adds to the tension of the film.
The film is I believe a story of the search for love and how in starting to care for another, one's life can be transformed. Tsotsi's life seems hopeless but hope and redemption seem a possibility for him as his conscience gradually awakens and the consequences of his criminal life come to a dramatic climax.
Worthy Oscar Winner-for a change
Review date: 2007-07-19 Rating: 8 out of 10
I won't give you a plot summary as several reviewers have done so and Amazons review gives you the plot (why spoil it?).
Yes it's 'world cinema' yes it has subtitles and yes it's a very good film.
At several points in the movie you wonder which way our lead Tsotsi/thug will turn and you begin to sympathise with someone who is not at all pleasant, it's skilful filmaking. What is presented partly in flashback is how this person came to be, their struggle with feelings from their past impacting on the choices they make.
The dvd extras are also worth exploring, especially the short film by the same director and a 'day in the life of' showing the future for many people in the shantytowns, one trying to work out of it, the others almost resigned to their fate.
Both the main feature and the short show the directors ability to raise complex human issues that deliver an emotional pinch without giving in to sentimentality.
It's amazing what reaches a gang leaders heart
Review date: 2007-07-04 Rating: 10 out of 10
`Tsotsi' is one gorgeous and thrilling film. Not only is it a first-rate piece of storytelling, but it also takes the viewer into a world of South African poverty and crime that one might not know existed. Director/writer Gavin Hood offers us a tale of tragic redemption and uncommon poetry in a subculture of the most abject immorality.
The actors here were phenomenal and their performances were both realistic and believable. Natural talented Presley Chweneyagae , as Tsotsi, is not just physically charismatic, but the changes in his voice are gripping in communicating the extreme range of feelings he experiences over the few days the film takes place. This is a road trip through his soul, from flash backs to existential acts from his depths to finding his humanity (and his real name). His relationship with a cruelly accidental foundling infant has no comparison to the dozens of films, usually comedies, made around the world about an irresponsible guy stuck with a kid and how a child can be father to man. While his picaresque physical and psychic journey is almost as theatrical in its coincidences as "Crash", the tension is built up as it is unpredictable in each confrontation whether he will react violently or redemptive.
Just when I thought his side kicks were indifferent, even they turned out to have complicated stories that were well portrayed, particularly Mothusi Magano as "Boston".Terry Pheto as "Miriam" is the very essence of a woman who shows artistic talent, strength and nourishment in her role. It is rare to see maternal love so powerfully portrayed onto a film.
The music embedded in here is strong and goes perfect with this picture. There were times I would playback a scene so I can rehear the music samples. After watching this film I was able to grab hold of the soundtrack. The tracks were put together by local South African's. The artist who are particularly outstanding are the tracks by local Kwaito artist Zola which uniquely combine local and international hip hop into a new sound, as well as tracks with the inspiring voice of Vasi Mahlasela over choirs, which recalls Ladysmith Black Mambazo. With an attention to detail in the music, the middle class family listens to soft R & B on their car radio, in comparison to the township sound that surrounds the Soweto residents.
The subtitles are well done throughout and translated musical lyrics, even as we can occasionally pick out some Pidgin English amidst the township jive. In the end, this crime film is a morality play about sin and love. `Tsotsi' shows a powerful statement about the transforming nature of guilt. This is truly a must see. I also highly recommend 'City of God.'
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Presley Chweneyagae
Mothusi Magano
Percy Matsemela
Terry Pheto
Jerry Mofokeng
Creators:
Presley Chweneyagae (Primary Contributor)
Mothusi Magano (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Momentum Pictures Home Ent
Manufacturer: Momentum Pictures Home Ent
EAN: 5060116720495
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2006-07-17
Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 94 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2005
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)