Tsotsi is an angry young gang leader in the south african township of sophiatown. Its not until he is nearly back to the township that tsotsi hears the baby. Tsotsi was an effective portrait of the effects of poverty, done so in an elegant visual and respectful storytelling manner. Six days in the violent life of a young johannesburg gang leader. Presley chweneyagae, terry pheto, kenneth nkosi, mothusi magano. Although tsotsi is a gang leader who steals for a living, he is not a simple cardboard cutout. In all too familiar grinding poverty and violence the very fragile line between life and death is crossed many times and an even more fragile and slow growth of a single youths selfrespect is encouraged by an. But one night, in a moonlit grove of bluegum trees, a woman he attempts to rape forces a shoebox into his arms. Tsotsi roughly translates to thug and the movie has a lot of rap music, which many people including myself associate. In all too familiar grinding poverty and violence the very fragile line between life and death is crossed many times and an even more fragile and slow growth of a single youths selfrespect is encouraged by an accidental kidnapping. In his own soweto township neighborhood the titular protagonist of writerdirector gavin hoods tsotsi is all gangster attitude, flipping off the idle taunts of older men with studied indifference. Tsotsi is the young leader of a violent johannesburg street gang his name means thug whose world changes when an infant falls into his care.
Gripping, ruthless and absorbing oscar winner for best foreign language film. With presley chweneyagae, mothusi magano, israel matsekezulu, terry pheto. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. From south africa, a tough thug shows his big heart the.
The box contains a baby, and his life is inexorably changed. Boston mothusi magano is repulsed by the violence of the robbery and confronts tsotsi. Tsotsi hits hard wit hits power to connect the boston globe. Fugard commented that hoods screenplay is the best adaptation of any of his works and that, despite the changes and departures from the original story, he. Theres the now outofcommission boston mothusi magano, who. At least they have each other, and even places to sleep that arent drainage pipes.
Many times, those around me have heard me bitch and moan about the oscars getting it wrong. Tsotsi, directed by gavin hood, is an earnest film about the south african shantytowns, and it is at some pains to show that its heart is in the right place that is, right up on its sleeve. A member of tsotsis gang and a heavy drinker, boston. Tsotsi 2005 a sdg he is a young predator, a feral youth with a cold, blank stare prowling the johannesburg area streets with his pack. The books antihero was the hellish byproduct of a hellish system. Tsotsi isnt afraid to put the grimy lifestyle of shantytown gangsters on full display. It is an adaptation of the novel tsotsi, by athol fugard and a south africauk coproduction. Tsotsi decides they will head to the train station where their unsuspecting victim, gumboot ghalimini, begins to head home to his wife. He then runs out into the night and hijacks the car of a middleclass african woman mothusi magano. He and his crew butcher zenzo ngqobe, aap kenneth nkosi, and boston mothusi magano live in a shantytown just outside johannesburg, where. A specific scene that i loved occurred roughly halfway through the film and is a flashback about his family which he briefly mentioned before. Tsotsi poster 27 x 40 inches 69cm x 102cm 2005 spanish reproduction poster print cast. Zola, presley chweneyagae, mothusi magano, isreal makoe, terry pheto, kenneth nkosi, rapulana seiphemo, gavin hood.
Tsotsi is a moving and sensitively made film about youths in a johannesburg township and their relationships with each other. Presley chweneyagae, terry pheto, kenneth nkosi, mothusi magano, zenzo ngqobe. It is about the transformation in a person and the faith that helped. Buy tsotsi dvd 2006 by presley chweneyagae from amazons movies store.
Later, in a flashback, we will understand the cruelty of the home and father he fled from. At the age of five, his family moved to mafikeng where, at the mmabana cultural centre, he got his first taste of. Presley chweneyagae terry pheto kenneth nkosi mothusi magano zenzo ngqobe zola rapulana seiphemo nambitha mpumlwana israel makoe jerry mofokeng ian roberts percy matsemela owen sejake. After getting involved in a murder committed by butcher during a mugging, tsotsi and boston get into a fight which leaves boston badly injured. Tsotsi and his crew butcher zenzo ngqobe, aap kenneth nkosi, and boston mothusi magano live in soweto, where they deal drugs, steal, and scavenge to get by. Tsotsi is based on a novel by athol fugard, a wellknown south african playwright, and screenwriterdirector gavin hood proves to be a discerning steward of fugards story of redemption. Presley chweneyagae tsotsi, terry pheto miriam, kenneth nkosi aap, mothusi magano boston and zenzo ngqobe butcher. Presley chweneyagae, mothusi magano, israel makoe, percy matsemela, jerry mofokeng. The man behind the i am sbu chicken licken ad mothusi s role on the advert has caught the attention. Six days in the violent life of a young johannesburg.
Tsotsi is a 2005 film written and directed by gavin hood and produced by peter fudakowski. Tsotsi movie poster 27 x 40 inches 69cm x 102cm 2005 spanish presley chweneyagae mothusi magano israel makoe percy matsemela. He was born in the small village of phokeng on the outskirts of rustenburg. Boston, a failed teacher mothusi magano, butcher, a coldblooded assassin zenzo ngqobe and aap, a dimwitted heavy kenneth nkosi. Kenneth nkosi, mothusi magano, presley chweneyagae, terry pheto. But this is merely the defensive posture of a little fish. Presley chweneyagae terry pheto kenneth nkosi mothusi magano zenzo ngqobe zola rapulana seiphemo nambitha. And whatever good tsotsi does to redeem himself, its important to keep in mind the questionable, usually immoral, means taken to make amends. Mothusi magano is a south african actor best known for his starring role as charles mingus khathi in the sabc3 drama series the lab, from 20062009. Based on a novel by athol fugard that was set during the 1950s and published in 1980, tsotsi is set in an amorphous now, defined by the hopelessness of poverty.
But when his friend boston mothusi magano asks tsotsi how he really feels, whether decency comes into it, he fights with him and walks off into the night, and we sense how alone he is. Based on the book by acclaimed author, athol fugard, this deeply affecting film traces six days in the life of a young gang leader who steals a womans car, unaware that her baby is in the back seat. Tsotsi presley chweneyagae is a pettycrime gang leader. The movie tsotsi, directed by gavin hood and based on the novel by athol fugard, is about a criminals redemption. And the 2006 academy award for best foreign language film goes to tsotsi.
Movies based on books, african movies, crime movies, crime dramas, dramas, independent movies. Presley chweneyagae, mothusi magano, israel makoe, percy matsemela, jerry mofokeng, gavin hood. Never before published in australia, athol fugards tsotsi is a psychological thriller of raw power and humanity, which has now been made. As a result, it features image after image of coldblooded thuggery.
A man without a past, he exists only to kill and steal. Set in johannesburg, south africa, tsotsi, which means thug or gangster in the south african ghettos, is essentially a comingofage journey that chronicles the life of tsotsi presley cheweneyagae, a 19yearold brute with an unquenchable thirst for violence. Tsotsi is a film that will make you angry at the world for turning a blind eye to africa. He and his friends boston, aap and butcher mothusi magano, kenneth nkosi, zenzo ngqobe rob a older man on a crowded subway then butcher stabs him quietly and they flee once the subway is empty. Tsotsi is soweto slang for thug and the name of the initially anonymous.
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