The story centers on Tsotsi, a young man involved in gang related crime. This is mainly robbery, but early on in the movie a crime taken too far ends in murder. Retreating to a local bar, Tsotsi and his accomplices debate what has happened, and we realize soon after that this is to be a turning point (as one would hope it would be) in the young man's life. However, he goes on steal a car later that night and unwittingly ends up in a possession of a baby in the backseat. What follows is a slow but pronounced change to the way he thinks about things, and as he struggles to take care of the child we are treated to a unique and moving picture.

The film is often dark and has kind of a dream-like quality to it. The shantytowns of Johannesburg are shown in a painterly and filmic way, and the film certainly doesn't have the grim documentary-style reality of City of God, but it is no less effective. Shying away from the straightforward, raw style of Fernando Meirelles' work serves to focus the attention to Tsotsi and his plight, and the people that surround him. This is a human story, and as Tsotsi holds the baby in his hands you can feel him contemplating his own life. It's is a great film, and very deserving of its Oscar. Check it out and support global filmmaking.