Music and Slience of Tsotsi

Overall response about Tsotsi: music or no music..?

After viewing Tsotsi, I was kind of conflicted because of the gruesome scenes and the concept of baby-napping. Those scenes made an impression on me and not a good one. On a lighter side, this film has a great theme or lesson expressed throughout the film. The music was sort of relatable at some times, but mostly, like in the beginning of the film, the music was too loud to the point that I couldn’t hear the sounds and the dialogue. I understand that the music brings more of the “gangster” or "thug" side present in some scenes, but the music was too much in volume and genre.

 
I know this is going to sound a bit weird, but I liked the silence in the film. The scenes where there wasn’t any sound, but could have had some eerie music. Although, the director made that choice and it was successful because it benefited the scenes, like when Tsotsi was following the man in a wheelchair. The mood increased with every second of silence and made the audience wonder what was going to happen, not what is going to happen based off the music. The audience focuses on the facial expression or at least that is what I focused on.

Overall, I believe the music was okay, but unnecessary at times. The silence within the movies had a better affect than the loud, distracting music aesthetically and technicality. Tsotsi is a okay movie – 2.5/5 stars

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