BANG

What would it be like to spend the day as a good Samaritan policewoman in Los Angeles? BANG attempts to answer the question in a disturbing movie which shocks the nameless, naïve, Asian-American woman actress (played by Darling Narita) into realizing the horrors of LA street life.

At the beginning of the movie, the nameless actress is locked out of her apartment and goes to a producer’s office for an audition, only to have him callously proposition her. When she refuses his advances, he blocks her chances to work on the film “because there are plenty of other young women in LA.” She leaves and finds a policeman, Officer Rattler (Michael Newland), who sexually assaults her, then drops his pants and threatens her with jail if she refuses to give him oral sex. She kneels down, but then turns tables on him when he is incapacitated with his pants down, by taking his gun and handcuffing him to a tree. She rides off in his uniform, on his motorcycle, relishing her new-found power as the policewoman’s blue uniform alters peoples’ reactions to her.

The actress throws the cop’s money to poor children in the ghetto, drives through areas of town rarely frequented by cops and encourages a young couple who are copulating, rather than arresting them for indecent exposure. Thus, the actress enjoys a field day playing a goodhearted, though misguided policewoman. Regrettably, BANG goes beyond depicting the naïve young actress’ simple fantasy to depicting her response to the horrors of the evil found on the streets of Los Angeles.

She encounters a drug deal gone bad and tries to reform the African American dealer, but he just wants her to go away, and when she refuses, he beats her. Shaken, she is startled and upset by another chilling encounter in which she is forced to use a gun and tries to comfort herself by the side of the road, only to encounter a young prostitute in the course of business. The actress-cop runs off the john who has engage the prostitute and tries to talk to the young woman, but both john and young woman beat her, leaving her bereft. She rides off in a rage, leaving a greater mess behind her than the one she found in the first place.

BANG is attempts to portray a good Samaritan who tries to right the wrongs of society, only to be overwhelmed by them and ultimately scarred forever. Darling Narita competently portrays the actress, but the directing and cinematography are shaky, leaving an uneven feeling to most of the film. Peter Green plays a homeless man who drifts in and out of the actress’ life, but some of his acting is over the top. The uneven directing and performances lend themselves to the overall statement of the film: underneath a calm exterior lie destruction, horror and anarchy, both in the city of Los Angeles and in the human soul.