Redeeming features: from Tsotsi (1980) to Tsotsi (2006)

Abstract

This paper interprets Gavin Hood's film adaptation Tsotsi (2006) of Athol Fugard's eponymous novel (1980) from a constellation of angles: institutional (exploring the politics behind film funding and viewing in South Africa), historical (in relation to the interpretation of terms such as tsotsi, and the importance of understanding historical places such as Sophiatown and the impact of art forms such as kwaito), socio-political (in terms of the circulation of political discourses in contemporary South Africa), and aesthetic (examining the ways in which the film medium may be orchestrated for particular meaningful ends). After contextualizing the film within the landscape of post-apartheid cinematic production, I proceed to analyze whether Tsotsi represents a truly independent national cinematic voice, or whether its potential critique is compromised by commercial aims and certain ideological underpinnings. Situating the film at the intersection of South Africa's two major political discourses – liberalism and Marxism – I examine how the film engages with questions of violence, critique, the representation of South African realities, and redemption. To do so I draw on rare archive material concerning the novel, as well as personal interviews that I have undertaken with contemporary South Africa filmmakers. I offer a comparative perspective on Tsotsi in relation to other recent South African film adaptations, which – like Tsotsi – ‘update’ South African literary texts written in earlier periods so as to offer stringent critiques of contemporary violence in the country. Ultimately I argue that Tsotsi, however, focuses on certain forms of contemporary violence at the expense of another, very important kind of violence in South Africa: violence against women and children. I also argue, in the final instance, that the film sacrifices a possible Marxist critique of class division and submits to a neoliberal point of view on social relations. In conclusion, I question whether Tsotsi, a film about redemption, has its own redeeming features.