Totsi

Totsi is a South African film by Gavin Hood which is an adaption of the book "Totsi" written by Athol Fugard. The film won the 2005 academy award for Best Foreign Language Film. The movie is about David who goes by the name Totsi. He is the leader of a gang which includes his friends Butcher, Aap, and Boston. After committing a murder, Totsi and Boston get into a fight which leaves Boston badly injured. After that Totsi runs away, when he realizes how far he has run he decides to hijack a car driven by Pumla. When he gets into the car he realizes that there is a baby in the back, so he decides to strip the car and take the baby. This is the first sign we see from Totsi that he does have a caring heart because he doesn't leave the baby to die. Pumla survives the attack and while being treated at the hospital she gives a police description of Totsi.

Realizing that he has no idea how to take care of a baby, he sneaks up on Miriam who is a single mother who he holds up at gunpoint and brings her back to her place where he forces her to breast feed the baby. When he visits her a second time she talks him into letting her take care of the child and he can visit whenever he wants. Totsi decides to take care of the injured Boston. Boston is called Teacher Boy by his friends because they believe he took the teacher's test. Boston explains to his friends that he never took such a thing. The gang decides to raise some money so that Boston can take the test, meaning they will have to commit another robbery. They go to Pumla's house, following her husband John as he leaves the hospital. They tie him up and raid the house. When John activates the alarm, Butcher attempts to kill John but Totsi kills Butcher and the rest of the gang heads out before the alarm company arrives. When Totsi goes back to Miriam's house she tells him she knows where he got the baby and begs him to return it. When Totsi goes to return the baby, the officer assigned to the house calls for backup and Totsi is arrested as the movie ends. I liked this movie alot because it begins as a Gangster film but it develops into a coming to age film where you see the heart of Totsi grow because of the smallest thing, a baby. Having all the trouble he had as a kid with his mom being extremely sick and his dad being a drunk who kills Totsi's dog right in front of him; he develops this new state of mind that i believe ultimately saves his life. A dark but uplifting movie that i would watch again and again.