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Tsotsi [2006]
from Momentum Pictures Home Ent
starring Presley Chweneyagae, Mothusi Magano, Percy Matsemela, Terry Pheto, Jerry Mofokeng
directed by Gavin Hood

Features:

• PAL

Editorial Review:

Based on South African playwright Athol Fugard's only novel, TSOTSI is a thrilling, provocative look at life in the ghettos outside present-day Johannesburg. Presley Chweneyagae stars as the title character, a teenager with a killer stare who lives alone in a ramshackle room in a poor shantytown, where he pulls off petty crimes with the help of three compatriots Boston (Mothusi Magano), Butcher (Zenzo Ngqobe), and Aap (Kenneth Nkosi). But after they stab a man to death on the subway and Tsotsi (which means thug or gangster) beats up Boston for trying to find out about his past, Tsotsi runs off to a wealthy section of the city, shoots a woman, and steals her car. Only later does he discover that there is a baby in the back seat and decides to keep it for himself. As Tsotsi finally does look back at his own childhood, he tries to take care of the infant, carrying it around in a paper bag and forcing a young mother, Miriam (Terry Pheto), to breastfeed it at gunpoint. At this point, writer-director Gavin Hood could have opted for trite sentimentality, but instead he delves deeper into Tsotsi's psyche, as the young man might have already gone too far to turn back now. TSOTSI is a pulsating, electrifying film propelled by Chweneyagae's powerful, mesmerising performance. The pounding soundtrack features popular local Kwaito music by Zola, who also plays crimelord Fela in the film. Winner of the 2006 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, 'TSOTSI will rank as one of the best films ever to come out of South Africa', as Fugard himself said.

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• Re-birth of a Rainbow Nation? (8/10)
  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... more info

• SPECTACULAR!
  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... more info

• Finding hope in desperate life of a young South African
  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. more info

• Worthy Oscar Winner-for a change
  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... more info

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