Tsotsi (South Africa/UK 2005)

A narrative analysis

Butcher and Aap with Fela the wounded Boston is in the background

(Spoilers ahead! Like the earlier post on Hero, these notes are from a student event with a
full screening of the film. The detailed notes here give away important plot details.)
We chose this film as a case study based on five related points, which we explore below:

a narrative produced outside Hollywood;

a simple narrative structure, but powerfully affective;
a consistent approach to the presentation of a specific environment, involving
stylised cinematography and music;
questions about the narrative resolution;
a series of questions about genre and categorisation.
Narratives outside Hollywood
Everyone is familiar with the conventions of the Hollywood film narrative. This isnt a reason
not to study Hollywood or to take the conventions for granted. Hollywood, as befits the
dominant institution in cinema across the world, is highly dynamic and constantly evolving in
terms of film narrative. However, it is often difficult to analyse the films you know best. It
helps to have some distance from the films we study and one way to do this is to study
some films that are not Hollywood in order to make comparisons. Often by comparing and
contrasting similar films from different systems we notice much more about them than if we
looked at only one system.

Tsotsi is in every way a South African story even though the film is technically a South
Africa/UK production, because some of the production finance is from the UK. (Tsotsi was
made on a very small budget of less than US $3 million. Currently the worldwide box office
for the film is $9.9 million.) In many ways, Tsotsi is a new kind of South African film, because
it is a mainstream film that has been seen around the world (it won the Oscar for Best
Foreign Language Picture at the 2006 Academy Awards). Previously, important South
African stories have been made in the country by British and American producers using
British and American stars, often producing films which, apart from the setting, look much
like other Hollywood films.
South Africa: Background
The Republic of South Africa is unique on the continent of Africa in terms of its history, its
population and its culture. The original inhabitants were largely driven out by the arrival of
various groups of people speaking a variety of languages often referred to generically as
Bantu around the 5th century AD. Its quite important to realise that southern Africa has
always been a region with a diverse population black South Africans today identify
themselves as belonging to one of several ethnic and language groups, such as the Zulu of
North Eastern South Africa around Johannesburg and the Xhosa in the South West around
Cape Town.
From the 15th century onwards, Southern Africa became the site of colonial and later
imperial struggle to exploit the rich agricultural and mineral wealth of the region. The British
eventually replaced the Dutch as colonial masters, but not in terms of settlement. When
South Africa became an independent nation it was the Afrikaans speaking descendants of
the Dutch settlers who were the political majority in the white community and through the
creation of apartheid or separate development, dominated the majority black population.
But because of the history of colonial exploitation, South Africas population is even more
diverse than this history might suggest. The Dutch and the British brought first slaves and
then indentured labour (a form of economic slavery) to South Africa from what is now
Indonesia and India. In the Cape Region, the intermarriage of slaves and European settlers
created a community of what became known in South Africa as Cape Coloureds. When
apartheid ended in 1994 and South Africa held its first multi-racial elections, it became in
the new President Mandelas words, A Rainbow Nation. Today South Africa has a
population of 47 million. The various black communities make up around 79% of the
population, followed by the white community, the Cape Coloureds and the Indian/Asian
communities.
Economy and the townships
South Africa is the richest country in Africa, but even after ten years of democracy, it still has
massive inequalities in wealth distribution. In blunt terms, there is a rich minority with living
standards comparable with North America and Western Europe and a large majority

existing on very low incomes. This division is reflected in visible terms by the peculiar
building arrangements in South African cities. One of the legacies of apartheid is the
concept of the township/shanty town/squatter camp. In the apartheid era, the black
population was kept separate from the white cities, so that makeshift settlements grew up
to house black workers outside the major cities. These became known as townships. The
situation was made worse by another apartheid policy which forced black Africans to live in
what were called homelands by the white government and bantustans by their
opponents. Black South Africans could only own land in the homelands. Since this was the
poorest agricultural land, many were forced to live in temporary buildings on the edge of the
city where there might be work. The apartheid government also shipped in migrant workers
from other countries to work in mining and other industries. These workers too would be
housed outside the cities. The result of these policies was the piecemeal development of
collections of townships. The most famous of these is Soweto (South Western Township), a
huge sprawl of many smaller townships on the edge of Johannesburg which has grown over
a period a hundred years and which may now be bigger than the rest of the city with more
than 1 million residents. This is the setting for Tsotsi. The films three locations are
representative of the three areas in Johannesburg the city centre, the squatter camp (one
of the least developed township areas) and the suburbs (once white enclaves, now also
home to the black middle class).
(see http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/places/villages/gauteng/johannesburg/index.htmfor
the history of Sowetos development as a home for Johannesburgs black population.)
Township life
Because of the history outlined above, township culture has developed in distinctive ways.
In the first half of the 20th century, men outnumbered women 3:1 since they were primarily
workers who had left families behind and were accommodated in hostels. There were few
civic amenities in the townships and social life was based on the beer hall orshabeen. Men
outnumbering women generally means organised prostitution and high crime levels. But the
culture also developed positive aspects, including a vibrant musical culture, combining
traditional music with imported black music styles from America. Initially the influences were
jazz but now it is likely to be hip-hop. Tsotsi uses the current township music culture, known
as kwaito throughout the film. One of the main characters is played by Zola, a leading
kwaito performer.
Besides crime and music, the main way in which township residents have become famous
is via sport, especially football, and the political struggle against apartheid. Not surprisingly,
several South African novels, plays and films have focused on township life as the basis for
their stories. Outside South Africa, the best known of these have been written by white
South African liberals, sympathetic to the residents. The two best known writers in the UK
are Alan Paton and Athol Fugard.

Alan Paton (1903-1988) was a Christian who became a teacher and then principal of a
Reform School where he instigated progressive policies. In 1953 he founded the South
African Liberal Party a multi-racial party that was later banned by the apartheid regime. In
1948 he wrote his most famous novel, Cry The Beloved Country. This was made into a
British/South African film in 1951, starring the African-American actors Canada Lee and
Sidney Poitier and then a South African/US film in 1995 starring James Earl Jones.
Athol Fugard (b 1932) is a South African playwright who in the 1970s wrote several plays
attacking the injustices of apartheid. One of these,Boesman and Lena, was adapted as a
film in 1974 and seen around the world. Another, Sizwe Bansi Is Dead (1972) was
performed in several countries. Tsotsi is based on a novel that Athol Fugard wrote in 1970,
which has been updated to relate to a post-apartheid South Africa.
The South African film industry
Tsotsi is a relatively unusual film. Putting aside the small UK involvement, it is a South
African film, made by South African talent, for both the home market and for export. It is one
of a small number of such films released in the last couple of years, marking a change in
South African filmmaking.
In the past, filmmaking in South Africa has been split into three separate activities. Because
of its range of locations and good infrastructure, South Africa has been used by many
Hollywood and international films to stand in for other parts of Africa. In such cases,
directors and stars have been flown into the country and this has happened even when the
story has been distinctively South African. The film Red Dust (UK/South Africa 2004) dealt
with the aftermath of apartheid and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, yet the two
stars, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Hilary Swank were brought in from the UK and the US.
There has always been a small-scale white South African film industry, often making local
comedies and not usually exported. There has also in the past been an exploitation film
industry making films cheaply to be shown in the townships. This practice was supported
with some funding by the apartheid government for a separate black cinema culture. The
legacy of apartheid in terms of cinema has been a weak local industry, almost totally
subservient to Hollywood. Despite having more cinemas and more admissions than
anywhere else in Africa, the South African industry had little real success at home
until Tsotsi. Most South African audiences have traditionally preferred Hollywood films.
Narrative Structure
There are various ways of thinking about Tsotsi as a film narrative. In structural terms it is
quite straightforward. Writer-director Gavin Hood even says on the DVD that it is a simple
narrative. Apart from the flashback memories of his childhood that Tsotsi himself
experiences early in the film, the narrative structure is linear in terms of time. Everything
takes place over four nights. There are brief sequences dealing with the investigation of the
abduction of the baby by the police and Bostons recuperation at the shabeen, but most of
the time Tsotsi himself drives the narrative forward.

There are three environments in the film and the story moves between the three. They are:

the township
the city centre (or rather the railway station and its immediate environs)
the suburb
Questions of colour, cinematography etc.
The most striking feature of the film is what we might call the colour palette with which the
cinematographer is working. Most scenes take place either at night or in what appears to be
a rosy glow of early morning or early evening. Few scenes are shot in the bright sunlight of
mid-day. Shooting at night is always difficult and creating a coherent look for the film across
the different environments and natural lighting conditions was the main aim. Tsotsi was
featured in an article forAmerican Cinematographer magazine (see Bosley 2006) so we
have some good ideas about what was intended and how the effects were achieved.

An expressionist image using lighting to emphasise the state of Tsotsi with the baby in his shack.

Director Gavin Hood believed that Tsotsi was essentially an internal story. Although there
are several action sequences, the real story is inside Tsotsis head. Ideally we should study
Tsotsi and understand how he is beginning to change over the course of the story.
Hood and his cinematographer Lance Gewer began with one clear idea. They would not
use the hand-held style which had been so successful in the worldwide hit that was City of
God (Brazil 2002). In that film, hand-held camerawork and fast cutting was an important
element in creating an action-packed gangster film. But it wouldnt be appropriate for Tsotsi.
Instead, Hood and Gewer opted for a fairly static camera, carefully framed and lit scenes in
which a relatively small and slow zoom in to Tsotsis face could communicate agreat deal
about what is going on in his head.
Narrative resolution
Tsotsi is a film that ends hanging in mid air. In the version that was shown in cinemas, Tsotsi
is holding is arms raised with the three policemen all aiming their guns at him. What
happens next? Does Tsotsi surrender? Is his surrender accepted? Or do the police shoot

him? It is a tense situation in which anything might happen. The filmmakers chose this open
ending partly because they liked the possibility of audiences leaving the cinema discussing
what the ending meant and what should happen to Tsotsi and partly because they had
received negative reactions to the other two possibilities that a closed ending would have
offered.
All three potential endings are shown and discussed by the director on the DVD. Having the
police shoot and kill Tsotsi (after he puts his hand in his pocket to bring out the bottle of
milk) was thought by some audiences to be too predictable (which might reflect on the
status of the police in South Africa), but by others to be emotionally devastating. If an
audience invests heavily in a character, especially one who attempts to redeem himself,
then the death of the character comes as a blow.
The second alternative ending is that the police shoot, but Tsotsi is only wounded. The
police seem surprised/shocked that someone has actually fired and in that split second,
Tsotsi regains his composure and runs for the wall at the side of the road. He vaults over the
wall and heads off across the field, heading for the township. This is the sentimental,
romantic ending with the implication that he finds Miriam. But, like the ending in which Tsotsi
is killed, the filmmakers felt that this was too pat it meant that there would be no
discussion of what should or shouldnt happen.
Genre
Whatever sense audiences make of Tsotsi, it will to some extent depend on how they
approach the film. This refers to the concept of categorising or classifying films and, based
upon the choice of category, developing expectations of what might happen and how it
might be presented. Tsotsiis interesting because it doesnt clearly suggest any single
category. Here are some ideas about how audiences might categorise it or select its genre.
1. foreign language flm
Tsotsi includes dialogue in Zulu and Xhosa as well as Afrikaans and English (in fact most of
the film is conducted in a form of criminal slang). Most of the film is subtitled. In the UK,
many audiences claim not to enjoy subtitled films. This may be because they find reading
subtitles tiring or because they feel they are missing something else while they are reading.
But it is also possible that they may be reacting against what they see as the otherness
the strangeness of non-English language cinema. Partly, they may also associate any
subtitled film with the notion of art cinema i.e. that the film will be in some way difficult or
pretentious and may offer a character study more than a good story/plot and action. In
many cases they will be justified in this view.Tsotsi is in some ways a character study more
than a plot-driven action entertainment feature. However, it certainly isnt a difficult film.
2. drama
One of the important points about genre as a concept is that the term is used differently by

the film industry, audiences, critics and scholars and that each of these groups will
themselves use different terms to describe a particular category. On the whole, the film
industry uses very broad terms such as comedy, thriller or drama. In fact these are just
about the only terms that the industry is happy to use (apart from horror, which is usually
reserved for use with younger audiences). The industry itself is wary of putting any potential
audience off by referring to popular genre categories such as science fiction, romance etc.
They fear that such terms will deter some audiences. Science fiction films sometimes
become futuristic dramas and romances become romantic dramas. What does drama
mean in these circumstances? Perhaps it simply serves to distinguish one group of films
from another group comedies. Dramas are in some way serious. Although, of course, you
will come across comedy-dramas. Tsotsi is described as a riveting drama on the DVD
cover, but there are no other pointers to its generic status.
3. adaptation
Tsotsi is certainly serious in terms of its overall tone and the importance of the social issues
it represents. For some audiences, that seriousness will be a kind of status indicator and it
may well be associated with the knowledge that the film is based on a novel by a well known
playwright. Both literature and theatre have higher cultural status than cinema amongst
certain groups in society and a film which has literary roots automatically draws on this
status. For other audiences this link might be a disadvantage if they see the film as being
stifled or restricted by its origins. If we can think about the original authors intentions
without getting bothered about cultural status it could help us in analysing the films narrative
to think about how the story is constructed in almost theatrical terms.
It wouldnt be difficult to stage Tsotsi as a play. Most of the action takes place in distinctive
settings which work as theatrical spaces: Tsotsis shack/Miriams shack, the shabeen, the
train station/underpass, the suburb. There is little use of traditional cinematic devices such
as the chase which would be difficult to stage. Also the confrontations between characters
are also theatrical in terms of dialogue exchange and posed/tableau positioning of actors.
4. gangster film
The gangster film is a popular form in cinemas across the world, not just in Hollywood films
but in films made in Britain, France, Italy, Hong Kong etc. Tsotsi makes clear references to
the gangster repertoire with the set-up of the attack at the beginning of the film, the
squabbling between the gang members, each of whom is typed for easy identification. The
development of the story to include a gang leader whose actions are curtailed or re-directed
because of a woman (a woman of his own age and/or a mother figure) is also a familiar
aspect of the gangster film. However, although the gangster genre may provide many of the
elements in the mix, it doesnt tell the full story and it will be more useful to see Tsotsi as
mixing the gangster genre elements with those of the youth picture.
5. youth picture/coming of age drama
Many films can be studied in terms of their focus on youth. Clearly the interest in producing

youth films is related to the importance of this age group in the cinema audience. There is
no strict definition of what youth means in terms of age groups. At its widest, it might refer
to anyone aged 13-24. Tsotsi and his gang are perhaps in their early 20s. The narrative of
the youth picture will have several distinctive features:
some sense of rebellion and dismissal of the adult world;
a short story time the events will take place over a few days or a few weeks;
at the end of the film, the main character will usually have learned something about
themselves.
Do these elements figure in Tsotsi? The focus of a youth picture narrative will either be
something to do with achievement in exams, a job etc. or in a romantic/sexual relationship.
Especially in the latter case, this might make the youth picture a coming of age story in
which the central character is seen to grow up in some way.

At the beginning of the film, Tsotsi and Miriam pass each other in the crowded streets of the township.

6. township film
In most countries there are some stories and some film genres which are peculiar to that
country (i.e. they are not universal like the romance or the comedy). We could argue that
there have been several films in the past that might be described as township dramas.
These films were all set in the South African townships with stories that depended on some
of the unique characteristics of township life. From the 1940s through to the late 1980s,
such stories also depended on the conditions of apartheid which affected every aspect of
South African life most importantly in governing where people could live, how they could
travel etc. With the end of apartheid, some aspects of township life have changed. It might,

however, be useful to think about Tsotsi as a kind of township film in the post-apartheid era.
The few township films seen in the UK include the original Cry the Beloved Country, aspects
of Cry Freedom (UK 1987) and Mapantsula (South Africa 1988)
Reading a film case study: the opening to Tsotsi
Whatever the film chosen, students are likely to analyse a short sequence (around 5-7
minutes is about the right length). They should choose the sequence because it plays a
significant role in the narrative structure. This is likely to be:
the opening
a sequence which marks a shift in direction, a turning point in the narrative
or
the closing sequence
The opening to Tsotsi (roughly 5 mins up until the gang leave the train and their victim)
performs various tasks which serve to get the narrative started. The first images are closeups of the craps game with a hand shaking, dice falling on a battered table top, Butchers
makeshift weapon tapping and cigarette smoke. It is a few moments until we are offered a
wide shot allowing us to see that the game is taking place in Tsotsis shack while he looks
out of the window. This first composition with the four young men together will be repeated
in different ways throughout the sequence.
The craps game has a double purpose in the narrative. This is a standard ploy in
constructing a filmic narrative. First, the game has a narrative function in setting up
characters and suggesting what kind of story might develop. Second, it offers a different
kind of meaning that we could describe as metaphorical or symbolic.
The game introduces the characters quickly and effectively. Aap and Butcher are the
players, Aap is certainly typed as the overweight, slightly naive but friendly character up
against Butcher who is shown to either cheat or to be innumerate. Either way he is angry
and impatient and the tapping of the weapon is a disturbing omen. Boston is similarly typed
as the educated onlooker, possibly slightly older. (He reads the paper, he can follow the
game without having to concentrate.) Tsotsi at this point is simply apart from the others,
looking out of the window. There are tensions between the four group members and Butcher
is clearly the most provocative of the four. Although he doesnt say anything, Tsotsis
physical position and outward look (i.e. away from the game) is significant. But the craps
game is also a useful cultural referent. Who plays craps and why? The Wikipedia definition
of craps suggests that it is a casino game that can also be played in any setting where men
are gathered. In Hollywood movies it is a game often played by soldiers or by petty crooks,
both groups wanting something to pass the time between the action of combat or crime. In
a wider context, the image of young men gambling in this way suggests possibly
unemployment, disaffection etc. The other cultural referents in the scene confirm a specific

millieu with marijuana on a torn sheet of newspaper, a beer bottle, a football team poster on
the wall etc. This is the room of a young man.
The second type of meaning is metaphorical/symbolic and refers to life as a gamble.
Throwing dice can be seen as an approach to decision-making lets see what the dice
say. Alternatively, it could refer to the philosophical position of accepting the consequences
of someone else rolling the dice having to live with whatever the result might be. In either
case, the dice game offers the narrative a thematic.
Of course, these opening images are accompanied by two other elements: the credits and
the use of sound, both the voices of the characters and the music track. The credits are
external to the fictional world of the film (non-diegetic), but they still offer some clues to the
narrative, especially in the presentation of the films title. Tsotsi is written in a style of
calligraphy/typography suggesting the makeshift, the ersatz, possibly the essence of the
township. The individual letters were probably typed or printed, but they are of different sizes
and weights and they look battered and worn. Together they symbolise the culture rather
than directly referring to it. The other noticeable feature of the credits is the light that flickers
across the screen, possibly resembling flickering oil lamps and firelight.
The graphics and the image help to introduce the location as a township, but to pin down
the locale, we need the language and the music. The characters speak in a mixture of
languages: Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans and English. This mixture is common in many urban
areas in the world, but this particular mixture is quite precise and the South African setting is
confirmed by the music, the style known as kwaito. Although the rhythm and the overall style
of the music is drawn from US and British black music styles (which in their origin are mostly
West African), the vocal style of kwaito utilises the uniquely melodic sound of Southern
Africa. Like the credits, the kwaito music is non-diegetic. Before we leave this opening
scene, we should also note that the sound effects, Butchers tapping the rattle of the dice
etc. are important in creating some of the tension much as the smoke rising from
Butchers cigarette. Buried much lower in the sound mix are the ambient sounds of township
life the low murmur of people on the streets outside, some dogs barking etc. This provides
atmosphere and confirms the realist elements of the films presentation. But there is also an
odd element in the sound mix two rumbling, rushing sounds, which accompany the
throwing of the dice and their landing on the table. We could explain these as rumbles of
thunder or other outside sounds, but they function in the sequence in conjunction with a
visual special effect the slow motion footage of the dice in flight.
The music doesnt kick in until Tsotsi turns to answer the question about what the gang will
do tonight. Tsotsis turn leaves him framed by the evening light coming through the window.
Lighting is very important in the film. In this sequence it is early evening and the township is

bathed in a pinkish glow. Again this is functional and symbolic. The glow as the sun sinks
indicates evening (or dawn, the time for other scenes later on) and there is a realist
explanation for the hazy/misty atmosphere. There is no electricity in the township and many
people in the shacks light cooking fires and oil lamps at this time, so the air is always thick.
But the overall effect is certainly theatrical it is rather like the lighting effect in a stage play,
especially when it is coupled with the use of small key lamps which direct light onto the
faces of the actors and create a kind of halo effect.
When the gang leave Tsotsis shack (which is unusual in being raised above the others), the
camera style changes. In the first part of the sequence, it was mostly medium close-ups and
close-ups. Now the camera tracks the four as they make their way through the township.
There is a variety of shots using a crane and a steadicam. The crane shot will be repeated
several times. First it shows long shots of the township (note that Miriam is the first in the
queue of women getting water from the standpipe). Next it shows the train approaching the
city centre, then the platform to show the arrival of the train with the gang aboard and then
the main hall of the station, tilting up sufficiently to allow us to read the large poster which
announces that We are all affected by HIV and AIDS. Again we can read this use of the
camera as being both functional and symbolic. It is an economical way of presenting the
important locations of the township and the station, both of which are scenes of action and
now we have a better sense of their geography. (In the township, the camera also tracks
past the shebeen with a jeering Fela and his gang). The reference to HIV/AIDS is important
as it is otherwise not mentioned, despite its central presence in the lives of township
dwellers. Did Tsotsis mother die of HIV/AIDS? Coupled with the crane shots are various
tracking shots a moving camera follows the gang, sometimes from a low angle and from
the front. This makes them appear quite heroic as if marching off to battle. Tsotsi is picked
out for close-ups as the leader. When he gives the finger (a borrowed American/European
insult?) to Fela, the camera offers us a subjective view of the shebeen (i.e. Tsotsis view).
Overall, this part of the sequence, which takes the gang to the station, is marked by
movement and a flowing camera style in contrast to the static composition in the shack.
As well as Miriam, Morris in his wheelchair is also in this sequence. The crane/long shot will
be repeated a little later with a view across the wasteland that separates the township from
the suburb the other main location for the action.
In a symbolic sense, the camerawork also establishes that the gang can move through the
township and the station as if these are areas that it controls or at least feels at home in
(in contrast to the suburbs). The city centre remain on the horizon, almost like a magic
kingdom from which the gang are excluded. Later, Tsotsi will sit on the hill outside the city
pondering his future. This is a very common image, but nonetheless effective.

The next part of the sequence is clearly generic in referring to the crime film. We know that
a crime is about to take place and it is quickly established by the camera following the swift
looks that Tsotsi gives to possible marks. These are emphasised by whip pans or flashes
as Tsotsi turns his attention to someone else. In each case, the possible marks are shown
in mid-shot or framed between other figures in the crowd there are no wide shots, so we
are forced to connect, the close-ups of Tsotsis face and the images of the marks. When the
victim is identified, the camera moves closer to show his transaction with the stallholder and
finally the wage packet that he pulls out in order to pay for his purchases. The camerawork
and editing are interesting here in showing us that the other gang members are following
Tsotsis looks and in isolating the figures involved in the final selection by using shallow
focus. (This disguises a move from the main hall to the platform, which is obscured by the
out of focus background.) Nothing is said in the sequence, but we know precisely what is
going on, simply through the use of camera and editing.

The gang aboard the train in the opening sequence.

At this point it is worth mentioning costume and casting, both important in setting up our
feelings towards the crime and towards the gang. In the township we werent particularly
aware of the four gang members as being distinctive, partly because we didnt see them in a
crowd. Now we recognise that compared to their victim and many others in the station, they
are actually quite small in stature, especially Tsotsi. By making the victim both tall and wellbuilt, the stature of the gang members is highlighted. But the victim is also presented as a
friendly, trusting man someone who has possibly just bought a present for a wife or
daughter as well as a tie for himself. He has a pleasant exchange with the young Asian

woman on the stall and when the gang surround him on the train, he at first looks down on
them with an almost avuncular gaze. We have two contrasting ideas here. The gang appear,
once in the city, as poor and downtrodden and possibly worthy of our sympathy, but their
attack is made to feel even worse by the humanity of the man they select as a victim.
When Butcher effectively skewers the man it is a shocking moment. Had Tsotsi intended
that the man should die? Was it an accident? Or is Butcher a psychopath who enjoys
killing? Like many narratives, Tsotsi attempts to set up an important question in its first five
minutes and almost on cue it does it with the killing. We have spent five minutes getting to
know these characters what have we let ourselves in for? What kind of story will follow?
Like the scenes in the main hall of the station, most of the scenes in the train are framed in
mid-shot or medium close-up. The action moves quickly and the soundtrack again uses
ambient sound and what might be sound effects to emphasise the way Tsotsi homes in on
the victim. The final shot in the sequence is a wider shot of the empty carriage with the body
on the floor. This is both a symbolic corpse an unnecessary death to haunt Tsotsi and
another indicator of the realism of a story set in a country with one of the worst records for
violent crime in the world.
The opening sequence ends here, having established the characters of the four gang
members and introduced the inciting incident as some theorists call it. The killing acts to
set off a chain of events, beginning in the shabeen where Bostons disgust pushes Tsotsi
into an outburst.