1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

In class we discussed the multitude of the “official” languages of South Africa, which is

shown in the film as they speak Sesotho, isiZulu, Setswana and English. We also discussed the

prevalence of HIV/AIDS. In 2009, South Africa had the 4th highest AIDS rate in the world, at

approximately 6 million or 18% of the population affected. In the film, a flashback shows us that

Tsotsi lost his mother to AIDS.

2) Find a related article and summarize the content.

“Tsotsi” by Roger Ebert.

Roger Ebert’s review of Tsotsi begins with “How strange, a movie where a bad man

becomes better, instead of the other way around.” I’m not sure what’s strange about it – a lot of

movies and shows deal with character arcs in which a villain grows, adapts and betters himself.

Actually, I can’t even recall many pieces of media in which we see the “good guy” become the

villain.

Ebert writes about the atmosphere of Soweto, describing it as the “Lower East Side of

South Africa” based on the amount of success stories that come from the area. This is in stark

contrast to our protagonist, whose destiny is tied to his name: thug. Totsi is a killer, but once he

has found the baby something in him softens, and softens again when he takes the baby to the

single mother to be fed. This provides the gateway to his vulnerable side, allowing him to access

and process his own trauma, and it’s from this trauma that Tsotsi.is able to grow.

Ebert also discusses the relationship Miriam develops with Tsotsi, which is hopeful

without being too hopeful: “She acts not as a heroine but as a realist who wants to nudge Tsotsi
in a direction that will protect her own family and this helpless baby, and then perhaps even

Tsotsi himself.” Of all the relationships in the film, this is the most fruitful. Tsotsi is exposed to

warmth and kindness like he hadn’t known since his own mother passed – “His name is David,” he

tells Miriam, projecting his own desire for maternal affection onto her and the stolen baby. It’s

entirely believable.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.

It surprised me to see that the film won the Oscar for best foreign film. I’d seen but

hadn’t really noticed the disparity between Tsotsi’s living situation and that of the family whose

baby he stole; perhaps this was due to feeling that Tsotsi deserved his dilapidated surroundings.

In fact, in the opening scenes of the movie he’s seen participating in cold-blooded murder. But

even this murderer has “decency,” described by one of his goons; we see is ignorance and

naiveté when, instead of relinquishing the baby to the proper authorities (or even anyone that

could take care of him), he decides to keep the baby, beginning to bond with the helpless

creature.

The article made me feel a little better about some of the actor portrayals – I’d felt the

acting was cliché or exaggerated, but I see how it’s some of the characters themselves that feel

unrealistic. I also agree that they didn’t spillover into sentimentality, which distracts from and

waters down the profound, subtle emotion a film might otherwise induce.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the

screening, class discussions, text material and the article.

 I’m not sure I’m crazy about the characterization of the others in his story; they all

seemed a bit too exaggerated. His naïve and loyal best friend, the beautiful and sensitive single

mother, the gang member that would shoot anything with a pulse. While the acting is effecting,

the personalities themselves seemed unnaturally cookie-cutter, except for that of Tsotsi.

Though the film was by no means subtle in terms of action, there was something very

gracefully done about Tsotsi’s transformation. The brick wall guarding his vulnerability was

shown falling apart in such tender detail that it happened almost fluidly. Tsotsi had buried all his

pain and his grief, but it began to seep through once he found the baby, and his pain taught him

ow to be better, how to show empathy. Tsotsi was too late to see that he was becoming exactly

what he had villainized, going so far as to having inflicted his own worst trauma on someone

else. The irony in this cause-and-effect is enough to invoke a sense of poetic justice. The teary

standoff at the end of the film serves as the perfect opportunity for a catharsis, rounding out an

ending that shows the downfall of a tragic hero. All character development should strive to

appear on screen this effortlessly.

I think the cleverest thing about the film is that it begins with showing us what is

ostensibly a nasty and stoic villain, but by the end provokes us to feel empathy for and perhaps

even shed a tear or two for the same man we had been so ready to condemn; in a way, it’s the

same lesson Tsotsi had to learn.

1) (x) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.
2) (x) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly
explain that in the paper.
3) (x) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used
indentation and citation within the text.
4) (x) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the
text of the paper.
5) (x) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.
6) (x) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I
cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.

7) (x) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.
8) (x) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and
ideas used in my paper.

Ebert, Roger. “Tsosti.” Roger Ebert, 9 March, 2006. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/tsotsi-

2006

Name: Rida Hasan

Date: 4/13/18