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Tsotsi

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Tsotsi (2006)

81%
100%
85%
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81 %
Reviews Counted: 122 Fresh: 99  Rotten:23 Average Rating: 7.4/10
 
Consensus: Chweneyagae's powerful performance carries this simple yet searing tale of a shantytown teenager's redemption. Chweneyagae's powerful performance carries this simple yet searing tale of a shantytown teenager's redemption. more
 
Rated: 15
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
Theatrical Release: 17-03-2006
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 character, a teenager with a killer stare who lives alone in a ramshackle room in a poor... [More]
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. [Less]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Presley Chweneyagae, Mothusi Magano, Kenneth Nkosi, Zenzo Ngqobe, Terry Pheto

Director: Gavin Hood

DVD Info

Release:

Jun 7, 2007

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen - 2.35

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, Zulu
  • Subtitles - English, Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - Gavin Hood - Director
  • Alternate Scenese - 1. Alternate Endings (w/ Optional Commentary)
  • 2. Deleted Scenes (w/ Optional Commentary)
  • Behind the Scenes - "The Making Of TSOTSI"
  • Bonus Shorts - THE STOREKEEPER

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image

With lively pacing, superb performances and a candid yet forgiving heart, Hood has created an inverse fairy tale that is never less than absorbing.

Full Review | Comment
04/01/06 04:11 AM
Liz Beardsworth
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

This deceptively simple movie brings to mind Italian neo-realist classics of the 1940s, and Presley Chweneyagae, an amateur actor, is wholly convincing as the disoriented Tsotsi.

Full Review | Comment
03/18/06 04:07 AM
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Important and vital -- if a little heavy-handed.

Full Review | Comment
03/16/06 03:16 AM
Dave Calhoun
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Hood maintains a constant level of tension, aided considerably by Cheweneyagae's magnificent performance.

Full Review | Comment
03/16/06 03:16 AM
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
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Chweneyagae skulks with awesome menace, a cauldron of simmering rage and frustration and a performance of real skill, carrying the film effortlessly through to the nail-shredding conclusion.

Full Review | Comment
03/11/06 04:08 AM
Jamie Woolley
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Writer-director Hood draws out the story's stark themes with wit and feeling.

Full Review | Comment
01/10/06 11:53 PM
Rich Cline
FilmFocus
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The Johannesburg equivalent of any stateside gangster fairy tale, Tsotsi actually feels even more forced than Hollywood's modern urban dramas.

Full Review | Comment
09/17/07 09:04 PM
Christopher Campbell
Cinematical
Ratings Image

Memorable, with a terrific performance by Presley Chweneyagae as Tsotsi that burns in its contained rage.

Full Review | Comment
09/16/07 07:36 PM
Christopher Smith
Bangor Daily News (Maine)
Ratings Image

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.

Full Review | Comment
07/14/07 09:04 PM
Kam Williams
Upstage Magazine
Ratings Image

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.

Full Review | Comment
03/13/07 10:34 PM
Enrique Buchichio
Uruguay Total
Ratings Image

This powerful story, reminiscent of Dostoyevsky's 'Crime and Punishment,' is told with a minimum of dialogue.

Full Review | Comment
01/14/07 04:29 PM
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope
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This film won the Oscar for best foreign language film, and it is well deserved.

Full Review | Comment
07/26/06 05:08 PM
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures
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told with conviction and skill, and Chweneyagae's expressive face and eyes reveal all the emotions, fears and hopes that Tsotsi cannot articulate.

Full Review | Comment
07/14/06 04:19 AM
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette
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In the long run, the film may not entirely satisfy one's intellectual curiosity, but it pleases the heart.

Full Review | Comment
07/09/06 03:44 PM
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com
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A chance for the stay-at-home world-travelers to catch sight of Johannesburg's filthy sprawling township of Soweto.

Full Review | Comment
05/13/06 06:02 PM
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
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It’s well-acted, beautifully photographed and meticulously professional.

Full Review | Comment
05/12/06 03:16 AM
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review
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Tsotsi remains at all times an intensely human story, one that transcends the particulars of its time and its place.

Full Review | Comment
05/06/06 04:01 AM
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews
Ratings Image

A film of extraordinary viciousness and vulnerability about a criminal who has to meet an infant to remember he is still a child himself.

Full Review | Comment
05/04/06 02:07 PM
Matt Pais
Metromix.com
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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.

Full Review | Comment
05/03/06 05:57 PM
Rubin Safaya
Cinemalogue.com
Ratings Image

But by placing the tale in contemporary Soweto and Johannesburg, South Africa, Hood imbues the film with a sense of authenticity that makes the movie seem more moving than manipulative.

Full Review | Comment
04/22/06 02:07 PM
Dan Lybarger
eFilmCritic.com
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Related Forums

REEL_REVIEWER
TSOTSI (based on Athol Fugard's book) gets a USA release on Feb. 24, 2006!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 3/16/06


REEL_REVIEWER
TSOTSI (based on Athol Fugard's book) gets a USA release on Feb. 24, 2006!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 3/16/06


REEL_REVIEWER
TSOTSI (based on Athol Fugard's book) gets a USA release on Feb. 24, 2006!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 3/16/06


REEL_REVIEWER
TSOTSI (based on Athol Fugard's book) gets a USA release on Feb. 24, 2006!!!
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