Tsotsi
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Tsotsi |
| Original title | Tsotsi |
| Country of production |
South Africa , UK |
| original language | Zulu , Xhosa |
| Publishing year | 2005 |
| length | 94 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Gavin Hood |
| script | Gavin Hood |
| production | Peter Fudakowski |
| music |
Paul Hepker , Mark Kilian , Vusi Mahlasela |
| camera | Lance Gewer |
| cut | Megan Gill |
| occupation | |
| |
Tsotsi , also called Tsotsi: A Boy from the Ghetto in the German opening credits , is a South African film from 2005. It is based on the novel of the same name by the South African writer Athol Fugard . Many critics compared Tsotsi with the film City of God by director Fernando Meirelles . The film received many international awards, including the Oscar for best foreign language film, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award , among other things . Tsotsi started in Germany on May 4, 2006. The actors in the film are mostly amateur actors.
action
In the suburbs of the South African city of Johannesburg , 19-year-old Tsotsi has pushed aside all memories of his childhood. He fled from his alcoholic father when his mother died of AIDS . Orphaned at an early age, he has built a dubious existence as the leader of a small gang - as "Tsotsi", which in street slang simply means gangster or thug. With his friends, Tsotsi steals and beats in passing and does not shy away from murder. But gang member Boston confronts him after the senseless murder of a businessman. He should reveal something about himself, at least his real name. Tsotsi feels pressured by the inquiries and brutally beats Boston up.
Tsotsi flees. In a wealthy suburb, he spontaneously ambushes a young woman, shoots her and steals her car. He is in an accident when he notices the three-month-old baby in the back seat. After a moment's hesitation, he puts the child in a paper bag with the other looted items and takes it with him into his world. Since he is overwhelmed with the care of the baby, he forces Miriam, a single mother, to breastfeed the child. She offers to take care of the baby.
Tsotsi develops a tender relationship with the young child and remembers his own childhood. He remembers that he was born as David, and after Miriam asks him for the child's name, he decides to name the child David. Thereupon he begins to rethink his previous attitude, takes in his beaten up friend Boston and wants to change his life. But the little one's father and mother, who was paralyzed as a result of the attack, are looking for him. After a few days, Miriam persuades Tsotsi to return the child. The police pick up Tsotsi in front of his parents' gate.
Reviews
" Tsotsi is powerful and brutal cinema, but still emotionally moving and authentic."
"A story developed and staged densely in the first half, which tells of the social differences in the Cape, but in the second part pulls out all the stops of a melodramatic cleansing narrative, which noticeably dilutes the actual tendency of the film."
“The Oscar-winning film dispenses with clichés and instead places the inner conflict of a criminal at the center of the plot, for whom, in his desperation, it is more important to save his young life than to escape the authorities himself. The rhythm of the film traces the hardship of a life that knows neither friendship nor love, and precisely because of this it tells of love and the desire for justice. The unpredictability of the main character is linked to the unpredictability of the plot. The resulting tension is particularly fascinating about the film. A film that nevertheless follows a clear moral concept: judgments about people do not do justice to the real background. "
Awards
- Audience Award at the Toronto Film Festival 2005
- Audience Award at the Edinburgh Film Festival 2005
- European Film Award 2005 , nominated for Best Non-European Film
- Golden Globe Awards 2006 , nomination for "Best Foreign Language Film"
- Academy Awards 2006 , "Best Foreign Language Film"
- British Academy Film Awards 2006 , nomination for "Best Non-English Language Film"
Conceptual background
The word "tsotsi" or "tsotsism" has been used as a term for the phenomenon of truants . At times it was a mass behavior. As a synonym for this behavior, it was applied to young township residents who formed gangs , primarily male adolescents, who felt hegemonic at home through a longer period of residence in their districts and thus set themselves apart from other youth groups who were only briefly or temporarily from neighboring areas in the Tsotsi's living environment . Common alternative names for tsotsi are location boys , ooclever , bright boys . In the Alexandra township (Johannesburg) they were also called spoilers because of their social behavior . A common common characteristic of the group members is dropping out of school during the primary school years and the loss of control by their parents in unstable living conditions. Tsotsis are heated / violent and loud / boisterous, they can be armed. Tsotsis between the ages of 15 and 25 years were called ikhaba . The term ooMac was common for people over 25 years of age.
Web links
- Tsotsi in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Movie information
Individual evidence
- ^ Certificate of Release for Tsotsi . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , April 2006 (PDF; test number: 105 869 K).
- ↑ http://www.mopo.de/news/oscar-gekroent--tsotsi,5066732,5714050.html
- ↑ Tsotsi. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed April 27, 2018 .
- ↑ TSOTSI . Top video news. Publisher: Children's and Youth Film Center on behalf of the BMFSFJ .
- ^ SAIRR : A Survey of Race Relations in South Africa 1950–1951 . Johannesburg 1951, p. 55
- ↑ Monica Wilson, Archie Mafeje: Langa . A Study of Social Groups in an African Township . Oxford University Press, Cape Town, London, New York 1963, pp. 22-24
- ^ South African History Online: Gangsterism in Sophiatown . on www.sahistory.org.za (English)