1. Exploring films outside of
Hollywood
• This is paper 2 and
you exam will be on
• Tuesday 25th June
• The film you are
studying is
• Tsotsi made in 2005
and directed by
• Gavin Hood
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2. Aims of the exam paper
To have detailed
knowledge of the
film and it's
themes
To have
improved
textual
analysis
skills and
apply them
to the text
To have an
understanding
of issues of
audience and
institution in
respect of the
film
To have increased
insight into the
context and issues
of equality and
diversity the film
represents 2

3. 3
What do you know about
Tsotsi?
Tsotsi is an extraordinary film by director Gavin Hood that
manages to map some of the huge contrasts in modern South
Africa - its affluence and grinding poverty, its haves and have-
nots, its energy and optimism alongside the
disease, addiction and crime that blights so many lives.
Hood’s film is an updated adaptation of a 1960s novella
by eminent South African playwright Athol Fugard, in
which the protagonist’s first-person account gives the
reader insights into the Tsotsi’s origins and motivations.
At a time when so many in South Africa live in fear of
random-seeming violence inflicted by so called ‘feral’
young people, this film is a compelling attempt to delve
beneath the statistics of modern-day crime – to put an
unsentimental but human face on actions that
otherwise might seem utterly inexplicable and
monstrous.
Tsotsi as a film encourages empathy and develops your understanding of
contemporary global issues – the disparities between wealth and poverty and the
implications for society when so many are robbed of their childhoods. It is a film
about chance, about opportunity and choice.
THEMES?
MESSAGES?
BASED ON REALITY?

4. What do you know about
South Africa?
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• Over half the population lives below the poverty line – many on just a
$1 a day.
• A quarter of the population is unemployed.
• More than a fifth (21%) of the adult population is infected with
HIV/Aids and thousands of children grow up orphaned due to the
premature deaths of their parents.
• Despite a rapid house-building programme over the last decade it still
has many of its people living in shantytowns and squatter camps in
shelters constructed from scavenged scrap.
• Violent crime, though falling, still costs the lives of over 20,000 people
a year - and armed-robbery, car-jacking, rape and aggravated burglary
are the stuff of everyday anecdote.
Some or all of these are the painful legacies of 50
years of racism, discrimination and neglect and also
of the miseries in many other parts of Africa - that
make South Africa an incredible melting-pot of
nationalities and cultures.

5. 5
How does the film Tsotsi represent
South Africa?
What impression of the country do you receive and what clues are there in it about the lives of ordinary
people living there?
The evidence of poverty
and affluence – consider
the logo on Pumla Dube’s
shopping bag that Tsotsi
steals to carry the baby off
in – ‘Expect More’.
The evidence of pollution
The evidence that South
Africa’s capital Johannesburg
and its townships are
lively, energetic, bustling
places.
The prominence of crime and violence
and the response of the police to
crime and criminals – however young.
The evidence of disease –
particularly HIV/Aids (clue: look
out for posters and also Tsotsi’s
flashback memories of his
mother)
Evidence of mixed
communities or highly
segregated communities
(apart from the one white
policeman – why is there
so little evidence of white
people in this film –
crossing Tsotsi’s path?)
The evidence of strong
cultural/artistic forces at
work in the townships
(clue: consider the
language, music and even the
colourful fabrics and hanging
glass and metal mobiles that
Miriam produces in her home
to
help make ends meet.)

6. Representations and Stereotypes
Every time we
watch a film, we
are not seeing
reality, but
someone's
version of it.
Representation
therefore refers to
the construction of
‘reality'
Representation involves
analysing how identities are re-
presented or rather constructed
to communicate a certain
meaning
Look at these images and
using your textual analysis
skills determine what or
who is being
represented, consider how
the representation is
constructed.
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7. Representations and Stereotypes
A stereotype is a commonly held image
of a person or group, based on an over
simplification of some observed or
imagined trait of behaviour or
appearance
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mise-en-scene
camerawork
sound
framing
editing
performance

8. Representations and Stereotypes
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Character Analysis: It’s important that
you are able to analyse the
representation of key characters is the
film. For revision purposes let’s stick
with Tsotsi.
In stories it is often suggested that something significant happens that changes
things for the hero forever – initiating subsequent developments. The most
obvious such ‘agent’ in Tsotsi’s story is the baby but perhaps there are some
other more crucial moments in his story that were just as pivotal: as life-changing

9. 9
How far does Tsotsi change over
the course of the film?
Describe Tsotsi
at the beginning
of the film
Describe Tsotsi
at the end of
the film
Describe some
events that may
have caused him
to change

10. • Consider the list of events below and
decide which you feel might have
been a major cause of later change.
Can you suggest some other events
in the film and why they are
significant for the development of
the story.
• 1. Totsi stealing the baby.
• 2. The killing of the old man.
• 3. Boston’s self-disgust and his needling of Tsotsi
leading to the fight.
• 4. The sight of Boston’s swollen, infected face.
• 5. The conversation with Morris – the crippled
beggar, underneath the flyover.
• 6. The first rejection of Aap.
• 7. The second rejection of Aap – when they are
in the hijacked car chopshop.
• 8. The dream of his mother.
• 9. Miriam and her home in the township. Her
tale of her husband’s death teaches Tsotsi
something about his own crimes.
• 10. The memory of his father’s brutality
triggered when visiting Miriam.
• 11. The burglary of the baby’s home and in
particular time spent in the baby’s
• bedroom.
• 12. Butcher’s discovery of the gun and
threatening of John Dube – the father.
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How far does Tsotsi change over
the course of the film?

11. 11
Representations
SOCIAL CLASS
Choose a key
sequence and
explore how one
of the following is
represented in it
Remember representation is construction

12. 12
Themes and issuesDescribe what the
film says about a
theme or issue
How is the film of
issue explored in a
key sequence?

13. 13
Settings and locations in Tsotsi
Name a setting in
the film
Describe what it
looks like
What does the
setting suggest to
audiences?
How does
one of the
settings
relate to
the theme
or issue
you
discussed?

14. • Were you happy with
the ending of the film?
• What is the message at
the end?
• What do you think will
happen to Tsotsi?
• How would you have
ended the film?
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Tsotsi – the closing scene

15. Micro Features and their effect
Technique Example Effect
Cinematography, costume and music Warm golden colours used to show
shanty town (aided by brightly coloured
African clothing worn, upbeat Kwaito
music played)
Shows that although it is poor it is also a
vibrant, colourful place that the
characters call ‘home’. (However at night
it becomes more sinister.)
Camera shots:
High Angle and Wide Shot and/or
Crane shots
Often used to show the shantytown
where Tsotsi lives – rows of makeshift
houses and when policemen find Tsotsi’s
abandons the car on highway.
Emphasises the size of the slum. It is
sprawling – we see the magnitude of
poverty. His story is just one of many.
It also makes it hard for the police to
find criminals – they become invisible
in the masses.
Camera shots:
Film uses a lot of
Wide Shots held for a long time
(alternated with Close Ups to show
Tsotsi’s face)
Tsotsi walking on tracks,
Tsotsi and gang melting into the
crowd in the railway station,
The pipes in the flashback
Tsotsi under bridge with Morris, etc
Two things:
1. Seems stage like – Tsotsi is a
character in morality play – he
has to go through certain
episodes and learn and grow.
2. Shows how the characters lives
are intertwined with their setting
– eg Tsotsi’s life would be
different if he did not grow up
poor/orphaned by AIDS/ in
Soweto’s township
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16. Micro Features and their effect
Technique Example Effect
Mise-en-scene Tsotsi’s corrugated iron hut is stacked
with stolen audio-visual equipment
Setting reveals character’s history –
life of crime but also practice in
townships of ‘making do’- Illegal
connection to mains power when he
puts on music.
Contrast in lighting Warm, earthy colours used for
township v. cool, sterile lighting used
to show train station, hospital
Emphasises the difference in the ‘two
worlds’ in South Africa. We see the
gap between rich and poor more
clearly. The new black middle class
(John and Pumla) have access to
electricity, clean surroundings,
modern amenities. Poor must make
do with dirt floors, no running water.
Contrast in Mise-en-scene Water pump, use of wooden boxes as
makeshift furniture, houses made
from scrap timber in the shanty town.
This contrasts with a high-tech
security system, high iron gates,
spacious modern home with luxurious
furnishings.
Same as above
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17. Micro Features and their effect
Technique Example Effect
Mise-en-scene Colourful pastel mural of African
plains with animals in baby’s room
Shows the ‘myth’ of South Africa that
foreigners come to see - the
savannah, the wildlife. The reality
that people want to ignore is the
poverty.
Music / Soundtrack Booming Kwaito music (modern
South African music with hip-hop
beat, strong bass line and spoken
lyrics) used when Tsotsi and his gang
walk through township and in Soekie’s
bar where the boys fight.
Creates mood – suggests their tough
natures. Music brings to mind US
gangster rap – we think youth gangs,
crime, feeling angry / estranged from
society, violence.
Sound effects Use of ‘snake rattle’ sound effect
when Tsotsi is following Morris and
Miriam
Creates sense of fear and suspense.
Highlights the sense of J’burg as
dangerous/crime-ridden. Audience
fears for the ‘victim’ – suggests
predator is stalking his prey.
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18. Creative response to Tsotsi
• In the exam the last
question will allow you to
show your knowledge
and understanding of the
ways in which Tsotsi
communicates all the
issues and ideas that you
have explored and
discussed in class, in a
creative way. You may be
asked to:
– Write a review for a
specific target audience
– Produce a blog post
• Whatever task you are
given, it is important that
you include a
consideration of
performance, issues and
themes, people and
places and combine these
with your personal
response to the film.
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