Identify one example of historical or cultural context in your film
Apartheid
Briefly describe this historical or cultural context in your film
After the National Party gamines power in South Africa in 1948, the all-white government immediately started enforcing existing heavenly discriminative policies of segregation. Under apartheid, the majority of people that were non-white were forced to live separator to white people for example. Despite strong and consistent opposition, these policies and laws remained in place until the 90s.
Outline your understanding of what historical or cultural context is
Historical context is the history of the film. This could be the history of the location, characters and more. It is the history of the films preset time (for example, if it is set in the 1950s in the uk, then the historical context would be that World War Two had just happened and the world was still recovering) . So for Tsotsi, that appears to be set in the 1980s roughly, we know that historically, in that time, apartheid was still happening and thriving, as well as the aids epidemic had just broken out , and was hitting places such as South Africa the hardest. The cultural context is the understanding of the culture and society at the time and the location the film is set (e.g we know that women were considered homemakers in Tsotsi’s community, and that gangs were a big part of the society, each gangs having different statuses etc.)
Explore how this and other elements of context are reflected in the representation of adult characters in your chosen film
Apartheid was created in 1948, when the ‘National Party’, an all-white party, was voted into power in South Africa and enforced many existing laws and policies that heavily discriminated against the black community, whom were the majority. This set a tone of racism all throughout South Africa. One of the results of the Apartheid was that white people had all the positions of power (such as headteachers, MPs etc), meaning that all chiefs of police were white. Due to the Apartheid continuing into the 1980s, presumably when Tsotsi is set, then the chief of police, Captain Smit, is in charge. His inferior is Sergeant Zuma, creating an interesting dynamic. A white man is in control of looking after an all-black community. When Smit and Zuma raid Tsotsi's shack searching for the baby, Zuma holds a gun to Boston and Smit warns Zuma- ‘take it easy’ and we see a mid-shot of Zuma relaxing to this order, ultimately pointing the gun back to Boston, with the camera tracking it. Of course, this order was purely professional, but the dynamic is created by the Apartheid.
There was a significant divide in wealth in South Africa, with over half of people living under the poverty line, and a quarter of the population is unemployed. We know that Tsotsi is part of this group of people, due to his shack. This location is clearly small and dirty, suggesting Tsotsi does not have the facilities to look after his own home. The lighting in the shack is mainly dark, implying he cannot afford lighting, creating a grungy and uncomfortable atmosphere. In the opening scene, Tsotsi is standing at the window of his shack, filled with beautiful colours, contrasting the darkness of the shack. Tsotsi wants to escape this life of poverty, just as many adults do. As Tsotsi and his gang walk out of the shack in the opening scene, the shot pans to follow them, including the water tap in it. The director, Gavin Hood, did this to show the audience that this is a poor community, due to not having a tap (a necessity) in their homes. Also, we always see Miriam at this tap, showing how single, young mothers are also victims to the poverty in South Africa (also a result of Apartheid, as black people were unable to get well-paying jobs, so were forced into a life of crime to support their families and themselves).
Miriams house is still small, but well-lit and she has made beautiful mobiles our of scraps decorating it. Miriam represents the adult members of the South-African communities who are making the best of what they have. Often, Tsotsi is shot next to Miriams mobiles that she made when she was happy (colourful), when in Tsotsi is in her home, showing how adults bring colour and happiness into the youth's lives.
Crime is a large-scale problem in South Africa and was even worse in the 1980s. Due to the Apartheid, black people were forced into a life of crime due to being forced out of education early (that’s if they even went to school at all), as they couldn’t get good jobs and therefore couldn’t get money. Socially, it was a big issue. Shootings and robbery's were frequent. This is clear when Miriam says that her husband went to work and ‘never came back’, whilst the shot is slowly zooming into a picture of him, showing the significance of this event, leaving her a single mother with no source of income. This life of crime is also shown on the train, in which Tsotsi and his gang kill and rob a man (representing wealth) in order to steal his money. Previously, we see cross-cutting between the man buying a tie (indicating he is rich) and an extreme-close-up of Tsotsi (an intense scene) deciding his next target. The man represents the richest members of the black community.
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