The text isabout a boy called Spike. Spike is in a reformatory, and is doing very well. Hehas two sets of visitors, His mother and sister and then his group of friendsfrom the city.
And hearranged it so they don’t come at the same time.
One day themother brings this girl Elizabeth, who is a quiet and clean looking person likethemselves. His mother wants them to get married, but Elizabeth refuses unlesshe reformes and gives up the tsotsis.
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.
- 'Tsotsi,' a film of deep emotional power, considers a young killer whose cold eyes show no emotion, who kills unthinkingly, and who is transformed by the helplessness of a baby. He didn't mean to kidnap the baby, but now that he has it, it looks at him with trust and need, and he is powerless before eyes more demanding than his own.
- The novel, “Tsotsi”, by Athol Fugard shows how characters struggle and change to fit in with individuals they have chosen to surround themselves with. This can be seen through multiple scenarios, which unfold throughout the book. These scenarios are expressed through the use of many literary devices that help explain the message.
- Nov el, Tsotsi, to argue that the emergence of gangs in apartheid South Africa was an attempt by the marginalized to subv ert and transform the dominant social, economic, and political culture of.
- After running away from his abusive father, David, later self-named Tsotsi, goes to live on the streets with orphan children. His life on the streets makes Tsotsi cold hearted and he later become the leader of a gang made up of his friends. They run the streets mugging and killing people. One night he robs a wealthy woman by stealing her car.
Spike wantsto reform and leave the tsotsis. So he asks the principal to forbid themvisiting the reformatory, because they want to hurt him for leaving the group.
Theprincipal gets de Villiers to take care of Spike, so he doesn’t get hurt orkilled .
But in theend the tsotsis get to Spike and kill him by stabbing him to death.
Narrator:
It is a 1. Personnarrator but he tells the story of spike. So most of the story is written in 3. Person
Thenarrator is the principal on the reformatory
Language:
It iswritten in a simple language, with a lot of direct speech.
Title:
The title is:Death of a tsotsi
The title symbolizesSpikes that reforms and his trying to get out of the tsotsis. Which ends withhim being killed, by his friends from the tsotsis.
Message:
Once a Tsotsi always a Tsotsi.
Written byAlan Paton
Tsotsi – Gavin Hood
Todorov’s Theory of Disruption in Tsotsi
My initial thoughts of Tsotsi (David) were that he seems to be a troubled character that is having to battle with more than he shows. He is portrayed as a common thug who is looked down on by the community in the slums of Johannesburg who seems the need to commit crimes to survive.
Todorov’s Disruption Theory –
- The film seems to be in a constant state of dis-equilibrium as we see from the very start that Tsotsi has to steal from strangers on a daily basis in order to survive using the same train station in downtown Johannesburg.
- The main disruption of the films happens just after Tsotsi steals a car only to find a newborn baby in the back seat after he has driven away.
- Tsotsi recognises the disruption of the baby and feels the need to take it with him rather than leave it as he abandons the car.
- Tsotsi attempts to repair the disruption by trying to care for the child only to realise he is now a wanted man and so hides the child from the community threatening a mother he lives near to help care for the child.
o The film ends in a dis-equilibrium as he is inevitably caught after he realises that he has to come to terms with his actions and so returns to child safely possibly because he is looking for redemption for his actions as a child when he leaves his family and sick mother.
Lewis Gould
Tsotsi – Hands
-Opens with close-ups of characters’ hands shaking dice (playing Blackjack, I assume by the counting) – FATE – fatalism – NO HOPE?
-I believe that hands are used in this film to emphasise emotions. In one scene Tsotsi uses his hands to flip off his rival, which shows disrespect and Tsotsi’s disliking of the character. In another scene there’s a close-up of Tsotsi’s hand being used to push food in to the baby’s mouth. This shows love and care, in my opinion.
In another scene the baby’s mother lays in a hospital bed holding her husband’s hand. As she does this she threatens to kill Tsotsi with her bare hands, which in my opinion is very ironic as she’s currently using them to express love.
-The crippled man likes the way the sun feels on his hands.
-After Tsotsi attacks Teacher and runs away, he looks down at his bloody hands. I believe that the rain is this scene shows pathetic fallacy and that Tsotsi is beginning to feel guilt. I believe that this is where Tsotsi begins to adapt as a person and begins to feel guilt & remorse.
Mothers in Tsotsi
- Tsotsi’s mother is referenced by Boston just before he gets beaten up. Perhaps it was the memory of his mother that provoked the violent reaction?
- We first see Miriam struggling with her baby on her back, ignoring the obscenities being shouted at her by Tsotsi and his gang. She, like all of the mother-characters in the film, are portrayed as hard-working and caring of their children.
- The mother of the kidnapped baby is shown as especially protective when she threatens to kill Tsotsi with her “bare hands”. It is interesting to note that in moments of desperation the mother threatens to act just as brutally as Tsotsi’s gang.
- Tostsi himself has to fill a Motherly role himself when he inadvertently finds himself with a baby. Through this child we see a more caring side to him. I think that in some ways he strives to fit the loving role of the mother whom he lost to AIDS at a very young age.
- Alternatively, Tsotsi may almost see his own mother in Miriam, the girl who is made to look after the kidnapped baby. She is caring towards the baby throughout.
- It could be argued that Tsotsi’s violent personality stems from the loss of his mother and abusive father.
Tsotsi – Impressions of South Africa
- Poverty ridden – Shanty towns and homelesness
- Children living on streets (concrete tubes)
- Country seems split – Wealthy vs poor: BINARY OPPOSITION
- Contrast in living conditions – Expensive cars, big houses with electric gates vs no running water, no electricity (Tsotsi’s car battery rig), padlock and chain on rusted iron sheet as door
- Less wealthy citizens have poorer health care, disabled man living on the streets begging, no support (injured on job in mines)
- Illness is high, hygiene is low – Aids and diseases always present
- Harsh country – no support for the poor, “survival of the fittest”
- Further out from the city the lower the standard of living gets
Lilly Hart Film Notes
Tsotsi: The Antagonists
Tsotsi
- He beats Boston (Teacher) and it was very unnecessary and over the top.
- He shoots a woman just to steal her car, and ends up with her child and doesn’t return it.
- Holds an innocent mother at gun point and forces her to feed the stolen baby.
- He pursues the disabled man till he’s alone, points a gun at him and throws his money on the floor.
Butcher
- In the first 10 minutes Butcher kills a man, without reason or consultation from the rest of the gang. He shows no remorse, and maybe a little satisfaction.
- He wants to shoot the father in the head with his own gun.
The Father
- It was implied that he abused Tsotsi and probably Tsotsi’s mother.
- We hear him kick a dog, and know from what Tsotsi said, we know he broke the dogs spine.
- He’s the reason Tsotsi ran away and became an orphan.
Tsotsi Conflict Definition
Bar Lady
- Tsosti mentions how she’s let Boston drink all his money at her bar to the point where he was poor and couldn’t even walk.
Jordan Huntley
Memorable shots
- Tsotsi following Morris across the road and again under the subway (With snake noises in the background – Predator vs prey) In the end of the film
- Tsotsi holding the baby and the father walking across the road towards Tsotsi. Tsotsi is now the prey. Police in the background emphasise this.
- During the opening 15 minutes whenever Tsotsi did something bad he would run away and there would be a long shot of the towns and sky. Lightning would strike(cliché?). This symbolises that Tsotsi is running into danger.
- The broken down car, police investigating with the huge landscape of the urban towns in the background gave the impression that it would be impossible for the police to find the missing baby.
- Shot of Tsotsi’s hands covered in Blood after beating up Boston, the rain washed the blood away. Foreboding? (Giving a false impression to the audience that Totsi is going to stop committing crimes?)
- During Tsoti’s journey of taking the baby back we see the sky and it is the first time we see the sky and is isn’t red/orange.
- When Tsotsi returns home and tends to the baby who is covered in flies from the condensed milk that was left on his bag and in his ‘crib’ I thought this was a powerful shot because we see these images everyday on adverts that are charities that share the same themes.
Tsotsi: opinions on the character – Ruby
In the first 10 minutes of the film, I thought that he was a bad person but for a reason: I thought that maybe he was abandoned or orphaned. As the film progressed, I started to like the character more as the baby brought out the humanity in him and you could see that he was actually just a scared boy that is trying to be more confident and violent than he actually is. By the end of the film I respected the character and liked him.
Tsotsi: Stereotypes – challenging, shifting, identity – for construction of identity.
Boston is uncomfortable with the gang’s activities – atypical of ‘henchmen’
Strong women throughout – the owner of the bar, the mother of ‘David’, the mother/woman in the neighbourhood that feeds ‘David’ – do women appear secondary at any time?
‘Tough man’ taking over the maternal role
Is more interested in the homeless man’s story than his money – a turning point for Tsotsi?
His childhood was troubled and upsetting – his mother had AIDs, his father was abusive(?), typical of a gang man (crime to survive?)
Tsotsi is clearly desperate – kills Butcher over ‘David’’s father – a man he doesn’t know
His character has changed towards the end – he asks to come into the house, he apologises to people he’s wronged
He gave the homeless man his money – not at all like conventional crime characters
He gave back the baby – stereotype breaks down….
Hero
While walking through the town, Tsotsi is walking in front – he looks like a leader; a hero
Boston stands up to Tsotsi (heroic action?) and tells him that he thinks they’re going too far by killing people – he gets beaten up for it
While Tsotsi is running through the field he a flashback of him running and crying as a child (he had a bad childhood?) – Kind of makes you feel sorry for him
He tries to take care of the baby – feed it, change the nappy etc. – he’s not all bad, he’s not cruel
He’s bad, but on the inside he’s good – reflection on his childhood and how he was brought up
He can’t/won’t kill the old man in the wheelchair- showing that he is not as bad as he was in the beginning of the film
Forces a woman to feed the baby – he wants the baby to be well fed and happy
Tsotsi Conflict Movie
Boston gets verbally abused for trying to be a better person/hero
The baby is the hero? – The baby brought out the decent side of Tsotsi – He wants to be good but his past keeps getting in the way
The woman that takes care of the child is the hero? – Takes care of the child – feeds and cleans the baby for free
Tsotsi steals toys for baby David – He wants to be a good father figure to David
He names the baby David (his real name) because he wants the baby to have the life that Tsotsi never had?
Tsotsi wants to redeem himself – He gives the old man money
He doesn’t want to give the baby back
TSOTSI – impressive Acting?
Train Stabbing (Butcher)
– No remorse when he kills, only anger in his facial expression (probably venting out all his hate and anger).
Wheelchair guy (Morris) being held up by Tsotsi.
– Real emotion and struggle in comparison what we’ve seen before in this film, through the emotion of Morris we understand and kind of emphasise with him.
Drunk dad
– The dad’s drunken performance is very important for the story; it creates all sorts of questions…
Does he abuse Tsotsi (David)? Is he considered abusive drunk? Something like this happened before?
Tsotsi often shows no emotion BUT DOES HAVE BREAKING POINTS
– After teacher boy (Boston) pushes it and says about his mother and dog he breaks and beats up school boy pretty good.
Tsotsi’s reactions to fear is often panic which results in pain for others in some sort of way…
– When stealing the first car he shoots mother in panic fear that she will catch him.
– Killing Butcher (best friend) to keep the Dad alive.
Tsotsi Conflicts
Tsotsi’s weakest point I believe was in the child’s bedroom, weakness maybe is love and care, and something he was deprived of as a child (mother dying + different lifestyle) comparison to his life, breaking point? He shows much sadness inside this room and could be the point in which he decides it’s the best place for the child to live.
Tsotsi Main Conflict
Tsotsi ultimate breaking point is shown when he is handing the baby back, only kind of motion (in the form of tears) shown since his dog was squealing its final breathes, marks the final transformation..
At that point Tsotsi is weak but acts very boldly. This emotion he shows he’s hit rock bottom and kind of owns up to his crimes.
Leanne: Tsotsi
When watching the first 10 minutes of Tsotsi my opinion of the main character called Tsotsi was that he is a confused, damaged boy with a history of family problems. Tsotsi turns to crime to survive. – My opinion did not change through the film.
Topics – Dogs;
- During the first 10 minutes of the film, after Tsotsi, Ape, Butcher and Boston commit a crime there go to a bar in which Boston aka Teacher start ask Tsotsi question and one of the question is “What about a dog?”
- After Tsotsi beats Boston (Teacher) he runs off, welts Tsotsi is running, music plays in the background and in the music quietly you can hear a dog barking.
- When in the train station Tsotsi falls over a man in a wheelchair, later Tsotsi follows this man and eventually stop under a motorway where Tsotsi and this man have a convocation, a dog is mentioned as Tsotsi says “I’ve seen a man kick a dog twice and break his back legs” Tsotsi carry’s on to say “why live life like a dog” to the man in the wheelchair.
- Flashback – Tsotsi now known as David to us, is stood with a dog looking at his mother as she asks him to come closer, his father appears in the shot and tells David to go outside in which David runs out side and hides behind chicken cages. This is when we hear and see the dog barking at David’s father and we carry on to hear the dog howling. The dog is now crawling on the floor as he cannot stand up on his two back legs and they seem to be broken.
My one word for Tsotsi is Responsibility.
City Of God: Fernando Meirelles
Matthew Pick: Mise-En-Scene and Lil’ Ze in ‘City of God’
- The setting of the film in the slums of Rio de Janeiro instantly makes you think of the type of characters this movie may follow. The slum is full of homeless people and stray animals and the worn down buildings in this setting only emphasise the lack of wealth in the area. The setting of the movie makes it clear that these ‘hoodlums’ have been forced into being ‘hoodlums’ because of their surroundings.
- The uses of props, such as guns, are seen very frequently throughout the film and symbolise the oppression and power of the gang culture in the area. The use of drugs is also symbolic in the movie but for a different reason as they tend to represent happier times e.g. Rocket and Angelica on the beach and Benny’s Leaving Party, which ends with gun violence anyway. They are also used as a symbol of wealth and power among the rival gangs who are in a constant battle to control drug operations on their own sides of the slums.
- The use of costumes helps make the characters more believable as ‘hoodlums’ and also emphasises the change in time from the 60’s to 70’s along with the colour change as time moves on (an orange, golden glow in the 60’s and a more washed out, blue tone colour scheme in the 70’s).
- The performance of the characters is also crucial as it was loosely based on a true story. The gang leaders Lil’ Ze and Carrot are shown as the most dominant figures throughout while Rocket narrates almost as an observer.
- Lil’ Ze from a very early age clearly wanted to be the boss of organised crime in the area which in turn ends up being true after he frames the Tender Trio for murder at the brothel when he is asked to wait outside. His lack of education ultimately leads him to a life of crime and even from the period of being Lil’ Dice he is a cold, sadistic killer who gains enjoyment from the pain of others first clear at the brothel.
- He grows up to be the feared leader of a local gang along with Benny who has very different plans. Lil’ Ze is so set on eliminating all the other drug dealers to establish his own empire that he has no indication of right and wrong, which gives me the idea he is almost a psychopath even from his childhood.
o His involvement with Knockout Ned and his wife (her rape) makes it clear that Lil’ Ze has no sense of morality or human decency. He also ends up bribing the local police force for guns and anonymity which inevitably backfires as the war breaks out and he cannot pay off his debts showing that his power mad attitude eventually comes at the cost of his life after having to pay off the police.
City of God – Cinematography
Range of shots – clearly a film about filmmaking
Close up shots of knives, slaughter
No full bodies – long shots – in opening
Close ups of children with guns
360 view of Rocket
Shaggy is admired – high angle shot
Panning
Looking in on the group rather than camera within the group
Pans across dead bodies
Documentary style shots
Birds eye shots
POV shots of victims
Very close shots of Steak ‘n’ Fries killing
Close up of dog
Gun, drugs close ups
Angle makes Lil Ze look small in Benny’s Farewell
Uncomfortably close to Ze vs. long shots of Benny
Wide shot to show how many people
Pan around gang
Following Ned
Docu-style footage of bodies – realism
Blurred
Rocket’s camera POV
Fixed shot of new gang leaving – endless cycle of violence