THE BANG BANG CLUB

The movie’s title comes from the name given to a group
of combat photojournalists whose work witnessed the final years of struggle which resulted in the collapse of apartheid in South
Africa.  The four guys gained the
nickname because of the fearless way they got so close to their subjects in the
face of real danger just to get their shots. The violence that the intrepid
four encountered is very real and graphically portrayed in the movie which
vividly shows both the brutal tribal cruelty and the police’s ruthlessness as
this despicable period in history came to it’s climax.

The photographers started to realize that it is impossible to remain totally detached from the nightmarish scenes that they record and their
work did resonate around the World … two of them pick up Pulitzer’s …. but there
is no hint of the effect these powerful images must have caused in help
bringing about escalating the pressure from the international community on the
Government. Instead the film focuses somewhat a little too much somewhat on the men’s partying and their
romantic encounters instead.  It’s all
based on a true story which has been made into this narrative by South African
filmmaker Steven Silver who usually directs/produces documentaries which may be
a clue as to why the movie really doesn’t gel too well together. 

Even if it had been a  complete of fiction, it would have still been a lame movie, but as something purporting to be real life, the members of the Bang Bang Club deserved to be
portrayed better. And we certainly deserved a better movie.

★★★★★