1

Issues in Tsotsi?

Tsotsi as a film encourages empathy and develops your understanding of contemporary global issues – the disparities between wealth and poverty and the implications for society when so many are robbed of their childhoods. It is a film about chance, about opportunity and choice.

BASED ON REALITY?

2

What do you know about South Africa?

• Over half the population lives below the poverty line – many on just a $1 a day.

• A quarter of the population is unemployed.• More than a fifth (21%) of the adult population is infected with HIV/Aids

and thousands of children grow up orphaned due to the premature deaths of their parents.

• Despite a rapid house-building programme over the last decade it still has many of its people living in shantytowns and squatter camps in shelters constructed from scavenged scrap.

• Violent crime, though falling, still costs the lives of over 20,000 people a year - and armed-robbery, car-jacking, rape and aggravated burglary are the stuff of everyday anecdote.

Some or all of these are the painful legacies of 50 years of racism, discrimination and neglect and also of the miseries in many other parts of Africa - that make South Africa an incredible melting-pot of nationalities and cultures.

3

How does the film Tsotsi represent South Africa?

What impression of the country do you receive and what clues are there in it about the lives of ordinary people living there?

The evidence of poverty and affluence – consider the logo on Pumla Dube’s shopping bag that Tsotsi steals to carry the baby off in – ‘Expect More’.

The evidence of pollution

The evidence that South Africa’s capital Johannesburg and its townships are lively, energetic, bustling places.

The prominence of crime and violence and the response of the police tocrime and criminals – however young.

The evidence of disease – particularly HIV/Aids (look out for posters and also Tsotsi’s flashback memories of his mother)

Evidence of mixed communities or highly segregated communities(apart from the one white policeman – why is there so little evidence of white people in this film – crossing Tsotsi’s path?)

The evidence of strong cultural/artistic forces at work in the townships(consider the language, music and even the colourful fabrics and hanging glass and metal mobiles that Miriam produces in her home tohelp make ends meet.)

4

Representations and Stereotypes

Every time we watch a film, we are not seeing reality, but someone's version of it.

Representation therefore refers to the construction of ‘reality'

Representation involves analysing how identities are re-presented or rather constructed to communicate a certain meaning

Look at these images and using your analysis skills

determine what or who is being represented, consider how the representation is

constructed.

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Representations and Stereotypes

Do you think

Tsosti was

stereotyped?

How and why?

A stereotype is a commonly held image of a person or group, based on an over simplification of some observed or imagined trait of behaviour or appearance

What did you

think of Tsotsi

during the

opening of the

film?

How did the

film shape

your initial

thoughts of

Tsosti?

Are

stereotypes in

films useful or

dangerous?

mise-en-scene

camerawork

sound

framing

editing

performance

6

Representations and Stereotypes

Introduce

Tsotsi in 2

sentences

Think of a key

scene that Tsotsi

appears in, a scene

that is important to

the narrative

Use textual

analysis to

discuss the

scene

Why do you think this

scene is important and/

or what happens to

Tsotsi as a consequence

of this scene?In stories it is often suggested that something significant happens that changesthings for the hero forever – initiating subsequent developments. The mostobvious such ‘agent’ in Tsotsi’s story is the baby but perhaps there are someother more crucial moments in his story that were just as pivotal: as life-changing

Character Analysis: It’s important that you are able to analyse the representation of key characters is the film. For revision purposes let’s stick with Tsotsi. Remember the PEE technique.

7

How far does Tsotsi change over the course of the film?

Think about Tsotsi at the beginning of the film

Describe Tsotsi at the end of the film

What are some of the events that may have caused him to change

8

• 1. Tsotsi stealing the baby.• 2. The killing of the old man.• 3. Boston’s self-disgust and his needling of Tsotsi leading

to the fight.• 4. The sight of Boston’s swollen, infected face.• 5. The conversation with Morris – the crippled beggar,

underneath the flyover.• 6. The first rejection of Aap.• 7. The second rejection of Aap – when they are in the

hijacked car chopshop.• 8. The dream of his mother.• 9. Miriam and her home in the township. Her tale of her

husband’s death teaches Tsotsi something about his own crimes.

• 10. The memory of his father’s brutality triggered when visiting Miriam.

• 11. The burglary of the baby’s home and in particular time spent in the baby’s

• bedroom.• 12. Butcher’s discovery of the gun and threatening of

John Dube – the father.

How far does Tsotsi change over the course of the film?

9

Themes and issues

10

Settings and locations in TsotsiConsider each setting in the film

Describe what it looks like

What does the setting suggest to audiences?

How does one of the settings relate to the theme or issue you discussed?

11

Micro Features and their effect

Technique Example Effect

Cinematography, costume and music

Warm golden colours used to show shanty town (aided by brightly coloured African clothing worn, upbeat Kwaito music played)

Shows that although it is poor it is also a vibrant, colourful place that the characters call ‘home’. (However at night it becomes more sinister.)

Camera shots:High Angle and Wide Shot and/or Crane shots

Often used to show the shantytown where Tsotsi lives – rows of makeshift houses and when policemen find Tsotsi’s abandons the car on highway.

Emphasises the size of the slum. It is sprawling – we see the magnitude of poverty. His story is just one of many. It also makes it hard for the police to find criminals – they become invisible in the masses.

Camera shots:Film uses a lot ofWide Shots held for a long time (alternated with Close Ups to show Tsotsi’s face)

Tsotsi walking on tracks, Tsotsi and gang melting into the crowd in the railway station, The pipes in the flashbackTsotsi under bridge with Morris, etc

Two things:1. Seems stage like – Tsotsi is a

character in morality play – he has to go through certain episodes and learn and grow.

2. Shows how the characters lives are intertwined with their setting – eg Tsotsi’s life would be different if he did not grow up poor/orphaned by AIDS/ in Soweto’s township

12

Micro Features and their effect

Technique Example Effect

Mise-en-scene Tsotsi’s corrugated iron hut is stacked with stolen audio-visual equipment

Setting reveals character’s history – life of crime but also practice in townships of ‘making do’- Illegal connection to mains power when he puts on music.

Contrast in lighting Warm, earthy colours used for township v. cool, sterile lighting used to show train station, hospital

Emphasises the difference in the ‘two worlds’ in South Africa. We see the gap between rich and poor more clearly. The new black middle class (John and Pumla) have access to electricity, clean surroundings, modern amenities. Poor must make do with dirt floors, no running water.

Contrast in Mise-en-scene Water pump, use of wooden boxes as makeshift furniture, houses made from scrap timber in the shanty town. This contrasts with a high-tech security system, high iron gates, spacious modern home with luxurious furnishings.

Same as above

13

Micro Features and their effect

Technique Example Effect

Mise-en-scene Colourful pastel mural of African plains with animals in baby’s room

Shows the ‘myth’ of South Africa that foreigners come to see - the savannah, the wildlife. The reality that people want to ignore is the poverty.

Music / Soundtrack Booming Kwaito music (modern South African music with hip-hop beat, strong bass line and spoken lyrics) used when Tsotsi and his gang walk through township and in Soekie’s bar where the boys fight.

Creates mood – suggests their tough natures. Music brings to mind US gangster rap – we think youth gangs, crime, feeling angry / estranged from society, violence.

Sound effects Use of ‘snake rattle’ sound effect when Tsotsi is following Morris and Miriam

Creates sense of fear and suspense. Highlights the sense of J’burg as dangerous/crime-ridden. Audience fears for the ‘victim’ – suggests predator is stalking his prey.