Blog

Tsotsi is a 2005 crime drama film written and directed by Gavin Hood and produced by Peter Fudakowski.

Boston feels guilt, shame and regret when the gang kills Gumboot Dhlamini. The mother who gives Tsotsi her baby appears to feel shame and regret at abandoning her child. Tsotsi feels guilty after beating up Boston, even though he only recognises the guilt much later.

"Tsotsi," the film, cries out with passionate regard for human life in this emotionally raw, compelling story of hope, redemption, respect and the search for humanity when all of life is utterly inhumane. Writer/director Gavin Hood's "Tsotsi" is based upon a novel by award-winning writer Athol Fugard.

The story is not centred on a conflict between people of different races, but on the consequences of conflict and poverty. Tsotsi is a young man without a past or an education. He viciously beats his friend, who asks him if he understand the word decency.

Miriam is an eighteen year old with a young baby, just like little David. Like many other young women in South Africa, Miriam has been abandoned by her husband – Simon – and left with a child to care for all on her own.