TIFF Review: The Bang Bang Club

The Bang Bang Club presents a series of snapshots assembled in the final bloody days of South African apartheid. As colourful and lively as it is discomfiting, The Bang Bang Club follows the real-life exploits of four photographers (Greg Marinovich, Kevin Carter, Ken Oosterbroek and Joao Silva) as they document the violence and strife around them.

Ryan Phillipe offers a measured performance as newcomer photog Greg Marinovich, while Taylor Kitsch is pure charisma as his shutter-buddy, Kevin Carter. Also starring Torontonian Malin Akerman as the photo editor who ensures their daring pictures are published, The Bang Bang Club is both a tribute to the bravery and artistry of the group's work and a deliberation on the photographer’s role in conflict. It’s also a raucous history lesson and an uncomfortable, but ultimately meaningful film set to a killer soundtrack.

The Bang Bang Club poses the question: what is the photographer’s responsibility when documenting tragedy? Ultimately the film leaves it viewers to find their own answers, ensuring the attempt will be as difficult and morally ambiguous for us as it is for its protagonists. Highly recommended. 

TIFF Review: Bad Faith

“I don’t know whether I’m slowly waking up or slowly falling asleep”, says Mona (Sonja Richter) the protagonist of Bad Faith, and viewers of this surreal, dreamlike thriller from Swedish director Kristian Petri, may find themselves feeling the same.

In the aftermath of a murder, Mona encounters the bloodied victim, becoming obsessed with finding his killer. What follows is a strange journey, as she becomes observer, stalker, vigilante and victim of her own imagination. Surrounded by snoopy neighbours, and comforted by a mysterious new friend, Mona begins questioning her own reality while relentlessly pursuing the killer.

As dark and cold as Swedish winter, Bad Faith is a beautifully composed, eerie film whose central questions—Who is Mona? What does she want?— linger long after it’s over.