Tsotsi - 2005* Spoilers included *
Tsotsi won an Oscar in 2006 under the category "Best Foreign Language Film". Its rare to see a film where the bad guy gravitates toward good instead of the other way around. This is a powerful film that shows a killer who learns humanity from a baby.
The film is shot in Soweto, a township near Johannesburg, South Africa. I travelled through Johannesburg last year on a trip to Mozambique. I saw the squalor of the ghetto from the safety of my bus - but I get it. The movie portrays the ghetto as a place where life is cheap... there is a scene where we witness orphans living in huge concrete pipes as if they are condos.
Tsotsi is presented with the challenge of caring for a baby - the by-product of a car jacking. The child evokes in him a reflection of his own brutal childhood. The flashbacks build for us a picture of growing up in this part of the world at this cultural level. As we watch Tsotsi develop his humanity around the baby - we see him essentially fight back against what he has himself become.
Ultimately, there is no good deal waiting for Tsotsi. The ending is a bit subdued, but appropriate. He is left to deal with the next section of his life at this point. We envision him thinking of how the next chapter of his life will be as the camera pulls away.
Ultimately Tsotsi doesn't simply become a good man - he just looses some of his evilness. This can be contrasted with City of God, [a film in my Top 100 Greatest Movies of all time list]. Tsotsi is more personal and close.
If you liked City of God, give Tsotsi a try. Similar story, different viewpoint.
Well done, this is an excellent summary of the movie, Tsotsi.
ReplyDeleteWhile Tsotsi is the central character for the plot, the movie does a really good job of covering the other characters types involved in crime, some are victims, some are followers, and some just plain evil.
Living with this going on around us on a daily basis, we get to see all these faces of crime.