Tsotsi (Gavin Hood, UK and South Africa, 2005, 94 Minutes)
Every aspect of the closing few scenes of this film; the direction, the music, the acting and the meaning culminating through them, is simply as good as any film sequence can be. This, as the saying goes, is what it is all about. The viewer, who has slowly become increasingly charmed by the compelling take of the young hoodlum struggling to come to terms with new-found morality, is caught in the powerful grip of emotions and realisation, of the fate of one human being and the ramifications for many others. Without favour or prejudice, it is very easy to say that these final scenes are the very best on show at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival.
The plot is very simple. The young thug, hardened well beyond his years by a life of poverty and of violence, attempts to flee the confinements of his surroundings by stealing a car. To do so, he first needs to shoot the owner, a black middle class female, which he does without either questioning the morality of the crime or hesitating to commit it. Once inside the car and speeding off though, he realises that the woman’s baby has been left in the back seat. Unable to kill the child or leave it to die, the thug decides to look after it and attempt to raise it as his own. As he does so however, he becomes increasingly aware of right and wrong, and is in the end persuaded to return the child to its parents, which leads to the closing scenes.
Like all truly excellent films though, the plot gives only an indication of the overall viewing experience. That Tsotsi relates to the discovery of conscience of a previously mindless thug says one thing about the film, but cannot begin to explain its real success. Through beautifully crafted character development, realistically acted emotions and settings, and (one would assume) a genuine personal interest in the time and place of the film, Gavin Hood has created something which is at once both uplifting and yet harrowing. The film addresses many issues relating to South Africa, to poverty, to youth and to the consciousness of others, but the overriding sentiment is that the film is depicting life; an exploration of love, of loss and of mourning.
At the very outset of the film, we are introduced to the young gangsters as they gamble; rolling dice in order to determine which way the money changes hands. Right from the start, Hood very clearly and deliberately sets the atmosphere as one of despair, where life is cheap and those who do not win, whose dice does not roll fortuitously, soon find themselves in deep trouble. The misc-en-scene also attempts to very quickly depict the harsh realism of the overcrowded city, as time and again we see billboards announcing that ‘we are all affected by HIV and AIDS’. The isolated and inconsequential lives that each of the characters live is also depicted at this stage, as the director chooses a number of long distance slow shots, perfectly encapsulating how small these boys are in the huge world which surrounds them. For most of the remainder of the film, the direction is excellent, perhaps most notably in one scene where the young thug has the baby in his small home, and the contrast of the darkness surrounding the elder child with the ray of sunshine lighting the infant both creates and reflects the ambience in which the relationship between the two, and ultimately the entire film, is played out.
Throughout the film the direction mainly consists of long, provocative zooming shots as the sentiment or reaction of each character is displayed and evolved. Perhaps too often, this style of direction can become lazy, as the shot stays too long on a character who has too little to show for themselves, but thankfully Tsotsi never threatens to become either long or dull. The cast is superb, in particular the efforts of Presley Chweneyagae in the title role, but also Terry Pheto as the young mother who is firstly terrified by him before coming to see him for what he is; a mixed up dangerous child in a very mixed up and dangerous environment, and throughout the film there never feels like a single wasted minute. The soundtrack is also very enjoyable; it’s emotive, touching moments perfectly complementing the sentiments of the film.
The many scenes between the middle class family whose child is stolen from them and the young thugs are compelling, and continue to become increasingly so throughout. Whereas Hood could simply have taken the easy option and played the remainder of the film out as a class struggle between the impoverished and the wealthy, he mercifully had a great deal more to offer. What is derived through the many subsequent scenes, particularly those involving the young thug and the baby’s father, is a sense that they, and as a reflection the entire South African people, are really in effect just the same. When the young gangster stares into the father’s eyes, and they both sense the fear and desperation in each other’s face, any study of social class or of power evaporates. In truth both men are powerless, both trying desperately hard to replace the things they miss most in their lives.
Near the start of the film, the thug (who we eventually learn is actually called David) is accused by one of his accomplices of having ‘no decency’. While at the time he dismisses this lecture, viewing the conscience of his friend as a weakness, in time, through firstly his own ‘rebirth’ signalled by his interaction with the child, and the personal relationship he builds with the young mother, in addition to his increased feelings for the father of the child, David slowly begins to understand what his friend meant by this, and embraces the decency he alluded to in the final scenes as he returns the child to its mother. The transformation is so well paced and so beautiful that it is impossible for the viewer not to become involved in the film, and not to hope that David does eventually do what is right.
Just prior to the stunning closing scenes, as he is on his way to the home of the middle class family, David shares a final moment with the baby as they rest on top of a hill. With the backdrop of the city behind them, and the superb music score of Guy Farley providing further provocation, the scene is not only cinematically pleasant but also very powerful. The same can be said of the entire film. Tsotsi is absolutely fantastic; an emotive, provocative and engaging journey for the viewer, a genuine filmmakers’ film in a time of far too few, and a credit to all involved. Gavin Hood has created a film which represents all that is wrong with lives that are deemed too cheap in some places of the world, and has created a character who struggles within this life just as Michel of Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket did within his. In the end, it is only in capture and confinement that either character can ever find shelter.
Review by Alex McMillan
The plot is very simple. The young thug, hardened well beyond his years by a life of poverty and of violence, attempts to flee the confinements of his surroundings by stealing a car. To do so, he first needs to shoot the owner, a black middle class female, which he does without either questioning the morality of the crime or hesitating to commit it. Once inside the car and speeding off though, he realises that the woman’s baby has been left in the back seat. Unable to kill the child or leave it to die, the thug decides to look after it and attempt to raise it as his own. As he does so however, he becomes increasingly aware of right and wrong, and is in the end persuaded to return the child to its parents, which leads to the closing scenes.
Like all truly excellent films though, the plot gives only an indication of the overall viewing experience. That Tsotsi relates to the discovery of conscience of a previously mindless thug says one thing about the film, but cannot begin to explain its real success. Through beautifully crafted character development, realistically acted emotions and settings, and (one would assume) a genuine personal interest in the time and place of the film, Gavin Hood has created something which is at once both uplifting and yet harrowing. The film addresses many issues relating to South Africa, to poverty, to youth and to the consciousness of others, but the overriding sentiment is that the film is depicting life; an exploration of love, of loss and of mourning.
At the very outset of the film, we are introduced to the young gangsters as they gamble; rolling dice in order to determine which way the money changes hands. Right from the start, Hood very clearly and deliberately sets the atmosphere as one of despair, where life is cheap and those who do not win, whose dice does not roll fortuitously, soon find themselves in deep trouble. The misc-en-scene also attempts to very quickly depict the harsh realism of the overcrowded city, as time and again we see billboards announcing that ‘we are all affected by HIV and AIDS’. The isolated and inconsequential lives that each of the characters live is also depicted at this stage, as the director chooses a number of long distance slow shots, perfectly encapsulating how small these boys are in the huge world which surrounds them. For most of the remainder of the film, the direction is excellent, perhaps most notably in one scene where the young thug has the baby in his small home, and the contrast of the darkness surrounding the elder child with the ray of sunshine lighting the infant both creates and reflects the ambience in which the relationship between the two, and ultimately the entire film, is played out.
Throughout the film the direction mainly consists of long, provocative zooming shots as the sentiment or reaction of each character is displayed and evolved. Perhaps too often, this style of direction can become lazy, as the shot stays too long on a character who has too little to show for themselves, but thankfully Tsotsi never threatens to become either long or dull. The cast is superb, in particular the efforts of Presley Chweneyagae in the title role, but also Terry Pheto as the young mother who is firstly terrified by him before coming to see him for what he is; a mixed up dangerous child in a very mixed up and dangerous environment, and throughout the film there never feels like a single wasted minute. The soundtrack is also very enjoyable; it’s emotive, touching moments perfectly complementing the sentiments of the film.
The many scenes between the middle class family whose child is stolen from them and the young thugs are compelling, and continue to become increasingly so throughout. Whereas Hood could simply have taken the easy option and played the remainder of the film out as a class struggle between the impoverished and the wealthy, he mercifully had a great deal more to offer. What is derived through the many subsequent scenes, particularly those involving the young thug and the baby’s father, is a sense that they, and as a reflection the entire South African people, are really in effect just the same. When the young gangster stares into the father’s eyes, and they both sense the fear and desperation in each other’s face, any study of social class or of power evaporates. In truth both men are powerless, both trying desperately hard to replace the things they miss most in their lives.
Near the start of the film, the thug (who we eventually learn is actually called David) is accused by one of his accomplices of having ‘no decency’. While at the time he dismisses this lecture, viewing the conscience of his friend as a weakness, in time, through firstly his own ‘rebirth’ signalled by his interaction with the child, and the personal relationship he builds with the young mother, in addition to his increased feelings for the father of the child, David slowly begins to understand what his friend meant by this, and embraces the decency he alluded to in the final scenes as he returns the child to its mother. The transformation is so well paced and so beautiful that it is impossible for the viewer not to become involved in the film, and not to hope that David does eventually do what is right.
Just prior to the stunning closing scenes, as he is on his way to the home of the middle class family, David shares a final moment with the baby as they rest on top of a hill. With the backdrop of the city behind them, and the superb music score of Guy Farley providing further provocation, the scene is not only cinematically pleasant but also very powerful. The same can be said of the entire film. Tsotsi is absolutely fantastic; an emotive, provocative and engaging journey for the viewer, a genuine filmmakers’ film in a time of far too few, and a credit to all involved. Gavin Hood has created a film which represents all that is wrong with lives that are deemed too cheap in some places of the world, and has created a character who struggles within this life just as Michel of Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket did within his. In the end, it is only in capture and confinement that either character can ever find shelter.
Review by Alex McMillan
posted by Barnaby at 2:58 PM
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