For me, the Oscars rarely seem to get it right. More and
more, the biggest awards in film seem to go to the heartbreaking dramas without
consideration of the uplifting. However, in 2006, the film Tsotsi won
the award for Best Foreign Language Film; and finally, the academy awards got
it right.
Tsotsi tells the story of a man named David, whose only known name for
much of the film is, of course, “Tsotsi,” which apparently means “thug.”
Tsotsi lives in the slums of South Africa, and the film picks up as he and his
small gang goes out to do “a job.” They quickly target a rich-looking older man
in the train station and follow him into the subway. They surround him, proceed
to take his money, and when the man begins to speak one of Tsotsi’s followers
stabs him. They strip him of his monetary possessions and leave him dead in the
middle of the train. The next scene shows Boston, the least accustomed of the
group to violence, throwing up. This adequately introduces us to his character.
Later he begins to talk about human decency and how they had gone over the line
that night by killing the man. Tsotsi gets angry, beats him senseless, and
runs. He runs to the rich part of the city, and sits in the rain looking at the
large houses that line the streets. Soon, he sees a car come and pull up to the
house directly opposite him. While, the woman steps out of the car to ring the
bell for her husband to open the gate, Tsotsi approaches the vehicle, points a
gun at the woman, and begins to get in. The woman frantically tries to stop him
from pulling away; and in the process, Tsotsi shoots her, seemingly more by
accident and fright than malicious intent.
Soon, we see why the woman was so worried. There is a baby in the back of the
car.
This event sets into motion a remarkable change in the life of the young man.
Later in the film, in one particularly moving scene, he follows a crippled,
homeless man along his nightly route in his wheelchair. Upon seeing Tsotsi’s
presence, the man asks why he is following him. I won’t waste time by relating
the entire conversation, but eventually Tsotsi asks him why he goes on living when
he lives like a dog. The man replies that with his hands he can still feel the
heat of the sun on the concrete. Through this, he tells Tsotsi that it’s the
little things in life that make it worth living. This and many other events
work the change that is aforementioned. Without giving away the contents, the
ending is a scene that is truly touching. It’s the perfect conclusion to the
film.
I love films like this where the main character undergoes a positive change. At
the end of the film, Tsotsi learns that there is value in life and that his
actions can make a difference. As Christians, we know that true spiritual
change can only come from God; and while the film never mentions or even
alludes to the presence of a supernatural being, the results in the young man’s
life are clearly of God, whether he is a Christian or not.
The entire film is spoken in a foreign language, the exact name of which I
haven’t been able to pin down. It seems to be a sort of South African slang
hybrid of languages. Therefore, those of us who are not fluent in this language
much watch it in subtitles. This, however, unlike some films, does not take
away from the story. The quality of the acting allows for comparatively little
utilization of dialogue. We see emotion in their faces, not necessarily their
words.
The film did earn an R-rating, and this is almost entirely because of the language.
The f-word is used frequently during the film, but such coarse language is most
likely present in this environment. There are two main instances of violence,
neither of which are particularly graphic. A mother is also shown nursing a
child but little is revealed.
Tsotsi is one of the best films that I’ve seen in a
long time. Its use of acting and minimal dialogue lends a certain quality that
would not have been present had it been speech-heavy. The final scene almost
brought me to tears. I think that speaks more loudly than any words I could use
to describe it. It seems there’s finally an award-winning film worth seeing.
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