Oscar-winning tale of a thug and redemption

In the slang of the Soweto townships of South Africa, tsotsi (SOT-see) means "thug." And in the Oscar winner for best foreign film, it is the nickname of a petty thief about to graduate to murder. Compact and compelling, Tsotsi is an unflinching tale of human death and moral rebirth.

While intimidating a fellow subway passenger out of his wallet, Tsotsi (Presley Chweneyagae), a man-child mugger with a stony face and steely eyes, kills because . . . he can.

Tsotsi is a human buzzard who swoops down to prey on the vulnerable. In the metaphor employed by director-writer Gavin Hood in his update of Athol Fugard's 1961 story, the baby-faced killer is lethal and as unpredictable as lightning.

Fleeing the subway with his accomplices, Tsotsi feels his frightening power. Taking a life gives him life.

But when the young gangsters get back to their Kliptown neighborhood, a fraying district on the fringes of Johannesburg, one of them asks him a simple question and almost becomes a casualty of Tsotsi's ungrounded rage.

All his pal does is ask if Tsotsi has a real name. But for this youth orphaned by AIDS, a hard case who never had a family, the question is threatening. Tsotsi is so weak on the inside he has to repeatedly prove how tough he is on the outside. So he brutalizes his accomplice and escapes into the night to find new prey.

She is rich, she is pretty, and she drives up to her suburban home in a shiny BMW. As she stands in the rain and rings for her husband to open the door, Tsotsi shoots her and carjacks her vehicle as his victim fights to get back in.

Turns out it isn't the Beemer she's trying to protect, but its cargo, a burbling baby in the back seat, an infant who mirrors Tsotsi's neediness and helplessness and who will trigger his moral turnaround.

Evocatively shot by cinematographer Lance Gewer in warm browns and reds that make Tsotsi seem all the more chilling, the film records his gradual metamorphosis from id-driven brute into empathic, if crude, care-giver. Toting the babe in a shopping bag, Tsotsi pulls a gun on a nursing mother in the township (the Madonnalike Terry Pheto), demanding that she breast-feed his new charge.

The film's implication is that by taking care of the squalling baby, Tsotsi can feed the little boy inside who didn't have parents who could care for him.

With its terrific pop score and its central character whose moves are borrowed from American crime movies, Tsotsi may put some in mind of the reggae-flavored The Harder They Come.

Hood's film departs from its predecessor by suggesting that reconciliation is a worthier goal than notoriety.

He is lucky in his choice of leading man. By permitting expression to soften the taut contours of his masklike face, Chweneyagae carries the film, and the audience, with him.

Viewers, be warned: Sequences with a real baby placed in situations of extreme jeopardy are harrowing.

Contact movie critic Carrie Rickey at 215-854-5402 or crickey@phillynews.com.

Tsotsi *** (out of four stars)

Produced by Peter Fudakowski, directed by Gavin Hood, written by Hood, based on the novel by Athol Fugard, photography by Lance Gewer, music by Mark Kilian and Paul Hepker, distributed by Miramax Films. In Tsotsi-Taal (patois) with English subtitles.

Running time: 1 hour, 34 mins.

Tsotsi. . . Presley Chweneyagae

Miriam. . . Terry Pheto

Aap. . . Kenneth Nkosi

Boston. . . Mothusi Magano

Parent's guide: R (violence, infant in jeopardy)

Playing at: Ritz Five and Ritz Sixteen/NJ