What is the message of the movie Tsotsi?
Tsotsi is a positive movie, with a message of redemption, and has a decent faith that the shanty towns of South Africa are not simply places of despair, but communities where poverty does not rule out the possibility of doing the right thing. Likewise, how does Tsotsi redeem himself?
What is Tsotsi?
More specifically, Tsotsi is part of the gangster film genre. The word tsotsi, possibly derived from the English zoot suit, first emerged in 1930s Sophiatown, and represents an appropriation and transposition of the American gangster into a South African context.
What did Tsotsi do when his first surprise passed?
4 When his first surprise passed, Tsotsi noticed the smell. He left the table to fetch an old coat hanging on a nail behind the door, first bundling it up before putting it down.
What happens at the end of Tsotsi?
The film ends with Tsotsi raising his hands, and does not disclose what happens thereafter. Two unused endings were shot for the film, which can be seen on the Tsotsi DVD.
What was the purpose of Tsotsi?
Tsotsi is an extraordinary film by director Gavin Hood that manages to map some of the huge contrasts in modern South Africa - its affluence and grinding poverty, its haves and have-nots, its energy and optimism alongside the disease, addiction and crime that blights so many lives.
What made Tsotsi change?
This gang changed his identity; he became Tsotsi after several days with the gang participating in crime. He states: “My name is Tsotsi.” This transformation from an innocent boy to a hardened young man has resulted in him living a life of robbery, rape and murder.
What are tsotsis 3 rules?
He creates three rules: rule of the working moment (always be able to see his knife), never disturb his inward darkness, tolerate questions from no others. These rules are what allow him to survive as Tsotsi and have no need to become David again. He becomes the leader of a gang who commit crimes in order to survive.
How is Tsotsi a victim of circumstance?
The character of Tsotsi is the classic anti-hero. He does things that are very bad, but he is also a victim of circumstance. The more the audience comes to know Tsotsi and his background, the more skewed between good and bad, moral decency and heinous behavior becomes blurred. Can a murderer be redeemable or likable?
How do Tsotsi inflict pain on his victims?
Tsotsi inflicts pain on his victims, notably Boston, but also suffers it himself as a street child and as a gangster. The beggar, Morris, angered and resentful because of his history of suffering and rejection, discovers finally that despite all the pain he experiences, he wants to live.
Why do you think Tsotsi chooses Morris as his next victim?
Tsotsi chooses Morris, because for him the world is an ugly place and Morris is the epitome of this ugliness. Tsotsi realises that he is not after Morris's money. He is driven to destroy him, because he is ugly, and he has residual anger towards Boston that he wants to take out on Morris.
Why do you think Tsotsi whispers an obscenity into the dying man's ear?
Even as that was happening, Tsotsi bent close to the dying man and in his ear whispered an obscene reference to his mother” (12). The novel suggests that he kills not from desperation, but as a way of life. His reasons are psychological.
Why does Tsotsi fear his father?
the fear Tsotsi has for his father Tsotsi does not know his father well because he is a migrant worker, so some of his fear comes from ignorance. He watches his father beat up and kill a pregnant dog and decides to run away from home rather than risk being with such a violent man without his mother there.
What decision are they all waiting for Tsotsi to make?
Tsotsi, Butcher and Die Aap find each other and begin to do what they do on any other night, sit around and drink waiting for Tsotsi to make the decision of what job they will do. Without Boston's stories conversation ended rather quickly and Tsotsi decides they will head into the city tonight.
What are the social issues in Tsotsi?
In Tsotsi, ethnicity plays a secondary role to the more complex issues of class and social disparities, power vs. powerlessness. Although the shantytown dwellers are all black or part-black, so are the wealthy couple whose baby is kidnapped, and the businessman who gets killed for his valuables while riding the subway.
Why does Tsotsi keep his baby in his room?
For reasons he can't fathom, Tsotsi keeps the baby in his own squalid room, as clueless about how to look after it as any other young male, law-abiding or not. And the baby awakens in him memories of his own childhood and his mother, which he has determinedly repressed.
What does Hood mean by "hanging around"?
What this means is generally hanging around at the train station, looking around for anyone foolhardy enough to show that they have a wallet-full of cash. Then the gang follows their target on to a crowded train, and threaten him with a blade; Hood has a very tense sequence showing how Tsotsi and the gang can actually rob and kill someone entirely noiselessly in the dense mass of commuting workers and leave without anyone realising what has happened.
What is the movie Tsotsi about?
Tsotsi, directed by Gavin Hood, is an earnest film about the South African shantytowns, and it is at some pains to show that its heart is in the right place - that is, right up on its sleeve.
Is Tsotsi a good movie?
Tsotsi is a positive movie, with a message of redemption, and has a decent faith that the shanty towns of South Africa are not simply places of despair, but communities where poverty does not rule out the possibility of doing the right thing.
Who won the 2006 Oscar for Best Foreign Film?
Thu 16 Mar 2006 20.19 EST. T sotsi won this year's best foreign film Oscar, an award that traditionally goes to pretty safe and undemanding material, and despite the ostensibly edgy nature of the subject matter, this was really no exception. Tsotsi, directed by Gavin Hood, is an earnest film about the South African shantytowns, ...
What makes Boston decency?
His descent into crime, cruelty and murder makes Boston physically and psychologically sick. This is why he suffers an attack of guilt and nausea after Gumboot’s murder. It seems that some of the gang members, notably the cold-blooded Butcher who mocks Boston’s attack of nausea, can never achieve decency as they have no capacity for feeling sympathy for others or any inkling of what decency involves. However, for Tsotsi there is some hope of finding decency. The arrival of the baby in his life and the memories and lifestyle changes that it begins to spark off indicate that he has the potential to achieve decency and to escape the state of inhumanity that rule his present existence.
What does Boston say about Tsotsi?
His career as a criminal is “finished” and he has rejected his gang. He has discovered that he has options and that he can choose not to kill. After being rescued from the shebeen, Boston acknowledges that Tsotsi has changed: “You are different …. You are changing …. You are asking me about God”. Pain.
What does Boston say to Tsotsi after being rescued?
After being rescued from the shebeen, Boston acknowledges that Tsotsi has changed: “You are different …. You are changing …. You are asking me about God”. Pain. Most of the characters in the novel experience both physical and psychological pain.
What are the themes of Tsotsi?
A number of the themes in Tsotsi involve a tug-of-war between opposites where we are called upon to consider and weigh up both viewpoint s and make up our own minds.
How to summarise the key themes?
A good way to summarise the key themes is to draw a mind map. Here are some of the key themes in Tsotsi. Try to complete the mind map by thinking of events, scenarios and characters from the novel to support the themes. When answering a question in your literature paper, it is a good idea to reference a short extract from the text ...
Is Tsotsi an eBook?
Tsotsi is also avialable in eBook format.
Does Tsotsi have decency?
It seems that some of the gang members, notably the cold-blooded Butcher who mocks Boston’s attack of nausea, can never achieve decency as they have no capacity for feeling sympathy for others or any inkling of what decency involves. However, for Tsotsi there is some hope of finding decency. The arrival of the baby in his life and ...
What is the setting of Tsotsi?
Not published until 1980, four years after the Soweto uprising, during which police shot numerous students protesting the introduction of Afrikaans as the language of instruction, the novel is set in Sophiatown in the 1950s, shortly before this black cultural hub where non-whites could own property was razed to make room for the white suburb Triomf. The film updates the setting: Tsotsi’s mother does not die because of apartheid, but of AIDS, and the baby is not ‘historyless’ (Rijsdijk and Haupt 2007: 38) but has affluent black South African parents, which introduces an entirely new storyline.
When was Kwaito created?
Kwaito was first developed by gangsters in 1950s Sophiatown, and has been influenced by gangsta rap. Ian-Malcolm Rijsdijk and Adam Haupt have argued that the use of Zola’s kwaito music ‘constantly re-affirms a homogeneous black urban masculinity by not offering musical diversity’ (Rijsdijk and Haupt 2007: 36).
Where was Tsotsi filmed?
A major success in both South Africa and around the world, winner of the 2005 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, Tsotsi took some risks: it featured no stars, but for the most part young unknown actors, was shot on location in Soweto, and its dialogue is mostly in tsotistaal, a hybrid of languages, such as Afrikaans, Sotho, Zwana and Zulu, spoken in the townships around Johannesburg. At the same time the film sparked much debate and controversy as far as its politics are concerned.
What is Tsotsi's job?
Tsotsi, a gang member living in a township, makes a living mugging and carjacking more affluent people. One day, while hijacking a car, he finds a baby on the back seat and takes him home. Identifying with the baby, he forces a young mother in the township to take care of him. Slowly remembering his own childhood, and his mother who had died from AIDS, he ends up returning the baby to his affluent parents.
Where did the word "tsotsi" come from?
The word tsotsi, possibly derived from the English zoot suit, first emerged in 1930s Sophiatown, and represents an appropriation and transposition of the American gangster into a South African context.
Who plays Fela in the movie?
Many have noted the marked presence of kwaito music by South African artist Zola who also plays Fela in the film. Many of these tracks were pre-existing hits, and Zola’s celebrity was used to market the film and its music (Rijsdijk and Haupt 2007: 33).
Who edited the Routledge Encyclopedia of Films?
The Routledge Encyclopedia of Films, Edited by Sarah Barrow, Sabine Haenni and John White, first published in 2015.
What is the name of the movie Tsotsi?
This article is about the film Tsotsi. For the language, see Tsotsitaal. Tsotsi is a 2005 crime drama film written and directed by Gavin Hood and produced by Peter Fudakowski. It is an adaptation of the novel Tsotsi, by Athol Fugard and is a South African/UK co-production.
What does Tsotsi tell Aap about Boston?
Tsotsi tells him that the gang will raise the money so that Boston can take the exam, which means that they will have to commit another robbery. Tsotsi and Aap go to Pumla's house. When Pumla's husband John (Rapulana Seiphemo) returns from the hospital, they follow him into the house and tie him up.
What does Tsotsi tell John about the baby?
Tsotsi sets off to return the baby. He reaches John's house and tells John over the intercom that he will leave the child outside the gate.
How much did Tsotsi cost?
Budget. $3 million . Box office. $11.5 million. Tsotsi is a 2005 crime drama film written and directed by Gavin Hood and produced by Peter Fudakowski. It is an adaptation of the novel Tsotsi, by Athol Fugard and is a South African/UK co-production.
When did Tsotsi win the Academy Award?
Tsotsi won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006.
Where was Tsotsi shot?
In one, Tsotsi is shot in the shoulder, and while the officers are shocked at what happened, he escapes through a large field back to the Alexandra slums after avoiding another shot from the chief police officer. In the other, Tsotsi is shot in the chest while reaching for a milk bottle he brought.
Who is the butcher in Tsotsi?
Zenzo Ngqobe as Butcher: The fourth member of Tsotsi's gang, and the most violent, Butcher is a cheat and a loose cannon who does not hesitate to commit murder. Jerry Mofokeng as Morris: A beggar who worked in the gold mines until he was permanently crippled when a beam fell on his legs.
