The Bang Bang Club

I just watched the Bang Bang Club,,what a powerful movie.

Has anyone else seen it?

i saw a documentary on it, and a few clips from the movie. it's insane what they did/do. i also found out that james nachtwey was with them at times. i can't wait to see the movie.

Well worth watching from both a photographer's view and as a political science view.

Remember the image by Kevin Carter that ran on the front page of Times magazine, which he was awarded a Pulitzer for? I won't say any more.

Very good movie.

Agreed with all of the above. Very good movie. Makes me want to pick up a couple of older nikon slr's

BryantFC wrote in post #13162150
Agreed with all of the above. Very good movie. Makes me want to pick up a couple of older nikon slr's

Yeah,, I noticed a very old Nikkomat being used by Greg Marinovich. He also used a Nikon FE2 (I still have a FE2)..Joao Silva used a Nikon F2 with MD-2 motordrive (I once had that set up). Kevin Carter was using a Leica M series early in the movie.

I saw it and found it interesting but not great. The scene where the girlfriend freaks out and can't help her boyfriend get the shot annoyed the heck outta me. I mean, she's supposed to be a picture editor! She should understand the power of photography and how documenting the violence of South Africa would help, maybe, end it.

Thanks for the tip. Never even heard of the movie. Just looked it up on IMDB. Looks interesting.

**** movie but a good book. Then again I am now called Kev by classmates. (Leica, long hair and usually drugged.)

I thought it was a great movie. A bit disturbing to be able to be so detached though.

Gotta love this review, though:

"The irony of a movie about photography, directed by someone who's apparently never heard of a TRIPOD! There's way too much of this idiotic trend in film making of this intentional hand held "effect" by continually moving the camera around, up and down, zoom in-out, shake, shake shake.

It's sad to see this tawdry television fad finding its way into big screen movies. I would have really liked to see this film but I couldn't even finish the movie. It gave me a headache.

Too bad, I suspect it had subject content that I would have found to be very interesting. I certainly hope this camera shake fad doesn't go much further. It's ruining a number of otherwise tolerable and some rather good scripts."

I'm wondering if it's as bad as this reviewer states. It's a pet peeve I share with him - a film/video-making technique used in an attempt to make the piece look "cool" which is infantile at best.

flowrider wrote in post #13624859
I thought it was a great movie. A bit disturbing to be able to be so detached though.

But you've got to be detached in order to do the job. Think about it: Kevin Carter's photo did more for public awareness of starvation in Africa than all the articles ever written. Photos like that cause folks to lobby for more action, and bring more aid to starving regions. If he had broken down during the shoot (yeah. I know. He broke down later) he wouldn't have been able to take the picture and more aid would not have arrived. I'm sure conflict photographers feel compassion but they should use their God given skill to help folks. And many do.

It's sad but true that many folks need to be detached or they can't help. Oncologists need to be detached to emotionally survive and help their patients. Veterinarians need to be detached to help animals when they are sick. It's good to feel compassion but not to the point where you can't function.

Just my .02.

That's why I hated District 9, but no one else agreed with me.
EDIT: The camera shake

Rainyday wrote in post #13626045
But you've got to be detached in order to do the job. Think about it: Kevin Carter's photo did more for public awareness of starvation in Africa than all the articles ever written. Photos like that cause folks to lobby for more action, and bring more aid to starving regions. If he had broken down during the shoot (yeah. I know. He broke down later) he wouldn't have been able to take the picture and more aid would not have arrived. I'm sure conflict photographers feel compassion but they should use their God given skill to help folks. And many do.

It's sad but true that many folks need to be detached or they can't help. Oncologists need to be detached to emotionally survive and help their patients. Veterinarians need to be detached to help animals when they are sick. It's good to feel compassion but not to the point where you can't function.

Just my .02.

It's strange, but when I shot off the City Desk for newspapers, I never had to "try" to detach myself. It happened automatically. Whenever I put my eyes to the viewfinder, it was almost like I was observing remotely. Kind of disturbing, actually. In the back of your mind you know there's chaos and death only 10 feet in front of you, but you really don't feel emotional about it.

Shadow on the Door wrote in post #13626046
That's why I hated District 9, but no one else agreed with me.
EDIT: The camera shake

Agree. It's a lame and infantile technique that attempts to reach a younger demographic by looking "cool." Funny thing is, tho, that many in that younger demographic don't like it either.

Odd, I watched this movie today and enjoyed it!