Tsotsi DVD with Presley Chweneyagae, Mothusi Magano, Israel Makoe (R) +Movie Reviews

The Hope Of Redemption, But What About The Victims?

T. Agoston | Connecticut, USA | 08/23/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Yes, this is a striking, well-made and thought-provoking film, but suffers from the same flaws affecting the debates around crime and criminals in the West: what about Tsotsi's victims? How about the woman who is paralyzed from Tsotsi's gunfire? or the honest, dignified businessman who is horrifically knifed for the little money in his wallet? and the aspiring teacher who is brutally beaten and disfigured by Tsotsi? The film does not dwell on their fates -- just Tsotsi's.
While viewers can be struck by the hopeful note of the possibility of this brutal criminal discovering his own humanity, redemption isn't that simple. The underlying themes are troubling: it isn't his fault -- his childhood, abusive father, victimized mother, lack of education, etc. may have helped create this monster -- but he IS a monster. One can be seduced into a feel-good experience by focusing on his emerging empathy and personal growth, but only because the film ignores his victims and the ongoing impact of Tsotsi's actions.
If you want a feel-good, hopeful movie -- it's very good. But be prepared to be unsettled if you aren't comfortable with shades of gray, and a limited examination of the issues of urban violence."

Authentic from start to finish

Olukayode Balogun | Leeds, England | 09/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's so great to finally see a major feature film that shows Africa from an African perspective, as opposed to through the prism of Western eyes. Another recent well-deserved Oscar winner (Best foreign language film) I just had to have in my collection; this is a violent and uncompromising look at life in a Soweto township.

Presley Cheweneyagae plays the lead, a Johannesburg small-time gangster whose nickname Tsotsi means "thug". I read somewhere that Presley was discovered playing Hamlet in a Soweto theatre group. He's a find in a million, as his performance is mesmerising.

Tsotsi finds a baby in the back of a car he's just jacked off a suburban black woman as the woman waited for the security gates outside her home to open. He doesn't do the expected and simply dump the baby at the side of the road - surprisingly, he decides to take it home and care for it. He hasn't a clue how to care for a child of course and he turns to a local woman who makes decorative mobiles from glass. She's a nursing mother herself, and - under the threat of death, mind you - Tsotsi gets her to look after the child while he goes back out there to do his thing.

It's an interesting study of how complex life is for people who don't have much and while the movie doesn't make excuses or descend into sentimentality at any point, it's engaging to gradually see the heart of the man called Tsotsi - a man who at first glance seemed utterly heartless - emerge for all to see. It's a great story, based on the novel by South African playwright Athol Fugard, and the final scenes had me (literally) on the edge of my seat the first time I watched it. Gavin Hood makes good use of Johannesburg's urban setting and the natural beauty of South Africa. I strongly recommend this movie. For anyone who might not know and who may have an interest, this is an authentic slice of African life.
"

Wounded

MICHAEL ACUNA | Southern California United States | 04/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Though "Tsotsi" is set in South Africa and the milieu, to the American eye, is as exotic as a film set on the Moon, the concerns are Universal: the loss or disconnect of ones parents, the longing for a parent's love and caring, a governments lack of concern for a citizens civil rights.
Tsotsi (Presley Chweneygae) is a hood, a young man who kills and steals without any apparent concern for what he is doing and why he is doing it. His face and eyes radiate mostly hate and disdain. He is psychically and emotionally detached and removed. Then, one day he steals a luxury car, shoots the woman to whom it belongs and realizes, once he drives the car away, that there is an infant in the back seat.
This beautiful, innocent child forces Tsotsi ( really named David) to face the loss of his Mother, the uncaring, drunken non-concern of his father and the deep seated, mostly ignored or glossed , psychically ignored feelings with which he hasn't been able to deal.
Director and screenwriter Gavin Hood (adapted from a novel by Athol Fugard) has fashioned a traditionally structured film and peopled it with non-traditional characters and it works because we can all relate to Tsotsi's dilemma. And it doesn't hurt to have Presley Chweneygae as your lead character. The first time we see Tsotsi on screen he looks at the camera with his huge black eyes: eyes that are filled with superiority, despair, disgust and hurt. When he first sees the infant his eyes and face fill with wonder and awe at the utter helplessness and innocence. It is this disparity and friction that makes the film crackle with fire and well observed life.
"Tsotsi" is not a revolutionary film like say the similarly themed "Children of God" but it is a very emotionally effective and socially aware one and Presley Chweneyagae's performance is so natural and truthful that it makes you wince with recognition and empathy.
"

American Film-Makers ...Eat Your Hearts Out

B. Merritt | WWW.FILMREVIEWSTEW.COM, Pacific Grove, California | 07/21/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"***THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***

Many movie reviewers view foreign language films with a smidgin of contempt. There's an underlying current of the "why do we have to put up with these things" type mentality, especially from U.S. reviewers. It's not entirely self-evident when reading these reviews, but you get that feeling deep down that American film makers, producers, marketers, and reviewers swallow these foreign film pills with a hint of displeasure. I'm sure much of that discomfort comes from the fact that some of these films drain a certain percentage of money out of their deep pockets. Personally, I say "More power to `em!"

The reason I bring this up is because TSOTSI is one of those films that could've taken off in the American mainstream had it had a significant marketing budget. It did, after all, win multiple film festival awards, snagged the American Film Institutes Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize Special Mention, as well as picking up an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. But because of the mentality of movie makers in the fabulously wealthy Hollywood arena, marketing of these vitally important foreign imports often gets hamstrung in favor of such film dregs as DATE MOVIE and THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN. I don't say these things without any source. Go up and ask your average young adult or teenager about TSOTSI and they'll more often than not simply stare at you as if you'd just requested they give you the mathematical equation for nuclear fission.

There's something to be said for these low-budget films (although I'm not sure what TSOTSI's shooting costs were, I feel confident it didn't come close to the two dregs I mentioned above). These little-known gems give us stories that go beyond our normal film viewing range. And TSOTSI is one that I'm proud to say I watched with joy (this is a also disturbing and I'll tell you why in a moment).

Tsotsi (Presley Chweneyagae) is a thug in South Africa. He's your typical amoral gangster who doesn't have a shred of "decency" in his young body. He also has a group of stragglers who follow him around like puppies, putting pressure on Tsotsi to come up with their evening's entertainment; they steal, they rob, they kill. But one day, when Tsotsi decides to do a job by himself, he makes a moral mistake (and I mean he makes a mistake according to his own moral code, which is to say he causes something good to come out of something terrible). He shoots a woman after stealing her car and drives away with a new BMW. But as he travels awkwardly down the road (he doesn't drive very well) he hears a cooing sound in the backseat. Startled, he turns around and discovers a baby in a carseat. Initially unsure of what to do, he takes the baby home with him and nurtures the child as best he can (which isn't very good). He soon learns that he has to watch the baby closely; ants attack the infant, and it gets hungry and poops constantly and needs to be bathed. Tsotsi forcibly procures the assistance of a widowed neighbor who recently had a child. He convinces the woman -- at gunpoint -- to breast feed the child and threatens to kill her if she tells anyone about him and the baby. A strange relationship develops between these two as the film progresses.

Torn by his own poor upbringing, Tsotsi has to decide what to do with the child when he learns that its mother is still alive. The police, too, are closing in on him and his gang of thugs have disbanded. Tsotsi's choice to care for the child has put him on a path of physical destruction, but has also led him to deeper choices, those of compassion and morality.

In the end, Tsotsi battles his internal demons in order to make the right choice for the baby, and it's a startling realization. We watch a person we absolutely loathed in the beginning of the film turn ever so slightly into a "decent" young man, and it's disturbing as a viewer (for me, at least) to empathize with someone initially devoid of humanity. But that's where TSOTSI succeeds and so many American films fail. American movies want you to see most things in black and white ("Here's the good guy and here's the bad"). But TSOTSI brings us into these lives and does so without spoonfeeding us what's right and what's wrong. The gray areas are sweeping and uncomfortable, something that packs an emotional wallop at the end of the film (I was bubbling like an idiot as tears streamed down my cheeks).

TSOTSI deserves the little notoriety it's received. In fact, it deserves much, much more."

The Gradual Ascension to Manhood and Decency

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 08/04/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"TSOTSI is a jewel of a film, well deserving the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film of 2005. Though set in Johannesburg, South Africa, the story is unfortunately so universal that the film could have been made in any country in the world: the lost children of abusive parents who survive life by relying on crime fill the streets of the poor neighborhoods of all major cities. TSOTSI is a tragedy but it carries a sense of hope and redemption that makes it a powerful statement indeed.

Tsotsi - translated, means 'Thug'- (Presley Chweneyagae) is an amoral youth who heads a gang of four: Boston (Mothusi Magano), Aap (Kenneth Nkosi), and Butcher (Zenzo Ngqobe). The gang steals and in general leads a life of dangerous existence, a life that abruptly alters when the gang robs and kills a gentle older man on the subway. They are on the run now and Tsotsi isolates himself further when he brutally beats Boston. He descends further into the abyss when he steals a car in the wealthy neighborhood, shooting the woman driving, and then discovering that in the back seat is an infant. His childhood flashes before his eyes and he finally shows a degree if buried decency when he takes the child with him as he abandons the stolen vehicle. Young and inexperienced in child care (his own childhood was riddled with hate and abuse), he seeks help from a young woman Miriam (Terry Pheto) who has an infant of her own (with no father) and serves as a wet nurse for the child. The manner in which Tsotsi gradually reconciles his bad life with his nascent response to recognizing kindness and salvation advances the story to its conclusion.

There is far more to the story than this short synopsis would indicate: there are levels of probing into the mind of the youthful criminal and the making of a gangster and the interaction among thieves and the changes that situations can alter that are beautifully written by Director Gavin Hood based on the Athol Fugard novel. The script is terse and much is left to the physical expressions of the characters, each acted to perfection by a stunning cast. The outsider living situation of these people is filmed with tremendous atmosphere and creativity by cinematographer Lance Gewer and the musical score by Paul Hepker and Mark Kilian serves to support the mood and action well. This is a tough movie to watch because of the reality of the issues: this is a superlative film to experience for the message it offers and for the wholly unforgettable acting of young Presley Chweneyagae and Terry Pheto. In Zulu, Xhosa, and Afrikaans with English subtitles. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, August 06

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