The Bang Bang Club (2011)

Beautiful, moving film.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Released in 2010, "The Bang Bang Club" is based on the real-life "Bang Bang Club" from South Africa, the bold photojournalists who covered the end of apartheid in 1994. The movie shows how the apartheid government essentially encouraged the active hostilities between the Zulus and Mandela's ANC "rebels" in an attempt to maintain power. Ryan Phillippe, Taylor Kitsch, Neels Van Jaarsveld and Frank Rautenbach star as the four main photojournalists while Malin Akerman, Nina Milner, Lika Berning and Jessica Haines are on hand as babes.The word 'apartheid' literally means "apart-hood" and refers to the system of racial separation in South Africa legally enforced by the National Party that governed the nation from 1948-1994. Under apartheid, the rights of the majority black populace and other non-white groups were limited while the ruling of the white minority was perpetuated. Being shot in 2009, the movie enlisted South Africans to reenact events from a mere fifteen years earlier; surely, the wound was still too fresh. In any event, the mob/fighting scenes in the black districts are thoroughly convincing, like you're watching news footage.The first 25 minutes establish the four main protagonists and their mission to document the last days of apartheid (not that they knew it was the last days), as well as some intense scenes in the black districts. With a set-up like this and a full hour and fifteen minutes to go, I was curious where the movie would go and how it could maintain the viewer's interest. Thankfully, the rest of the picture fleshes out the protagonists & their various babes and adds interesting peripheral material, like the famous shot of the starving Sudanese child with a vulture waiting to feed. In addition, the film throws in some interesting commentary on the nature of photojournalism, exploring the morality of the gig. For instance, is it moral or justifiable to stand back and take pictures of people getting killed or intensely suffering without doing anything to assist? It may not be great, but if you're into realistic historical dramas/thrillers "The Bang Bang Club" is well worth checking out. It's similar in tone to 2003's "Stander," another South African film, and 2004's "Hotel Rwanda."The film runs 108 minutes and was shot in South Africa.GRADE: B

I lived in Johannesburg, working for the Independent Electoral Commission during this period, on a leave of absence from the print media. This is a true-to-life (if slightly glamorized) depiction of a group of fearless and dedicated photographers who probably ultimately defused a potential civil war by their heroic reporting.Glamorized in that they were a grungier bunch (see the photos in the credits at the end), who took far greater risks than portrayed in the movie. I dare say that the public would not have believed a more accurate story.Anyone who is interested in the history of Southern Africa should watch this. Nearly 20 years later, it still leaves me shaken.Also good to see South African actors in the movie, even if most of the leads were imports.

Just a Grandmother in the suburbs, but so glad I found this excellent movie offered free by my cable company. From what some of the other reviewers have said, it would be well worth my time to get the DVD (and a new TV)for some details I missed and the extras on the DVD. I'll be looking up the book too.And the music is awesome.I do agree the sex/romance content detracted somewhat from the credibility of the film: 2 of the women did not appear to have any other life or function than fawning over their men. But isn't that always the way?

It is possible that my score of 9 might be a bit inflated because I am headed to South Africa in a few weeks and the timeliness of this film made me more inclined to like it. However, despite my enjoyment at learning about recent South African history, I still can't see this film being rated any lower than 8--it's THAT good."The Bang Bang Club" is a movie that you might assume is mostly fictional. After all, the characters seem so incredibly brave as well as foolhardy. However, to my surprise, all of these folks are based on real people! It's the story about a small group of insane photojournalists--guys who frequently brave death by going into the battle zone of Soweto, South Africa during the very tumultuous time as apartheid was ending (the early 1990s). Within this township, folks from the Inkatha Freedom Party (made up of Zulus) waged battle with members of the African National Congress--as well as anyone who happened to get trapped in the middle. Apart from killing thousands, the battles also tended to strengthen the notion by many white South Africans that mob rule would occur if these blacks were given the right to vote and become full citizens. Fortunately, time has proved this to be wrong.Now these fights were NOT simple affairs involving spears or knives. While these were sometimes used, automatic weapons and the like were also employed--making the idea of folks going into the township to document the violence seem crazy. And, as the film progresses, you wonder how long these guys will be able to do this work until some of them start to die. But in spite of this danger, Pulitzer Prizes and great fame came to these men--as well as the moniker 'Bang Bang Club' due to their exploits.The film is very tense, well-paced, interesting and, in an odd way, quite enjoyable. My only complaint is that at times (especially at the beginning) the film tries too hard to 'sex up' the group--using way too many cover model sorts to make this seem very realistic. They are simply too hip and too beautiful to be believable. This is especially apparent if you watch the excellent 'making of' documentary on the DVD, as you see two of these folks in real life and they do NOT look like GQ models. You don't see their girlfriends and wives, but I cannot imagine they looked as sexy as the ladies in this one! But, underneath it all, the film still is quite compelling--and unnerving. Well worth seeing--even if you aren't planning on going to South Africa or Soweto (where I will go--but in a heavily sanitized tour bus!!).