The Bang Bang Club

Sorry for the hiatus, being home for the Holidays when you're away 10 or 11 months out of the year can be a little time consuming. Now that I've had some well-needed family time, I'm back and the reviews will definitely be coming more often.

Now, to the reason for my writing; The Bang Bang Club. Directed by Steven Silver, this film, a true story, follows four combat photographers during the South African civil war in the 1990's leading to the eventual election of Nelson Mandela. The four friends became well known around the world for their photographs during the war, and two of them even went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for their work. The story is as much about their work during the wartime, as it is the way the war affected their minds and personal lives. From start to finish, a phenomenal story about real men during a terrible point in history. The storytelling, however, was one of the only things that I thoroughly enjoyed while watching this movie.

Don't misunderstand me when you hear me say that. This wasn't a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination, it just simply didn't do a bold story any justice. To start, the main protagonists were extremely weak for a movie that is supposed to portray so much pain and emotion. Silver (who also wrote the screenplay) didn't allow nearly enough time to develop the characters, much less any real relationships between them. It became difficult to know why they made the decisions that they did, because you felt like you didn't have any idea who they were. And many of them just jumped into these deep committed relationships with each other that seemed to come out of nowhere. For example, three of the photographers (played by Taylor Kitsch, Neels Van Jaarsveld, and Frank Rautenbach) were already comfortable with one another and had built relationships prior to the start of the story. But, when they brought on the fourth member (Ryan Phillipe), it proved to be a weird transition. They had the usual questions when he first arrived, and they seemed very skeptical of him. The strange part is that their attitudes toward him changed almost instantly. Without rhyme, reason, or any lapse of time, it was like he had known the others for years. It just didn't make it easy for me as a viewer to believe that their friendship was any kind of genuine. The film, running only about 100 minutes long, had plenty of room for more character and relational development. The story was strong enough to carry an extra fifteen minutes or so of extra conversations and interactions between the characters, in order to build a little background and really help us understand who these men really were.

To add to the problem with the characters, I felt that this was just a poor casting job when it came to the main roles. The movie takes place in South Africa, so cast actors who you are confident can convince an audience that they are from South Africa. Phillipe (Delaware), Kitsch (B.C. Canada), and Malin Akerman (Sweden) just seemed like they were poor choices for their roles. None of them seemed to bring a genuine accent to the table and, quite frankly, none of the three could hold their own during the most climactic scenes in the movie. Now, Akerman showed a flash of genius during a scene when she had to assist in photographing a dead South African child, but, with that exception, the three of them really brought the entire film down from what I believe really could've been an absolute masterpiece. Again, I'm not saying that any of the three had a dismal performance, I just don't think any of them really excelled or flourished in their role. That being said, the small supporting roles really gave this film some life in places where the leads tended to drop the ball. Most of the South African rebels and townspeople, that you only saw for a scene or two, really did a fantastic job at showing the pain caused by a civil war. In particular, there is one scene where a man is describing losing his son and wife to the militia, and his monologue just about brought tears to my eyes. He was so authentic, and so real, I genuinely believed him. Two thumbs up for the local casting for really stepping it up and salvaging a weak cast.

Like I said, I enjoyed this movie. Despite the weak acting and the mediocre directing, the movie still turned out to be pretty good. A compelling story paired with some solid cinematography really brought you in. I would've liked to seen it casted and directed better, but at least the movie wasn't ruined by the performances. I'd recommend it if the topic seems interesting to you and, if you happen to watch it, leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts on The Bang Bang Club.


The Bang Bang Club

Directed by:
Steven Silver

Written by:
Steven Sliver (Screenplay)
Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva (Book "The Bang Bang Club: Snapshots from a Hidden War")

Starring:
Ryan Phillipe
Taylor Kitsch
Malin Akerman
Neels Van Jaarsveld
Frank Rautenbach

Citizen Gangster

So, the first film I chose to watch for the FilmRoots Campaign is a Canadian film titled Citizen Gangster. The movie stars Scott Speedman as the real-life bank robber/media darling; Edwin Boyd. Boyd was a Canadian soldier during WWII and this story chronicles his life after coming home. It starts by showing his family, typical wife(Kelly Reilly) and kids type of happy home, and his job. He is a bus driver for the city of Toronto. After learning of the family's difficult financial situation, Boyd quits his job, fails at what you could try and call an acting career, and then decides to rob a bank in order to give his family what the military and bus service simply couldn't provide. Well, of course, it doesn't stop after one bank. After several robberies, Boyd is arrested. He meets three other men in jail and the gang escapes. Once out they get back to robbing banks but, this time, together. Boyd becomes known all across Canada and gains a sort of celebrity status. 

I saw the trailer for this movie a few months back and have been excited about it since, so I thought it would be a good one to start with. You may start watching and notice that it has a kind of Public Enemies style to it. If I could say one really negative thing about this film, it was it's timing. The fact that Public Enemies came so close before it. The fact that no matter how good Scott Speedman is in this movie, he's going to get compared to Johnny Depp's John Dillinger. This is a completely separate role, and I believe that Speedman takes on an equally, if not more challenging role than Depp. He shows inner turmoil so well in this film and I was very impressed. As an actor who is often undervalued, Speedman really shined. Yes, I do believe there were times when he really had a chance to break on to the next level and he often times failed to do so. But he was so good throughout the movie that it still made for a strong performance. What tended to really help him, was the strong acting of his screen wife, played by Kelly Reilly. There is a scene toward the climax of the movie when the couple finally breaks down. The passion and emotion between the two of them in that moment really brought the whole movie up a notch. Kudos to both of them, and to the rest of the cast as well. Definitely a solid job all around.

As good as the acting was, what I think really set this movie apart was the story behind it. now, don't watch halfway through this film and tell me that the story isn't strong. Be patient. It's a good story throughout, and with great dialogue too, but it was still lacking. There was something missing that could take it to the next level. For most of the movie i was really worried that it would never come. But thank the Lord it did. The ending to this movie really took it to another level. Not only were the final scenes filmed brilliantly, but the true story was one that could've never been written. It satisfied you and frustrated you at the same time. It was truly a wonderful and heartbreaking ending to a story that really had you rooting for Boyd. You knew he was a criminal but you also knew his motives and his character was set up 

well before the crime, so you were convinced he was a good man.

I loved watching Citizen Gangster, and I love that it was called exactly that. It showed in the title just what kind of man Eddy Boyd. He had to parts to his life; Citizen and Gangster. But, no matter where he was, he always knew which one of those to put first. I don't know if the filmmakers intended on the symbolism hidden in the title, but I truly hope they did. It made the movie that much better. 

All in all I thought that Citizen Gangster was a quality movie. It wasn't the best I've ever seen, but it was still one of the better ones I've seen recently. Speedman really took a lot of time and thought into building this character and it show with his performance. The cinematography was beautiful at times, but still left something to be desired. One thing I have yet to mention that stood out in this film was the music. A few scenes used modern day music in a 40's period piece and, normally I'm not a fan. But this music was chosen very carefully and really enhanced the scenes where it was used. So A+ for that choice. 

Overall I'd definitely say this was a good movie. Maybe a great movie, even. Could it have been better? Absolutely. But I was impressed with it as a whole, and I would definitely recommend it. It is easily worth the two hours I spent watching it. Please go watch it and comment back and let me know your thoughts!

 

Citizen Gangster

Directed by: Nathan Morlando

Written by: Nathan Morlando

Starring:

Scott Speedman

Kelly Reilly

Kevin Durand 

Joseph Cross

Welcome to the Campaign

I decided to take a journey today. The more I thought about it, I decided that it wasn't a journey, but a campaign. A campaign to bring people back to the roots of what made film an incredible industry in the first place. Not only to show that film was an incredible art form, but to show that that lost technique still exists today.

There is an overwhelming epidemic of poor judgement among theater goers and Netflix users in our world. We went from Casablanca and Gone With the Wind; to modern-day blockbusters like Twilight or Alex Cross. I'm not saying that all high budget blockbuster releases are bad movies. Far from it. Take a movie like The Dark Knight. Absolutely brilliant. But those gems are becoming fewer and fewer in our world. Being over come by cheap action and shitty rom-coms designed with no other purpose than to make a buck. That's not what film was designed for. This industry was created to be an artform. To create a living and lasting masterpiece that can control one's emotions for years to come. Actors stopped being actors and became speaking models. Writers were banished to the abyss while cheap scripts replaced them. Storytelling has become and ancient artform and acting a lost tool.

Films were made to be more. And I'm here, on this campaign, to prove that all hope is not lost. Yes, the classics will live forever and we should always cherish them. Performances like Brando's in On the Waterfront, and DeNiro's in Taxi Driver should never be forgotten or ignored. But, my mission is to find those gems that are still being produced today. I want to sift through all the makeup and the Hollywood and the bullshit, and discover film at it's truest form. I want to bring these works of art to light for everyone to enjoy. So we can all see that this culture, this true art form, is far from gone.

Now; to my mission. I'm going to watch a movie at least every other day, if not everyday. And, most of the time, it won't be something you've heard of. And, to add to the fun, I'm going to try to stick with movies on Netflix or in Redbox so that they are available and affordable for almost everyone to get ahold of. These wont be blockbusters, and they won't be classics. I'm going to start searching through the movies made in the last five years that people seem to overlook. Movies that are based around strong actors and compelling stories that no one has heard of because they didn't spend millions on advertising. Some of these movies may be awful, and I accept that I will run into that; it's the nature of the industry. But I'm going to find the recent films that stay true to the art. That attempt to bring the industry back to it's roots. Every film I watch, I'll write a review for you. My hope and prayer is that, when I find a movie worth your time, it will spread. That I will share it with you, and you will share it with your friends and family and so on. Hopefully, people will take what I have to say to heart, and see through the movies, to the films that are hidden underneath. We deserve better than what Hollywood is feeding us. And I'm making it my goal to see that our thematic needs are met. Art is still out there. Somewhere. Waiting to be found. So let's go find it. Take my hand,  and join me in the FilmRoots Campaign.