T Squared. The story of Tsotsi and Tarzan.

Tsotsi, a boy who grew up by himself after running away from home in fear of his father. His mother was dying of a chronic illness and her time here was short. While Tsotsi, who we later find out is named David spends his younger years living in a cement culvert growing up with other members of his community who were homeless.

Tarzan, a boy who was left in the jungle to fend for himself. His mother and father were killed in the jungle and Tarzan was taken in by the Apes--one in particular who had recently lost her baby. Tarzan spent his younger years exploring and living in the jungle with his Ape tribe.

 

After going through the entire list of Disney movies, I wanted to compare Tsotsi to, I noticed a few comparisons between these two movies. Tsotsi and Tarzan both grew up without parents but were taken in by their perspective communities to be raised. While Tsotsi was more of a trouble maker and engaged in risky behavior with his friends. His behavior ultimately ending up with him stealing a baby who he desperately wanted to take care of and relive his life through baby David. In his struggle of taking care of this child he realizes that there is more to taking care of a child such as feeding the baby. Tsotsi finds Miriam, a widowed mother of her own young infant, to help take care of baby David. Miriam convinces Tsotsi to return the child to his birth mother; the stubborn Tsotsi knows that when he does this he will be caught. Despite this knowledge he wanted to prove to Miriam that he wasn't all that bad of a guy and returns the child to his mother. Tarzan is seen as more of a heroic, brave, and loyal figure than Tsotsi was, but he also finds a love who makes him see his worth. Tarzan met Jane, who was in the jungle with her father he spied on her and was fascinated due to never having seen another human being. Tarzan left the jungle in order to find Jane and gets the courage to kill the leopard that killed his parents so he can continue on and live his life. These two men grew up feeling like outcasts, but eventually met two women who allowed them to realize they had to be strong and face their fears, both Tsotsi and Tarzan did what they needed to do in the end to feel like they did the right thing.

New Age Kwaito

The new age kwaito music is a mix of house music with African sounds, deep bass and vocals that are rapped and shouted. This music was used in the movie Tsotsi picked by director Gavin Hood because the music originated in Johannesburg, South Africa where the film took place. The music can seem awkward and inappropriate at times, very upbeat and lifting music while Tsotsi and his friends are about to commit a crime. There are times where the music is softer, like when Tsotsi has the Mom in the village take care of baby David. It seems like the music tries to play light onto the crimes that are committed and Tsotsi's emotions. When do you think Tsotsi starts to feel guilty for his actions? When he knows he is going to be caught for his actions or earlier?

The Whale Rider

The New Zealand drama, The Whale Rider, captures the story of a young girl who strived to earn the respect of her Grandfather, Koro. Paikea, the twelve-year-old girl shares her name with the leader who rode to shore on a whales back saving the Maori tribe. At birth Pai was born a twin but her brother never survived--this left Koro upset since he should have been the leader, a role that is meant for a man. The Maori culture was constantly brought out in the film, especially from Pai who strived to live up to her grandfather's expectations.

Pai tried to participate and watch as Koro taught the young Maori boys how to become leaders, yet she was the only one to bring back his whale tooth that was thrown into the sea for the young boys to retrieve, but all attempts were failed. Koro and Pai showed the true beauty of the culture through the land, schooling, and rituals such as praying and calling in the whales.

Camera movement

This shot is from Breaking Bad. The director uses a simple panning technique but the location of where the camera is panning is important. The panning stops and sets up the scene, once a phone conversation is over the camera moves towards Skyler and reveals another actor in the room with her that the viewer is unable to see from the specific panning.

The Road Home-Symbolism

The symbolism in this film was phenomenal. I focused on the symbolism of repair. When the new teacher came into the village Di was instantly drawn to him. As all the men worked on building the new school Di prepared her best meals in a blue and white pottery dish that she would bring down to all the workers to eat. When it was her families turn to finally host and feed the teacher she prepared her best meal and made sure to put it in that bowl hoping he would recognize it. Di's mother could sense the way she felt about him and told her not to try--he was out of her class. That night when Di found out the teacher was leaving and not coming back over for mushroom dumplings she packed up that bowl to chase him down to make sure he ate it. While she was running she fell and the bowl broke. It was symbolic to her heart breaking and he was really gone. Despite Di's mothers opinions she paid a lot of money to have the bowl fixed and put back together. The teacher also came back into Di's life making it whole again.

High Angle

In this high-angle camera shot of Elijah Wood's character Frodo, it shows him submitting to the power of the ring that is about to fall on his finger. Typically a high-angle camera shot is used to depict the subject as vulnurable, powerless, and weak.

Truffaut's The 400 Blows

I enjoyed Francois Truffaut’s 1959 French New Wave film, The 400 Blows. I haven’t watch many black and white films, but I really enjoyed the fact that I could use my imagination to guess what the film would have looked like in color. In the semi-autobiographical film that reflects events of Truffaut's and his friends' lives we follow the life of Antoine Doinel, a young schoolboy who has a troubled home life. Truffaut uses camera angles to add drama to his black and white film showing Antoine getting in trouble by his teacher for vandalizing the wall at school setting the tone for the film. After getting yelled at by his parents and his teacher Antoine streak of running away, skipping class, and stealing starts.