Here is the true life story of four adventure hungry conflict photojournalists working in South Africa during the country's violent transition to democracy in the early 1990s. Although they are very competitive with each other they band together in the Bang Bang Club.
Greg Marinovich (Ryan Phillippe) is the newest member of their group. He wins their respect by gaining access to an impenetrable gang of violent men and taking pictures of them beating a man to death they consider to be an enemy. Greg also breaks all the rules by dating an attractive photo editor (Malin Akerman) who is enchanted by his charms.
Kevin Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is the first to befriend this outsider but he has a higher allegiance to his all-consuming drug addiction. He wins a Pulitzer Prize for his photograph of a vulture sitting behind a sickened and bent-over Sudanese child who seems to be at death's door. When news of his award gets out, Carter is interviewed by the press. One reporter wants to know whether the photojournalist did anything to help the child. He says no.
Ken Oosterbroek (Frank Rautenbach), who seems to be the spokesman for the Bang Bang Club, dies covering a shootout just before the historic South African elections. Another one of their group eventually commits suicide.
Writer and director Steven Silver does succeed in reminding us that the demise of apartheid in South Africa was preceded by bloody battles between the ANC and Inkatha in black townships. This film also commends these photojournalists for trying to show the world what was really happening in the country. But the four leads here lack the idealism and the compassion of James Nachtwey, the American profiled in the extraordinary documentary War Photographer. These two character qualities are necessary to lend dignity to this perilous job that is so competitive and morally questionable.
Special features on the DVD include a featurette: "The Making-of The Bang Bang Club"; an audio commentary with director Steven Silver; deleted scenes; Kgosi Mongake interviews the cast and crew; and a slideshow.
