The Bang Bang Club: a band of brus
The Bang Bang Club is a film of halves: one of them a harrowing recreation of a turbulent period in South African history, the other an unconvincing "brumance". Muddling through the middle of these two genres, the film never really ignites the way one would expect given the explosiveness of its source material.
Based on Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva's book, The Bang-Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War, the film chronicles the experiences of four photographers working in the townships during the last years of apartheid. Though the Canadian-SA production clearly has noble intentions, many of the compromises it makes rob it of its power.
The Bang Bang Club is a technically accomplished film. SA-born director Steven Silver's experience as a documentary maker shines through in his visceral handheld camera work.
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Lance Harris is a freelance business and technology journalist, with 15 years of experience, who writes for [[www.TechCentral.co.za]]. He is a former managing editor of Computing SA. Email him at [[lanceha@gmail.com]] and follow him on Twitter at [[@lanceha]].