Genre: Drama
Tagline: In this world... redemption just comes once.
Plot: In a shantytown on the edges of Johannesburg, South Africa, 19-year-old Tsotsi (Presley Chweneyagae) has repressed any memory of his past, including his real name. “Tsotsi” simply means “thug” or “gangster” in the street language of the ghetto. Orphaned at an early age and compelled to claw his way to adulthood alone, Tsotsi has lived a life of extreme social and psychological deprivation. A feral being with scant regard for the feelings of others, he has hardened himself against any feelings of compassion. Ruled only by impulse and instinct, he is fueled by the fear he instills in others. With no name, no past and no plan for the future, he exists only in an angry present. Tsotsi heads up his own posse of social misfits: Boston, a failed teacher (Mothusi Magano), Butcher, a cold-blooded assassin (Zenzo Ngqobe) and Aap, a dimwitted heavy (Kenneth Nkosi.)One night, during an alcohol-fueled evening at a local shebeen (illicit liquor bar) Tsotsi is put under pressure by a drunken Boston to reveal something of his past; or at the very least, his real name. But Tsotsi reveals nothing. The questions evoke painful, long repressed memories that he would prefer to keep buried. Still, Boston keeps asking. The other gang members sense a rising anger in Tsotsi and try to stop the
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 What makes this film worthwhile is that it can provide the former without ignoring the latter, and thereby allow viewers to leave the theater without feeling cheated.  --James Berardinelli (ReelViews)
Tsotsi hums along at a breakneck pace, but never skips an important detail. It’s tour-de-force filmmaking at its best.  --Julian Roman (MovieWeb)
Even in its sentimental moments, the film is still attempting to find hope in a life of violence, a noble, if not common, goal. Like all expert adaptations, Hood has looked at his source material and seen a world beyond the words. He has my admiration, and I finally have an Oscar pick.  --Chris Cabin (FilmCritic.com)
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| Directed by |
Gavin Hood
In Desert and Wilderness, A Reasonable Man |
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| Written by |
Athol Fugard
Boesman and Lena, 'Master Harold'... and the Boys, Gandhi | Gavin Hood
A Reasonable Man, In Desert and Wilderness |
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| Music By |
| Mark Kilian
King Solomon's Mines, The Skulls III, Lover Girl |
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| ...It has a lot of really strong stuff that's worth considering. If you are a person who digs fast moving big budget flicks I'd have to call it a pass for you. Of course if that's the case I'm not sure how and the hell you made it all the way through this review. Perhaps we should just agree it's the brilliance of the prose that's stuck in your craw. B --Laremy Legel
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