Tsotsi

Dir: Gavin Hood

2005

****

Gavin Hood's Tsotsi was quite the sleepy hit upon release in 2005. It's a drama about redemption and hardship, set in one of the poorest places in the world. Presley Chweneyagae plays David, a gang leader and thug, also known as a Tsotsi in the South African slums. David and his gang are feared and unliked in equal measure but David's self-loathing reaches peak when he attacks his own. Deciding to go it alone, Tsotsi goes on somewhat of a rampage and steals a car in the process, shooting the car's owner in the process. Instantly filled with regret, David's world is turned upside down when he discovers that the car owners baby son had been sitting in the back seat all along. Instead of abandoning the baby with the car, David takes him back to his slum with a half an idea of looking after him. Do not be mistaken, this is not a story of a tough-guy softened by an infant, this is not Kindergarten Cop or Three Men and a Baby. Some of the scenes where it is clear David doesn't know the first thing about childcare can be quite disturbing. The setting and lives of those in the slums is brutally real, the treatment of the poor even more so. However, there is far more to the story then just redemption. It also shows the impossible situation some people inherit and it should go some way in explaining the desperate acts some of us can commit. It is a powerful drama, beautifully directed and brilliantly acted by an impressive cast of young actors.