Tsotsi (2005)

With only his third feature film, Gavin Hood embeds himself within the greats of foreign cinema, as his tale of violence, cataclysm, diversity and redemption won him the Oscar he superbly deserved. The story of Tsotsi is something of pure beauty, a struggle, a raging conflict within characters, a story of naivety and understanding what’s right and what’s wrong. The film follows Tsotsi, portrayed excellently by Presley C as he leads an infamous street gang, who produce despicable, shady acts of violence to cause mayhem on the streets of Johhansbergg. Pursuing a regretful action, Tsotsi ends up with a baby, an extra pair of prying eyes to prioritise if you will, only these eyes are not filled with evil, and conflict but with love and compassion. Tsotsi is a phenomenal motion picture, that is filled to the brim with beautifully executed emotional moments scattered throughout, this is down to the lead played by Presley C, who wonderfully boasts a fantastic posture and leads the film very well. The film is very thought provoking, this is down to the nature of the environment shown in the film. Hood’s South African roots show us the relentless crisis of poverty, and the conflict of violence amongst youths. By doing so, Hood creates a natural atmosphere, and authentically recreates the strife that still happens today, and he executed it with pure eloquence. It’s a film that relies entirely on its dialect to furthermore embellish that feeling of authenticity and natural feel within the narrative and the poverty struck city of Johannasberg, When we hear the dialect of the characters, we are immidiatly immersed into the world that Tsotsi lives in, it captivates you, it takes you on a journey that makes you question yourself, the themes make you realise how important things are to the plot, and it just allows for a road-trip of realism. Lance Dewer’s cinematography is also a wonderful element to add to the list of pros. The camera movements are fluid, the shots are shaky and close when they need to be, and the imagery is pleasant to look at, even though the issues and topics covered in the film aren’t particularly pleasurable. The colour is also a huge part that makes Tsotsi such a beautiful film, especially at Tsotsi’s shack, we get a colour palate of this almost dystopian-like bronze and orange combination, for the African sunset and it’s absolutely stunning. To conclude, the performances are fantastic, the direction and approach fron Gavin Hood is commendable and it truly deserved to win Best Foreign Film back in 2005. Tsotsi is a film that'll stick into your mind for a while, and whilst your brain slowly processes it, your instinct will allude to sympathy for the people today living in poverty like the characters in Tsotsi were. A truly powerful, tough going story of redemption, that captivates your mind for a short period of time. Seething with stunning imagery, fantastic subliminal messages and many, many heartwrenching scenes, Tsotsi really proved to me that everyone can change, and you just have to believe you can, and you can redeem your sins just by doing one simple thing. By showing decency.