Tsotsi: Violence and identity in South Africa

Thewre has been an interesting point of view expressed and a bit of critisism on Tsotsi in the Rochester City News.

"Even in emerging nations without a grand history of production, a new self awareness can sometimes inspire filmmakers to reflect an equally new sense of identity. Tsotsi, which recently won the Academy Award for best foreign film, indicates something of a new spirit in South Africa, a relatively old country with a relatively new form of government."

"...camera also, however, lingers far too long on the faces of the actors, who often simply look at each other for long periods, as if trying to make up their minds about a speech or a gesture. The heavy-handed technique needlessly overstates the emotion of the film's situations, adding false melodrama to several naturally tense of moving encounters. Tsotsi often seems crude and oversimplified, but its themes and contexts, and more importantly its national origin and its appearance here, represent an important step for South African film."

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