FauxNixon

“Tsotsi” is urban slang for thug in Johannesburg, South Africa, which is where this movie is based.  It tells us a gripping story about life in the true poverty that may be found in the shantytowns of South Africa.  The Tsotsi/Thug to which the title refers is an anonymous black young adult who lives in a shanty in a densely built and very crowded shantytown outside Johannesburg.  The setting is true poverty where crime is rampant, frequent, and extremely violent.  In one early scene Tsotsi leads his group onto the subway where they stalk an apparently well-to-do black businessman.  On his signal, the four of them jostle into a formation surrounding the man and one of the members produces an improvised knife.  When they go to retrieve the man’s money, he startles and with that movement he is killed with the knife being shoved violently and instantly up into his rib cage.  One of the members supports the man until the train reaches its stop when they simply drop his body to the floor and go back to their neighborhood to spend their money.

One of the most important aspects of Tsotsi is that by specifically not naming its protagonist (Presley Chweneyagae) it is trying to tell the story of generations of similar young people in similar circumstances; uneducated, impoverished, often homeless as children, virtual orphans to whom crime has become their only means to support themselves.  Tsotsi is unable to feel any affection or attachment to women, his friends, his enemies, pets, or anyone else and it is this detachment which is so sad.

The movie vindicates itself and easily earns its 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film by showing the development of Tsotsi after he steals a car and inadvertently the baby left inside.  He can’t decide what to do with the baby, so after stealing whatever is available in the car, he takes the baby and brings it back to his shack in a paperbag and promptly hides it beneath his bed.

In time, Tsotsi must learn to care for the child and begins to have that part of himself which was his capacity to love for another, long since deadened, revived and he finally begins to understand his connection to society and the rest of humanity.  It is like seeing a sociopath turn into a normal, caring human being and actor Presley Chweneyagae portrays this with absolute aplomb.   He begins to think of others and, in doing so, becomes a more complete human being.

Inevitably with such a swing in character development, Tsotsi is forced to make amends for the crimes and bad actions which he has done and committed as best he can and he leaves us if not forgiven, than at least a better human being who is capable of seeking forgiveness and taking responsibility for his actions.

Interestingly, this is the first movie which was produced by Miramax since the Weinsteins left and it is great to see that the studio is still taking risks to bridge the gap between independent film and Hollywood to ensure that many pictures of this caliber are brought to wide release and large audiences.

Tsotsi is based upon the novel written by Athol Fugard and is directed and written for the screen by Gavin Hood.