Level 2 English: Visual Text essay for Tsotsi Describe important visual or aural symbol(s) in a visual text you have studied and analyse how the symbol(s) helped develop ideas in the text.In the film Tsotsi directed by Gavin Hood there were many important symbols. The film is about a young man, Tsotsi (a nickname which means thug) who lives a life of crime in Johannesburg, South Africa. The film is set in post-apartheid South Africa and shows a few days which change the life of the main character. The film helps us to understand the struggles that blacks face today years after their mistreatment under apartheid. Symbols such as dice, light and journeys are used in this film to develop the ideas of luck and chance, hope and the…show more content…
The physical journeys Tsotsi makes in the film develop the idea of an internal , symbolic journey. We are shown many long shots of Tsotsi walking alone or running. The shot of him walking on the train tracks at night, with slow haunting instrumental music is used several times to symbolise his inner journey. Tsotsi seems to be considering what he has done. Slowly we see him change from a violent, angry young man who only thinks of himself to a man who begins to have empathy for others. His love for the baby and realisation of the pain his parents must feel at their loss leads him to decide to return it. His final physical journey is through his township, the wasteland, the train station and finally out to the wealthy suburbs to give the child back. It is reversal of his original journey to steal the car. In giving away something that has become precious to him, he gains his soul. The audience also makes the journey with Tsotsi. At the beginning we see him as a cold, hard criminal and feel horrified by his actions. However as the film progresses, the director makes him more likeable by introducing some comic scenes and using flashbacks so we understand his difficult childhood and we begin to sympathise with him. By the end he has become a decent human being.In addition to all the visual symbols, aural symbols such as aggressive Kwaito (gangsta
The physical journeys Tsotsi makes in the film develop the idea of an internal , symbolic journey. We are shown many long shots of Tsotsi walking alone or running. The shot of him walking on the train tracks at night, with slow haunting instrumental music is used several times to symbolise his inner journey. Tsotsi seems to be considering what he has done. Slowly we see him change from a violent, angry young man who only thinks of himself to a man who begins to have empathy for others. His love for the baby and realisation of the pain his parents must feel at their loss leads him to decide to return it. His final physical journey is through his township, the wasteland, the train station and finally out to the wealthy suburbs to give the child back. It is reversal of his original journey to steal the car. In giving away something that has become precious to him, he gains his soul. The audience also makes the journey with Tsotsi. At the beginning we see him as a cold, hard criminal and feel horrified by his actions. However as the film progresses, the director makes him more likeable by introducing some comic scenes and using flashbacks so we understand his difficult childhood and we begin to sympathise with him. By the end he has become a decent human being.In addition to all the visual symbols, aural symbols such as aggressive Kwaito (gangsta
Tsotsi's Childhood
Tsotsi is interesting because of the extreme journey he goes on and the great acting by Presley Chweneyagae. Tsotsi is a thug from Soweto who operates in a gang of four, killing other black people for money in the most brutal manner. At the start of the film we see Tsotsi help kill an old man on a train with an ice pick in order to steal his. Tsotsi himself is slow to realize he has a new agenda. He uses newspapers as diapers, feeds the baby condensed milk, carries it around with him in a shopping bag. Finally, in desperation, at gunpoint, he forces a nursing mother (Terry Pheto) to feed the child.