Fraudulent, patronizing, and empty
Tsotsi (2006)
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Reviews Counted:125
Fresh:101
Rotten:24
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: Chweneyagae's powerful performance carries this simple yet searing tale of a shantytown teenager's redemption.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language and some strong violent content.
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Feb 24, 2006 Limited
Box Office: $2,753,840
Synopsis: Based on South African playwright Athol Fugard's only novel, TSOTSI is a thrilling, provocative look at life in the ghettos outside present-day Johannesburg. Presley Chweneyagae stars as the title... Based on South African playwright Athol Fugard's only novel, TSOTSI is a thrilling, provocative look at life in the ghettos outside present-day Johannesburg. Presley Chweneyagae stars as the title character, a teenager with a killer stare who lives alone in a ramshackle room in a poor shantytown, where he pulls off petty crimes with the help of three compatriots--Boston (Mothusi Magano), Butcher (Zenzo Ngqobe), and Aap (Kenneth Nkosi). But after they stab a man to death on the subway and Tsotsi (which means "thug" or "gangster") beats up Boston for trying to find out about his past, Tsotsi runs off to a wealthy section of the city, shoots a woman, and steals her car. Only later does he discover that there is a baby in the back seat--and decides to keep it for himself. As Tsotsi finally does look back at his own childhood, he tries to take care of the infant, carrying it around in a paper bag and forcing a young mother, Miriam (Terry Pheto), to breastfeed it at gunpoint. At this point, writer-director Gavin Hood could have opted for trite sentimentality, but instead he delves deeper into Tsotsi's psyche, as the young man might have already gone too far to turn back now. TSOTSI is a pulsating, electrifying film propelled by Chweneyagae's powerful, mesmerizing performance. The pounding soundtrack features popular local Kwaito music by Zola, who also plays crimelord Fela in the film. Winner of the 2006 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, TSOTSI "will rank as one of the best films ever to come out of South Africa," as Fugard himself said. [More]
Starring: Presley Chweneyagae, Mothusi Magano, Kenneth Nkosi, Zenzo Ngqobe
Starring: Presley Chweneyagae, Mothusi Magano, Kenneth Nkosi, Zenzo Ngqobe, Terry Pheto, Zola, Jerry Mofokeng, Rapulana Seiphemo, Ian Roberts
Director: Gavin Hood
Director: Gavin Hood
Studio: Miramax Films
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Release:
Jul 18, 2006
Reviews for Tsotsi
Gavin Hood's Oscar-nominated tale about a young South African gangster who gets an unexpected chance at redemption is literally a world apart from anything produced by Hollywood.
...an emotionally honest tale of redemption that does not ignore the fact that we live in a world of cause and consequence.
The Johannesburg equivalent of any stateside gangster fairy tale, Tsotsi actually feels even more forced than Hollywood's modern urban dramas.
Memorable, with a terrific performance by Presley Chweneyagae as Tsotsi that burns in its contained rage.
Don't be fooled by the subtitles and the egg head accolades. This pretentious mess is just another country's version of 50 Cent-style fare.
Un drama urbano duro y conmovedor, si bien algo previsible, con un estupendo protagonista. Una película realmente atendible que nos acerca al infrecuente cine sudafricano.
This powerful story, reminiscent of Dostoyevsky's 'Crime and Punishment,' is told with a minimum of dialogue.
This film won the Oscar for best foreign language film, and it is well deserved.
told with conviction and skill, and Chweneyagae's expressive face and eyes reveal all the emotions, fears and hopes that Tsotsi cannot articulate.
In the long run, the film may not entirely satisfy one's intellectual curiosity, but it pleases the heart.
A chance for the stay-at-home world-travelers to catch sight of Johannesburg's filthy sprawling township of Soweto.
It’s well-acted, beautifully photographed and meticulously professional.
Tsotsi remains at all times an intensely human story, one that transcends the particulars of its time and its place.
A film of extraordinary viciousness and vulnerability about a criminal who has to meet an infant to remember he is still a child himself.
Without cheap deceptions, clever editing, plot conveniences or overt exposition, the film pulls you in and keeps you there on the merit of the story's substance.
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