Have You Seen?: Tsotsi

Tsotsi is Gavin Hood’s Academy Award winning 2005 adaptation of the 1959 novel of the same name by South African political playwright Athol Fugard. Although the concept of a troubled adolescent setting out on a learning curve to rediscover himself isn’t new, the superb handling of such a hackneyed theme in this film transforms it from just another generic coming-of-age flick into a powerful and insightful cinematic experience. It should be no surprise that, in the light of Fugard’s collaborative influence on the script, Tsotsi verges on deep philosophical reflections; particularly raising questions with regards to dehumanisation and existential personhood.

Set in a South African slum on the outskirts of Johannesburg, Tsotsi follows the transformation of an ostensibly emotionally inhibited adolescent who answers to the name Tsotsi, meaning “thug” in local Tsotsitaal patois. Breathtakingly played by amateur actor Presley Chweneyagae, the young killer Tsotsi – maltreated by those whom he loved – undertakes a form of self-depersonalisation. He runs away from his family to live on the streets as a cold-hearted small-time gangster. With no name, no past and no identity, it seems that nothing can move him.

Yet when Tsotsi unwittingly gains possession of a one-year-old baby after shooting his mother, he is faced with a dilemma that threatens to penetrate his emotional barriers. Unable to desert the child as he himself was, Tsotsi takes it on himself to become the child’s surrogate father. By projecting his abandoned and vulnerable past self onto the newly acquired infant, Tsotsi becomes increasingly attached to the helpless baby which he perceives to possess the innocence he has lost. In a sense the child is the key that unlocks the chest containing Tsotsi’s repressed emotions. Through a culmination of flashbacks and a visit to the concrete construction pipe that was once his primitive childhood home, Tsotsi reacquaints himself with his past.

Ultimately this is a film about the exorcism of trauma and the subsequent re-discovery of self by re-learning how to feel. Although deeply moving, at no point does Hood fall back on Hollywoodised one-liners or big dramatic embraces. Much of this is due to the soundtrack. An infusion of heavy-bass Kwaito and pulsating African-tribal folk music, this score really does transport you to the poverty-stricken South African townships. Many of the songs also feature the melodic voice of South African protest singer and poet Vusi Mahlasela, an inclusion that permits Tsotsi to be emotionally engaging without skirting on the corny.

In fact Tsotsi manages to stay clear from all the obvious pitfalls of over sentimentalising the story or characters. By staying true to Fugard’s original novel and taking a reductive approach to dialogue, Hood rejects the normative use of language in films as a means of explanation. It is clear that no words are wasted in Tsotsi and much of the underlying meaning is heavily reliant on visuals. The result is that both the acting and cinematography are stunning. From the loneliness and simmering rage in Tsotsi’s fixed glare to the immeasurable pain in Miriam’s fleeting glance, it is uncanny the extent to which the emotions in the film are conveyed by the actor’s eyes alone. After trawling through so many wax work Hollywood productions, it is invigorating to watch a film where so much time is dedicated to tracking the expressions of the actors. To some this film might seem a little slow moving at first, but given half a chance it is guaranteed to take the viewer on a powerful journey that results in subsequent ponderings on philosophical questions never before heeded.

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