Credits and Awards...
Directed by Gavin Hood
Writing credits by Athol Fugard (novel) and scripted by Gavin Hood
Tsosti..Presley Chweneyagae
Aap..Kenneth Nkosi
Boston..Mothusi Magano
Butcher..Zenzo Ngqobe
Miriam..Terry Pheto
Awards: Best Foreign Film (Oscar 2006) and many others
This film is about a gansta lead, Tsotsi, who has erased his past including his his real name, David. The look on his face mirrors hardship.. and ruthlessness.. being the leader of the pack, his team follows him in everything... in small and and in big crimes...
The gang... compromises of....
Boston... the 'failed' teacher
Butcher.. as the names describes... he's the killer in the group
and Aap... The follower (no questions asked)
No one in this life stays the same.. Our characters, individualities, and personalities are all results of our experinces in life... From childhood upto the day we die... we are what we are today because of the decisions we've made and the mistakes we've made... and we will only change when we are faced with 'life-altering' experiences... some of these experiences hit us hard with immediate effects to our personalities and our perceptions... some of us on the other hand don't learn from the mistakes we commit the first time around... so it turns into a pendulum that goes back and forth until we realise that we are indeed what we are because we allow things to happen to us or we stand in the way of things happening to us...
Through it all... the transformation of one's self... the change that one is willing to do to live his/her life is very often a difficult one... why? Because we've grown accustomed to it... we got used to dealing with things the way we do... we got used to people treating us the way they do... so why change if it's working, if the pieces fit? Well... Life around us changes... People around us change.. Circumstances change...The climate changes... so why can't we? Because it's hard... Because we don't want to.. because we were accepted already.... Because we need to step out our comfort zone... because it means losing friends and at times... losing face...
This story is about change...Tsosti's change.... without realizing how life pushes him to change...when he makes a decision to steal a car...
Little did he know what fate had in store for him...
as he's on the run.. he hears something from the back of the car... a guardian angel maybe? A baby screaming is tears... as if crying for tsotsi for leading such a miserable and useless life...
and this is where the journey of change begins...
First reflex act... abandon the car..abandon the baby .. head back home..as he's walking away, the child's voice screaming stirs something in him... he remembers...
he remembers this...that he was a child once.. a runaway...living in a Pipe and not a home...he remembers David who never had the chance to appreciate what a family meant..He remembers what he used to be and could've been..
So.. he picks the baby, dumps it in a brown grocery bag and heads home...
The details are truly amazing... you'll have to watch the movie to appreciate what it really means...
A bitter sweet tale that resonates the image of change in every one of us... be it with our own will or not...
A truly amazing cast that leave you thinking long after the credits have rolled...
I end this review with the film's tagline, which I think is the perfect ending...
'In this world... redemption just comes once.'
Over and out...
Cosmic
P.S. Now is that a come back or what?
