2. Key Scenes
Tsotsi’s place, Middle Class house, Tsotsi’s child home, Train Station,
Overview of city
3. Tsotsi’s Place
• Square room
• Cramped
• Has the necessary furniture
= Poverty within slums
• Bullet holes through walls
=Violence/conflict within slums
• Hardly any light, Tsotsi is in the shadows
=Mysterious character, not sure what he is going to do
• Main colour here is black
=haunted by his past (mother passed away, alcoholic father)
• Long shot but tightly framed
• Candle light
=New life of the baby?
4. Overview of City
Big New York styled city, makes contrast between the baron
land he is sat on and the city a lot more drastic
He isn’t facing the city, he doesn’t belong there and is not part
of the wealth and that lifestyle
Tsotsi is wearing all black, instantly seen as the
antagonist/stereotypical thug
Long shot used, able to see the distance between him and the
city
The city looks so big and he looks so small, shows how
insignificant he is
5. Train Station
External Context= AIDS is very much present over
everyone's lives here, it is always a message that is
constantly through the film, like a hidden message
but is always there to remind us
Even in the built up, wealthy city, AIDs is still a big
problem, but it just seems like the middle/upper
class get on with their lives whereas it really affects
the lower class
6. Tsotsi’s Child Home
All homeless children that have had the after effects of AIDS,
lost family members and ended up on their own
Completely crowded, multiple people per pipe
Burnt out car next to pipes
Low key Lighting = loss of hope
Raining = always rains with something negative is happening
When Tsotsi went back, the children were nasty and
automatically assumed the baby’s mother had died
7. Middle Class House
Security (gates, lots of alarms), lots of wine, fridge full of
food, posh expensive car = Shows their wealth
Middle class man framed on his own, shows he is different
to the characters from the slums = Class divide
Characters from slums wearing black = instantly see they
are the antagonists
Don’t hide their faces, they’re from the slums so know
they won’t be caught
When steal the car, can’t drive it shows not educated =
people in the slums aren’t as privileged
8. Final Scene
Gives money to the old man, he’s helping rather than stealing = a changed man
Walks with the city behind him, but then turns round to looks at it, as if he is thinking about going into the city and doing
something good for a living, and he lets the child see the big city, as if he is showing him his real home
Parallel edits to Mirium playing with her child, shows that Tsotsi has got them on his mind, become a ‘soft’ character
Police force has both black and white, but the white are still superior
Tsotsi is dressed in white and looks very smart= he’s got away from the violence and become a good character. Could also been
seen as him holding up a white flag and surrendering
Police call the middle class man ‘sir’ as if he is their captain
Soft non-diegetic music playing over scene, feel his emotion
Low angle is used when Tsotsi is looking towards the middle class house, as if it is looking over him, he stills looks insignificant
compared to the wealth, he is nothing compared to it
The gate is what separates him to the house, he will never get that wealth
Goes back to the baby, again shows he’s a soft character and got an attachment to it
Non-diegetic music speeds up when the police are on their way, and they point a lot of guns at Tsotsi, maybe showing the
police are scared because he is from the slums, also police take orders from the middle class man
Fade to black, the end for Tsotsi has he is most likely going to prison, also there is no rain over the scene when there normally is
when something bad is happening(he is losing the baby) this can be because he is doing the right thing
9. Banners shown throughout
Children left
on their own
AIDS
•Mum passing away Context
Third
World
Most
poverty
But we
thought it
was worse
due to the
media
Nelson
Mandela
Fought to dismantle
apartheid
•Came about when
South Africa was
colonized by the Dutch
10. Security
respond to the
middle/upper
class very
quickly
Middle Class
control Police
Messages
and
Values
Huge Class
divide
Seen through
extreme long
shots
Community
in the slums
helps each
other
Mirium feeds
child
Even though
in deep
poverty, still
able to look
after child
Simply get on
with their lives
11. CHARACTERS TO
CONCENTRATE ON:
TSOTSI
MIRIUM
MIDDLE CLASS
POLICE
THE SHANTY TOWN POPULATION
12. IS THERE NO DRUGS
IN THIS FILM DUE
TO THE MIDDLE
CLASS NOT
GETTING INVOLVED
WITH THE SLUMS?
