tsotsi
TRANSCRIPT
TsotsiAmanda, Amy and Haydn
Key ScenesTsotsi’s place, Middle Class house, Tsotsi’s child home, Train Station, Overview of city
Tsotsi’s Place
• Square room• Cramped • Has the necessary furniture = Poverty within slums• Bullet holes through walls=Violence/conflict within slums• Hardly any light, Tsotsi is in the shadows=Mysterious character, not sure what he is going to do • Main colour here is black=haunted by his past (mother passed away, alcoholic father) • Long shot but tightly framed • Candle light =New life of the baby?
Overview of City
Big New York styled city, makes contrast between the baron land he is sat on and the city a lot more drastic
He isn’t facing the city, he doesn’t belong there and is not part of the wealth and that lifestyle
Tsotsi is wearing all black, instantly seen as the antagonist/stereotypical thug
Long shot used, able to see the distance between him and the city
The city looks so big and he looks so small, shows how insignificant he is
Train Station
External Context= AIDS is very much present over everyone's lives here, it is always a message that is constantly through the film, like a hidden message but is always there to remind us
Even in the built up, wealthy city, AIDs is still a big problem, but it just seems like the middle/upper class get on with their lives whereas it really affects the lower class
Tsotsi’s Child Home
All homeless children that have had the after effects of AIDS, lost family members and ended up on their own
Completely crowded, multiple people per pipe
Burnt out car next to pipes
Low key Lighting = loss of hope
Raining = always rains with something negative is happening
When Tsotsi went back, the children were nasty and automatically assumed the baby’s mother had died
Middle Class House
Security (gates, lots of alarms), lots of wine, fridge full of food, posh expensive car = Shows their wealth
Middle class man framed on his own, shows he is different to the characters from the slums = Class divide
Characters from slums wearing black = instantly see they are the antagonists
Don’t hide their faces, they’re from the slums so know they won’t be caught
When steal the car, can’t drive it shows not educated = people in the slums aren’t as privileged
Final Scene Gives money to the old man, he’s helping rather than stealing = a changed man
Walks with the city behind him, but then turns round to looks at it, as if he is thinking about going into the city and doingsomething good for a living, and he lets the child see the big city, as if he is showing him his real home
Parallel edits to Mirium playing with her child, shows that Tsotsi has got them on his mind, become a ‘soft’ character
Police force has both black and white, but the white are still superior
Tsotsi is dressed in white and looks very smart= he’s got away from the violence and become a good character. Could also been seen as him holding up a white flag and surrendering
Police call the middle class man ‘sir’ as if he is their captain
Soft non-diegetic music playing over scene, feel his emotion
Low angle is used when Tsotsi is looking towards the middle class house, as if it is looking over him, he stills looks insignificant compared to the wealth, he is nothing compared to it
The gate is what separates him to the house, he will never get that wealth
Goes back to the baby, again shows he’s a soft character and got an attachment to it
Non-diegetic music speeds up when the police are on their way, and they point a lot of guns at Tsotsi, maybe showing the police are scared because he is from the slums, also police take orders from the middle class man
Fade to black, the end for Tsotsi has he is most likely going to prison, also there is no rain over the scene when there normally is when something bad is happening(he is losing the baby) this can be because he is doing the right thing
Context
AIDS
Banners shown throughout
•Mum passing awayChildren left on their own
Third World
Most poverty
But we thought it was worse due to the
media
Nelson Mandela
Fought to dismantle apartheid
•Came about when South Africa was colonized by the Dutch
Messages and
Values
Middle Class control Police
Security respond to the middle/upper
class very quickly
Huge Class divide
Seen through extreme long
shots
Community in the slums helps each
other
Mirium feeds child
Even though in deep
poverty, still able to look after child
Simply get on with their lives
CHARACTERS TO CONCENTRATE ON:
TSOTSI
MIRIUM
MIDDLE CLASS
POLICE
THE SHANTY TOWN POPULATION
IS THERE NO DRUGS IN THIS FILM DUE TO THE MIDDLE CLASS NOT GETTING INVOLVED WITH THE SLUMS?