Tsotsi

Tsotsi is a film written and directed by Gavin Hood, who is also the director of X-men Origins: Wolverine. The story follows a young man named Tsotsi who is a leader of a gang. Growing up he had a very abusive father and a mother that was terminally ill, he ran away from all this and became homeless. When he grew up you see that he has become a leader of this gang and calls himself Tsotsi.

One day Tsotsi shoots this girl and steals her car, but after he steals the car he realizes that there is a child in the back city. Tsotsi doesn't really know what to do so he takes the baby to his home. He realizes that he cannot take care of the child so he obtains the assistance of a woman that lives near him, who also has a child. Later on in the film Tsotsi and his gang end up robbing the husband of the women that he shot and essentially saves his life, when he shoots his friend. When he returns to retrieve the baby from the women, she convinces him to take the baby back to his father. The ending of the film is basically a stand off outside the house of the babies real parents. The police show up and it becomes a big situation but eventually Tsotsi returns the baby and is arrested.

This film was very interesting, at the beginning I was expecting it to be just another gangster film. But when the baby came into the film it became a whole different movie, which was good. The film shows that this gangster was not all that bad but at the same time still bad. In a lot of these gangster movies something happens to the gangster and he suddenly becomes this great citizen. This movie was not like that for a change. Even though he finds this baby and is taking care of it he is still not completely good. He hands the baby off to some lady and then continues on with the crime that he commits. One would expect that once he finds this baby, he will turn in to this great guy and stop all the bad things that he does, because that is what usually happens in movies. This is why I liked this movie so much, it was different. They story was very interesting, to see this gangster having to deal with this baby that he got stuck with because of his stupidity was actually quite comical. I also liked the music in the film, I don't know if that is South African music but it is really good. I had heard similar music to this in the film District 9 and I really love it. Overall this is a very good film that shows a different side of the gangster story.

Sophie Scholl: The Final Days

Sophie Scholl - The Final Days is a film directed by Marc Rothemund that was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and praised by many critics. But is it really that good? Well before I get to that let me tell you a little about the film. The film follows the final days of Sophie Scholl's life, as the title suggests. Sophie Scholl is a student of the University of Munich, who is also part of a non-violent Nazi resistance group called the White Rose. Sophie and other members of the White Rose create leaflets that they attend to place all over the University. However, things go terribly wrong and Sophie and another White Rose member is captured. When Sophie is captured she denies knowing anything about the leaflets and is about to be released an order comes in to not let her go. Irrefutable evidence linking her to the leaflets is found. Sophie and three other White Rose members are charged with treason. Sophie and the three White Rose members are tried and eventually found guilty, they are all sentenced to death. They are all executed on the same day even though she was told that they wouldn't be executed for at least 90 days.

One of the major themes of the film was rebellion. The White Rose was a resistance group that knew what Hitler was doing to the Jews and the terrible losses that the army was suffering. They wanted to spread the word to all of Germany that Hitler's Germany was the enemy and what they were doing was wrong. The White Rose believed in something and they died to trying to rid the world of Hitler.

This film, being a true story, was very good. The story of this small group of college students who stood up to tyranny and injustice was very interesting. Also the way the colors in the movie were very vibrant. If you watch the scene in the courthouse, you can really see the colors of the uniforms and the Nazi symbols really pop. It was very well shot and overall a beautiful film. The pacing of the film was also masterfully done. Never during the whole movie did I feel bored. Even though the majority of the film is dialogue you never feel like looking away. To see how ignorant and stupid the Nazi's were is really quite remarkable. I had a lot of fun watching this movie and would highly recommend it.

Children of Heaven

Children of Heaven, when I first saw the title of this movie I was expecting something completely different than what i actually saw. Before I even saw this movie I had kind of decided that I hate this movie. The title just made seem like I was going to hate this movie. Well after I actually saw the movie I can say that I was kind of wrong about it. It was not perfect but it was a decent film. The films plot is pretty simple, Ali takes his sister Zahra's shoes to get them repaired but on the way back he leaves them lying around and they get misplaced. When he gets home he doesn't want his parents to find out so he makes a deal with this sister that she can use his sneakers to go to school and when she comes back from school she will give it to Ali and then he will go to school. The film from then on basically follows Ali and Zahra trying to live with the arrangement and trying to keep their parents from finding out. At the end Ali joins into this race so that he can get in third place and win shoes for Zahra. Ali tries his hardest to try and get into third but one of the other racers trip him and he loses. The film ends with Ali returning home to give Zahra the bad news, not knowing that their father is coming home with new shoes for Zahra.

One of the themes that is prevalent throughout the film is love. Ali loves his sister Zahra a lot and feels terrible that he lost her shoes. Out of love, and also some fear of his father, Ali lets his sister wear his shoes to school. Not only that Ali decides to run this grueling race just so that Zahra could have shoes of her own. Also when Ali is talking to his father about new shoes he makes sure to tell him that he should get shoes for Zahra before he gets some for himself. Ali is very caring for Zahra in this movie and it is evident throughout the film.

As for what I thought about this film, well I thought it was just OK. I didn't hate it like I thought I would but I didn't love it either. A lot of the parts in the film dragged and a good portion of the film could have been cut. I thought that the whole scene with Ali and his father gardening was way too long and could have easily been shortened. I couldn't really say that I can recommend this to anybody but I could see how some people may like this film, as it is a nice story of two siblings trying to live in a difficult situation.

Central Station

Central Station, a Brazilian film directed by Walter Salles, tells the story of the journey that two strangers take. The film begins with Dora, whose job is to write letters for people who cannot and send them out. However, she just takes the customers money and never send the letters out. One day a boy name Josue and his mother come to her asking Dora to write a letter to Josue's father. Josue has never met his father and his mother hopes to reunite the family. Things unfortunately turn out terribly as Josue's mother is run over by a car and killed.

Dora decides to take the boy, so that she could sell him and make some money. However she changes her mind after finding out that she has put the boy in danger. Dora, feeling bad, decides to help Josue look for his father but all does not go well. On the way they meet some bad people and find themselves in bad situations and they find out that the father has changed his address many times. However, a friendship grows between Dora and Josue as they face the hurdles of finding Josue's father. Eventually, the two find the brothers of Josue but not his father. Dora decides to leave Josue with his brothers, when she sees how caring they are.

One of the themes of this movie is friendship. Friendship plays a key role in the film. At the beginning Dora does not really have any friends and is a very bitter women. When she meets Josue she is very hesitant to take care of him and just wants to find his father and dump him there. But as the film progresses a strong bond forms between the two and Dora starts loving the boy and the boy starts loving the boy. The friendship between Dora and Josue really changes Dora in a very positive way. The boy in a way shows Dora how to live again and brings something to her life that has been absent from her for so long, HAPPINESS.

This film was an excellent story of how the most unexpected people can have the biggest impact on you life. At the beginning of the film you could never think that a little boy would have such an impact on her life, but it happens. I thought it was a beautifully told story that conveyed a lot of emotion. The ending where you see Dora leaving on the bus and Josue running after her was a very powerful scene and perfectly done. A fantastic film that I would recommend to anybody who loves film.