Gran Torino (***1/4)

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viewed 12/31/08 at Ritz 5

City of Men (***1/4)

A follow-up of sorts to the acclaimed City of God, a gritty drama set in the slums of Rio, this tells the story of two best friends turning 18. Growing up without a father in a favela called Dead End Hill, one searches for his while the other already has his own toddler of his own to contend with. Unlike most slums, the Hill, adjacent to a popular beach, looks beautiful from afar; only up close do the ramshackle buildings become clear. The place, already featured in a television series created by the directors of City of God, is almost as much a part of the story as the characters. The two friends spent much of the series steering clear of criminals, but here cannot avoid the crossfire as rival gangsters fight to be king of the Hill.

Despite that plot and the similar setting, this has a gentler feel than City of God. Though it realistically depicts the criminality and poverty that affects slums around the world, it’s not nearly as downbeat (or violent) overall. I don’t think people will be blown away by this movie the way many were by City of God, but they’ll leave the theater feeling more hopeful. The overall story arc is a familiar one, yet there was a surprise or two.

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viewed 2/26/08; reviewed 2/29/08

Tsotsi (***1/4)

This year’s foreign-language Oscar-winner is a gritty, realistic urban story of a thug who finds himself with someone else’s baby.

This is only the second of the foreign-language Oscar nominees to open in Philadelphia. (Two others will shortly follow.) With its win last Sunday, the release is rather timely. Tsotsi (translated as “thug” in the movie) is based on the only novel by celebrated South African playwright Athol Fugard. Writer-director Gavin Hood has deftly reset the novel, written during apartheid’s rise, in modern Soweto and Johannesburg. Presley Chweneyagae has the title role of a gangster who finds himself taking care of someone else’s baby. The movie doesn’t shy away from showing Tsotsi’s brutal side, or the environment that hardened him. As Hood has pointed out, the essence of the story, the gangsta with a heart of gold, could have been set in Philadelphia, or the Rio of City of God, or almost any large city. Even so, two particularly South African things stand out. One is the music, mostly an African rap hybrid with songs by Zola, who has a supporting role as a rival gang leader in the film. The other is the language. Even though you’ll need the subtitles, the dialect is a fascinating mélange of tribal languages and English. If there’s a flaw, it’s that the change we see in Tsotsi happens too fast. Even so, the portrayals by Chweneyagae and the other actors (especially those who play the baby’s parents) are first rate, and Hood renders Fugard’s story with subtlety and precision.

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posted 9/10/13