Miriam to Tsotsi, shack
“You can only see broken glass, I can see colour. Light”.
Tsotsi about Morris
“Why do you go on when you live like a dog” and “What happened to you?”
Meaning of Miriam’s quote
- Miriam to Tsotsi, showing contrasting perspectives in both their houses, and also their life (see more on character evaluation)
- If someone can make something useful out of broken glass, you can make something useful out of a broken situation
List of significant cinematography
- Close up of dice
- Close up of Tsotsi’s eyes
- Point of view shot of innocent man
- Extreme long shot Soweto
- Long shot Morris and Tsotsi + angles
- High angle shot ending scene Tsotsi
Symbols
The baby, light and dark, the dog, characterization by abode
Lighting
Tsotsi ‘half-lit’
Non-diegetic sound
- Rattlesnake sound effect
- Kwaito soundtrack
- Gospel soundtrack
- Quiet calm of African wind instruments
Ideas
- The normalcy of casual violence
- the transformative power of hope
- the inevitability of destiny
- survival
- redemption
- power of empathy
- contrast/duality
what does tsotsi’s character show at the beginning of the film
impoverished majority! ‘tsotsi’ means thug, giving an insight into his character already from the title of the movie - cruel and senseless rapport
Other characters
Aap, Butcher, Boston, Miriam, Morris, John and Pulma Dube, the baby
Settings
Miriam, Tsotsi and the dube’s house - CHARACTERIZATION BY ABODE
Soweto - apartheid
Central Station Joburg
About movie
Gavin Hood
Set in Joburg + Soweto
2005 release
Story of a young street thug who steals a car, only to find a baby in the back seat
