The name "Bang-Bang Club" was born out of an article published in the South African magazine Living. Originally named the Bang-Bang Paparazzi, it was changed to "Club" because the members felt the word paparazzi misrepresented their work. In the movie there is an interesting scene where the photojouralists get very upset and emotional when they are challenged as being over hyped paparazzi's, just with guns aimed at them. The 'Bang Bang' name comes from the culture itself; township residents spoke to the photographers about the "bang-bang" in reference to violence occurring within their communities, but more literally, "bang-bang" refers to the sound of gunfire and is a colloquial form of nomenclature used by conflict photographers.
Told from Greg Marinovich's (played by Ryan Phillippe) point-of-view, the story takes us from the young photographer's (he was only in his late 20's at this time) chance meeting with three experienced veterans to his worldwide recognition and brash recklessness. Ryan Phillippe does a great job playing a young, inexperienced, but highly competent and agressive player. Phillippee is perfect for this role and with his personality and charisma he is the right guy to play the newcomer. As the lead charaters he portrays a slightly bold and confident, yet his face reveals fresh fear as he embarks on neighborhoods other photographers would never dare enter.
This film allows you to see multiple perspectives, from the warriors and victims of the war, to the publishers who are trying to play between the government, social unrest and their reader, oh yes and of course the always looming pulitizer award possibilities hanging over their heads.
As a photographer myself, although not even close to the level of these guys, it is clear from the movie that the Bang Bangs are not just photographers, but are so much more. You realize pretty early in the film that the Bang Bangs, willingly chose a profession that may well be the world's most dangerous non-criminal vocation. Is the thrill-seeking, voyeuristic element of war-zone photojournalism balanced out by its allegedly noble aims, or by the fact that the people who practice it take on all the risks of soldiering without carrying weapons?
The most compelling scene is the reenactment of the famous Kevin Carter Vulture photograph. Though many of the photos coming out of this terrible place gave us insights into a culture and world we could only imagine on the big screen, the Vulture photo takes the story to another level.
The history of this photograph is touched on in the film, though to give you more details I have included a little more of the background on this award winning photograph, and the horrid outcome.
In March 1993, photographer Kevin Carter made a trip to southern Sudan, where he took now iconic photo of a vulture preying upon an emaciated Sudanese toddler near the village of Ayod. Carter said he waited about 20 minutes, hoping that the vulture would spread its wings. It didn’t. Carter snapped the haunting photograph and chased the vulture away. (The parents of the girl were busy taking food from the same UN plane Carter took to Ayod).
The photograph was sold to The New York Times where it appeared for the first time on March 26, 1993 as ‘metaphor for Africa’s despair’. Practically overnight hundreds of people contacted the newspaper to ask whether the child had survived, leading the newspaper to run an unusual special editor’s note saying the girl had enough strength to walk away from the vulture, but that her ultimate fate was unknown. Journalists in the Sudan were told not to touch the famine victims, because of the risk of transmitting disease, but Carter came under criticism for not helping the girl. ”The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of her suffering might just as well be a predator, another vulture on the scene,” read one editorial.
An excellent book has been transformed in to an excellent film, albeit a film that is harrowing to watch unfold.
