Produced by Peter Fudakowski Cast: Presley Chweneyagae, Terry Pheto, Kenneth Nkosi, Mothusi Magano, Zenzo Ngqobe, Zola, Rapulano Seiphemo, Nambitha Mpumlwana
This powerful, gritty film from relatively new South African director Gavin Hood is about the fall and redemption of a 19 year-old denizen of Johannesburg’s shanty towns. Based on the novel by noted playwright Athol Fugard, it might be set anywhere where extreme poverty and violent crime rub hostile shoulders in narrow, overpopulated lanes and hovels. Tsotsi – a word meaning ‘hoodlum’ or ‘thug’ in the street patois of the township – is the only name by which the main character, played by Presley Chweneyagae, is known to his friends. Tsotsi’s gang of young predators include the large and amiable Aap (Kenneth Nkosi), conscienceless Butcher (Zenzo Ngqobe), and Boston, erstwhile student-teacher and now alcoholic (Mothusi Magano). Surviving by violent muggings and opportunistic robberies, they coolly survey train passengers, singling out with merciless consequences the rich who unwisely advertise their wealth. Giving the lie to their seeming unity in criminality, Boston vomits violently after a subway robbery/murder. He defends his sensitivity against the others’ jeers, in a drunken, bitter speech to Tsotsi, but mostly to himself. “Decency,” he spits, “I had a little bit and I was sick. The big man (their victim), he had a lot, and now….?” Turning his anger and self-loathing onto Tsotsi he hurls questions Tsotsi can’t answer, about his parents, and his name. Stung into confused fear by the sudden realisation that he cannot remember, Tsotsi beats him savagely and runs into the rainy night across the wasteland between the township and a prosperous suburb of Johannesburg. As Tsotsi shivers under a tree, his opportunistic nature arises to steal a car, unaware that there is a baby in the back. The baby is the catalyst for Tsotsi’s redemption, as in the next few days he fumbles in his ignorance of how to care for it, uncovering memories of his childhood and its tragedies buried deep within himself. His brittle façade of uncaring bravado begins to peel off, revealing the humanity beneath. The film gives a feel of a breakneck chaos in this fringe society, of behaviours that are often ill-thought-out attempted solutions to problems, becoming problems in their turn and proliferating in an ungovernable morass of impossible social inequities and deprivation. Within this are moments of stillness, of wordless realisation and great emotion, held with extraordinary authenticity. Alongside the criminal elements found in any group, the ordinary people of the township show good-humoured patience as they queue for water at the one tap shared by thousands. There is dignity and creativity as well as depravity, a sense of justice alongside opportunism and exploitation, a sense of community as well as disenfranchisement. There is also a hierarchy of power, with the bling-draped Fela (Zola) holding court in a bar surrounded by goons and prostitutes. To the white police officers coming upon the abandoned stolen car, the township across the wasteland is as impenetrable a maze as the deepest jungle. Aptly intense performances by Presley Chwenayagae, whose stillness is riveting, and the gracefully serene Terry Pheto as Miriam, the young breastfeeding mother whose help Tsotsi seeks, drive the film as much as the swiftly unfolding plot. Rapulana Seiphemo and Nambitha Mpumlwana as the baby’s bereft parents are heart-wrenching. The relationships between the boys are clearly defined, with Mothusi Magano ably showing Boston’s depth. Zola’s urgent Kwaito hip-hop on the soundtrack is as evocative as his acting and adds to a deeply affecting film. © Avril Carruthers 19th February 2006 Read Julian Boyance's interview with Gavin Hood http://www.movie-vault.com/interviews/yPJrXosbPD
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(9/10)
