Review of The Bang Bang Club (2011) by James K — 20 Nov 2011

This is a relatively unknown movie, but I'm a bit surprised it didn't get much attention. This movie is about a group of photographers who photographed the first free elections during the conflict in post-apartheid South Africa (Sudan, Nelson Mandela, etc). The film follows these four often crazy photographers risking their own lives to take pictures of social violence and the grotesque aftermath, and it's resultant effects on the world, the culture, the individuals, and the minds of the ones behind the lens. It's at times a stunning and nauseating portrait of violence but the real story of the film lies in the virus like effect this has on the human condition.

If you've ever seriously tried to take a great and unique photograph you know how intense trying to capture a perfect image can be, even if it's an average everyday picture. This movie takes that moment and puts it in the middle of a war, so the movie has the emotional tension of a good photograph combined with the power of emotion on film. The acting isn't the best, but I feel that is mostly related to a director who focused too much on the ethics of the situation and not enough on the mental or emotional aspects of the characters. Taylor Kitsch from the television show Saturday Night Lights was by far the stand out of the four main characters, but Ryan Philippe showed that he still has some acting chops and isn't just a flash in the pan teen actor.

What this movie does well is show how a powerful image can spread an idea like a virus. The powerful pictures these photographers took shook the world awake to the violence in S. Africa. They told stories that brought attention and relief to those who needed it. But what pictures can never tell is the intense mental and physical toll violence has on those who not only experience it, but simply witness it. With each picture that infects the culture and world, it also infects the minds of the main characters and the film follows them as they try to deal with photographing hundreds of violent acts that lead to even more photo's of dead bodies. The movie also deals with the ethical media issues related to photographing violence. Should photo's of people on fire getting their heads chopped off in the streets be put on the front page of the paper? And yes this scene is actually in the film. It is violent and very emotional, but it exposes how what is an ethical issue in the media is a deeply inflicting personal issue to the photographer who merely "captures" it as a means to doing his best to prevent such violence by exposing it. The question of is it ethical to stand back and just take pictures or should the photographer intervene is brought up a few times, and as much as standing back takes its toll on the photographers they're fearless in remain neutral in their attempt to save those in the future by exposing the violence through the virus of the powerful images. This brings up the next ethical question of are they sensationalizing these victims, or turning them into martyrs for the greater good?

As with this review, this is where I think this film started to unravel. Overall this was a surprisingly good movie that is fearless in it's attempt to tell the story of these photographers, but the last half of the movie is like a really great photograph that is slightly blurry. The beginning of this film is focused and intense, but as the minds of the photographers begin to unravel and the ethical issues get entangled the film does the same. It starts to get lost and muddled in personal drama, and ethical dilemmas and loses it's focus on how the violence infects the beauty in the world by infecting each individual like a virus.