The Bang Bang Club
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The Bang Bang Club
Movie Review
Background:
This movie captures the true story of four photographers working for a newspaper in Johannesburg as they try to document the events of the South African struggles during apartheid. Each photographer goes to extreme lengths in the hopes of capturing the perfect shot, and each photo is, in its own right, shocking and immersive. We are given a personal view into the lives of Greg Marinovich, Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek and Joao Silva, and watch as they struggle with this hard mentality they have to possess in order to photograph the violence that takes place right in front of them, while deciding whether it is right to interfere or not. This proves to be a difficult task, as is revealed throughout the film; the photographers find themselves depressed, interrogated and mostly just trying to forget all they have witnessed with a drink in hand. Despite all this, they become known as The Bang Bang Club for their work, and go on to win Pulitzers.
The Cast
The four photographers are played by Ryan Philippe (Greg), Taylor Kitsch (Kevin), Frank Rautenbach (Ken) and Neels van Jaarsveld (Joao). Malin Akerman acclaims the role of Robin Comley, the head of The Star corporation, and eventually Gregs love interest. She becomes his rock, helping him overcome the mental and emotional stress of his work. The cast consisted of three non-natives, although it wasnt as obvious as it should have been. The accents were given due attention and in my opinion, were achieved quite well. So thumbs up to our American: Ryan, our Swedish-Canadian: Malin, and finally, our British friend: Taylor.
The Director
This movie is written and directed by Steven Silver, who has produced several documentaries for the South African film industry, and won many international awards. He definitely had a tough job portraying the violence of apartheid through his film, yet you only realize this after watching it. Yes, you are shown how incredibly malicious and out of hand things became, but the history of South Africas struggles for political freedom and political equality are never really brought through. This was an opportunity for our history to be recorded and displayed, yet the stick fell short. The storyline was also at times quite confusing and seemed like it hadnt really been thought through, like there were an overwhelming amount of ideas that had to be shown, even if a coherent line of thought couldnt be achieved.
Outline of plot
This movie was produced to document the lives of The Bang Bang Club photographers and the events of apartheid. We see how crucial it was for people not to be impartial, and we see the consequences for people who were. Every person has the same main goal: stay alive, be treated equally, and take out anyone who threatens either.
It is mostly focused