Saturday, September 30, 2006

Tsotsi brings me back to Life!!

Define Tsotsi.. in South African street language, it's a noun meaning thug, gangster, hoodlum.... or so the official site says...


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?

19 comments:

NYC TAXI SHOTS said...

or never at all ?

Cosmic girl said...

I disagree.. if redemption never comes at all it's only because we refuse to see the opportunity to change... we turn a blind eye..

dhaheri said...

if my love for movies feeds away....all i need to get it back is you

Cosmic girl said...

D... I am touched... thanx man..

Anonymous said...

I like these kinda artsy movies.. like the one you wrote about: American Splendour.. it was great! Unfortunately, I have to watch these kinda movies alone, coz none of my friends are into this stuff. They prefer mainstream movies, hollywood blockbusters! :(

Maria full of grace was excellent. Loved that one!

Have you seen Adaptation, Sideways, Lost in translation, Shop girl? I can't remember more!

Cosmic girl said...

not too keen on watching adaptation cause I'm not a big fan of Nic Cage... Lost in Translation was great.. never got around to see Shopgirl.. any good? I started reading the book but when I found out it was going to be made into a movie I kinda stopped reading it..

clayfuture said...

Shop girl is nice. It's about a relationship between an older man in 50's with a young girl.

Shaykhspeara Sha'ira said...

This movie was out in Sweden a couple of months back but I never got around to watching it. No one is interested so one often ends up having to go alone. Ah well...that ain't stopping me from now on.

Cosmic girl said...

Shaykhspeara.. I was like you and now I prefer going to the movies on my own...I tend to enjoy it better like this.. no limits to what yo can and cannot watch...it's great..

clayfuture said...

I watch most movies on DVD. There this chinese lady who calls me whenever she gets new movies. I only take the ones that are the original prints, coz I cannot watch the cinema copy ones. Now they have even started selling full tv series. I recently bought all the seasons of southpark and my friend bought Lost, desperate housewives and the OC.

clayfuture said...

Long Live Piracy!!! muahahahaha!!

Cosmic girl said...

clayfuture... it's a phase and it will die out... wait until the chinese lady gets busted... plus it's very rare for you to get quality film from them... you'll get exactly the same selection as you would all over Dubai... try getting 'Tsotsi' from a chinese lady... she's gonna say 'wha sosi?'

clayfuture said...

Hmm.. I dunno about that! I got all these movies from the chinese lady! She might not have Tsotsi, but she gets a heap of movies every month, and I get the first selection! What I do is I select the movies I want, then I play the whole selection on my dvd player. I buy all the original prints and give back all the cinema prints. Usually, most of them are original. I got the original Capote and Good Night and Good Luck, from her before it came out in USA even! It was a copy of the cd that was for academy awards screening purposes only! :D

Actually, her husband got busted and was deported back to china, now she sells the dvds to me. Let's hope she sticks around for a long long time!!!

Cosmic girl said...

as i said ... only temporary..

clayfuture said...

Don't be mean! :(

Destitute Rebel said...

I watched this movie about 2-3 months back and it was just wonderful, movies like this one are hard to find and I agree with you all it is hard to find people to agree to go with you to watch such films, thats why i end up watching them on my computer.

BuJ said...

hey,, what's happened to this blog? all quiet.. if you liked this movie you will like Blood Diamond which I've seen yesterday.. amazing stuff...

as for me.. i've been going to movies alone for a long time.. not only due to my lack of friends but if one wants to watch movies that others wants then the movie will arrive and leave before there is consensus!

Cosmic girl said...

Hey Buj...
yeah yeah I know.. no posts for quite some time... Let me just get the chance to see a good movie and I'll be back.. I even got a touching email from a spanish Chick who really enjoys my blog... so I'm keep on keeping it alive... give me some time.. :)

Cosmic girl said...

oops.. I mean I'm keen... not keep..