Film Review : Tsotsi

I recently watched Johannesburg-based Crime-Drama 'Tsotsi' in Class. We are researching 'World Cinema' for A-Level, and how cultural differences can effect how popular films around the world. I did not expect to enjoy the film as I, blinded by the way I was brought up, expected a foreign film to be nothing compared to Blockbusters. Boy was I wrong.

The opening scenes are the most powerful, I do not want to spoil the film as I believe it is very worth watching, but what happens at the begging has a great effect on the end. It's the same as most films really, the 'scene is set'. We find out a bit about the characters, but the events that happen are very disturbing and make you really despise the characters at first. Being branded a 'Crime' film, these events were always going to occur in Tsotsi, but the brutal way in which it happened was the most surprising. I did not quite expect it.

Throughout the film you begin to feel connected to each character - even the 'gangsters'. We find out in the film that Tsotsi isn't actually the characters real name - it means 'Thug'. I was most surprised because, even though the film is in a difference language, I felt like I could truly understand all of the characters. Their culture was being portrayed on screen the entire time, and I did not struggle to understand it as much as I expected. Infact, I did feel sorry for them in many ways. It truly makes you value what you have, when you see the hideous events that occur over in those countries because of Poverty.

In terms of micro-features, the lighting in colour throughout the film was spectacular. Some of the shots are absolutely beautiful, and the way the colour is used to portray the area really is exciting. Though the areas are often very quiet, we see much more in them than would be expected. It just shows how much more there really is in a poor area like that, than you expect to find. The camera-angles throughout are very interesting aswell, and have a very big effect on the way we see the area and the characters that inhabit it. It's hard to explain the angles without visual-aid, but they are very unique and intriguing to watch. Gavin Hood truly did a marvelous job.

In conclusion, I highly recommend the film. Do not let the prospect of Subtitles put you off, it really has very little effect on the experience. The events you will watch are very worth-while, and the ending is, though rather predictable, also an emotional one. World Cinema deserves much more credit than it receives, and I hope that this article will lead to the broadening of your cinema-viewing horizons.