"Tsotsi", "City of God" & "Salaam Bombay"
A comparative sketch of three films

「三部犯罪影片之比較」

7/25/2013

Just finished watching the film "Tsotsi" (2005 production from South Africa by director Gavin Hood) and realized this is yet another great piece of cinematic work on this difficult subject of crimes and poverty.

It instantly reminded me of "City of God", a 2003 production from Brazil and an earlier film "Salaam Bombay", a 1988 title from India.  All of the three films depicts the hardened part of cities or places somewhere in the world where poverty and crimes go hand in hand.  In "Tsotsi" the location is the shanty town of Soweto just outside the city of Johannesburg.  Both the Indian film and the South African (SA) film took on a resemblance of documentary in the unsentimental way of their storytelling.

It may be because the movie "Tsotsi" is fresher in my mind, I feel the effect stronger and thought it a more poignant and far more convincing story about a young criminal's journey to redemption.  Accompanied the excellent storyline (script) are some rare and strong acting by all of the young thugs cast in the film, including the young woman character.  The hip-hop like music composed by the SA musician brought authentic atmosphere to the picture and the unsentimental way the camera held and caught the undiluted violence, the subtle changes in the young man's face throughout the film further brought credibility to the story.

The one drawback I think is the intercutting/inserting of flashbacks through the movie which were not distinctly delineated and audience found out about the protagonist’s earlier life only much later to establish empathy toward him.  Although one may think otherwise as well.

Just for the interest of comparison, I thought "City of God"  ( Note 1) creates a more unique style along with a dashing cinematography. The story however does not resonate as well as "Tsotsi" to me. The techniques using the whirling movement of the camera and differentiating color tones in flashbacks are very effective and dazzling, a visually flamboyant film indeed.  While in "Tsotsi" the colors are mostly subdued and the camera is not rushing the story compared to the quick cutting of "City of God."  These I think give it a more realistic feel and hence touch the hearts more readily.

I also like "Salaam Bombay" a lot and thought it well made and truthful to the subject matter considering it is the first feature the director Mira Nair ( Note 2 ) made.  The ending of the story however is a bit too bleak for most audience even though it is closer to reality.  "Tsotsi" however, gives us a glimmer of hope before the end which is not unrealistic yet more satisfying to most.


Note 1:   The director or "City of God" is Fernando Meirelles from Brazil.  He is also responsible in directing the opening ceremony of 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio, Brazil.  The film director also garnered recognition from the Academy Awards and Golden Globes for his film " Constant Gardener " in 2005.


Note 2:  Director Mira Nair from India also made " Monsoon Wedding " In 2001 and " The Namesake " in 2006.


Appendix    

ISin Nombre 

(Nameless)

7/30/2014

I just finished watching a 2009 movie about the perilous journey of some central Americans and Mexicans trying to flee their homelands in hope of making it to their dream paradise - the United States.  Having not heard about the film before, I was taken by surprise and was moderately shocked by some of the most gritty depiction of gang movies I have ever seen. Made by first time director Cary Fukunaga who garnered the Sundance Festival award of the year for directing this debut film which took him 2 years researching. He spent time with those people en route to the border (on top of trains, etc.) and conducted several interviews with harden gang members whom he depicted in this film.  This is not a documentary but looks and feels like one with its authentic storyline and superb acting (by lesser known local actors.)

I thought "City of God" was hard to watch because of the graphic violence it depicted in the film.  There's more cruelty and senseless killings of gang violence in this one, although it also portrays some of the most endearing human emotions which was lacking in the former film.  I strongly recommend this film to the die-hard film buff - it is definitely not for the faint hearted viewers.

Grace Liu