Confronting violence with infant innocence

South African director Gavin Hood tells a riveting story of a young menace to society in “Tsotsi,” one of this year’s Oscar nominees for best foreign film.

It’s a familiar tale ? a cold-eyed thief and killer from the slums finds unexpected redemption. But here the story is made fresh, thanks to a wonderful lead performance by Presley Chweneyagae.

One dark night, Tsotsi (which literally means “thug”) beats a member of his gang to a pulp after being taunted about his lack of decency. As he runs away, he confronts a well-to-do woman. The woman moves toward him, so he shoots her and speeds off in her car.

Tsotsi hears a little cry from the back seat ? it’s a baby ? and is so startled he crashes. His first instinct is to walk away, but as the crying gets louder he returns, gently puts the baby in a shopping bag and takes him home.

Home is a corrugated metal shack in a nearby Soweto shantytown. Tsotsi knows he can’t care for the boy, but something about the child starts to change him.

In one scene, he forces a young mother to nurse the baby at gunpoint. Watching her tender handling of the infant, Tsotsi’s face gradually softens and his body starts to relax. He is thinking about his own mother and his terrible childhood.

Over the next few days, he begins to see that this baby deserves a real home, and he realizes his violent ways have consequences. The final scene left me both fearful and hopeful for his future.