>>REVIEW
TSOTSI
STARRING Presley Chweneyagae, Kenneth Nkosi, Mothusi Magano and Terry Pheto
DIRECTED BY Gavin Hood
Opens Friday, March 17
Uptown Screen
Based on Athol Fugard’s 1960 novel, Tsotsi shows six days in the life of the titular character (Presley Chweneyagae), a Johannesburg hoodlum whose name literally translates to "thug." Tsotsi leads a gang of criminals who begin the film by stabbing a businessman on the subway in order to steal his wallet. It’s a chilling and well-paced scene that serves as a fitting introduction to the film’s anti-heroic protagonist.
When gang member Boston (Magano) asks if Tsotsi has any sense of decency left in him, Tsotsi violently beats him and runs off into the night. Ending up in a well off neighbourhood, he coldly shoots a woman after stealing her car, only to learn that her newborn baby is in the backseat. Unable to bring himself to kill a baby, he brings it home with him and, much to his surprise, begins to care for it, first by feeding it condensed milk and then by seeking the help of a woman with a newborn of her own (Terry Pheto). Through all this, Tsotsi remembers his troubled upbringing and regains some of the humanity he lost.
Although lacking the sheer rip-your-guts-out emotional intensity of City of God, the film is reminiscent of it in both content (a screenplay dealing with the poverty and crime of often-ignored locations) and style (using dark and gritty cinematography interspersed with moments of subtle beauty). This serves the purpose of highlighting the contrast between night and day, past and present and rich and poor. For the most part, the movie succeeds at creating a tangible atmosphere.
A movie like this has ample opportunity for showboating, however all of the actors come off well – Pheto and Chweneyagae, in particular, turn in intense but ultimately reserved performances. I won’t give away the ending, but there is a surprising and welcome undercurrent of hope in an otherwise bleak and brutal film. |
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