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Bang

1997, Movie, R, 98 mins

Bang: Review

How's this for a provocative setup? Take one marginalized Angeleno -- a homeless, unemployed Asian-American woman will do -- deck her out in full LAPD drag, then set her down on the mean streets of Los Angeles. How will she be perceived? How will she perceive herself? It's the interesting conceit behind this microbudget film from writer-director Ash, but the end results are decidedly mixed. After a morning of relentless victimization -- first at the hands of an abusive landlord, then on the casting couch of a sleazy Hollywood "producer" -- an unnamed young actress (Darling Narita) is given the rare opportunity to turn the tables. In fit of anger, an unhinged fellow indigent (played to the hilt by an unnervingly wired Peter Greene) trashes the producer's property, and a motorcycle cop is quick to respond to the ruckus. He pursues the actress into the nearby woods, but rather than comply with his demand for oral sex, she grabs his gun, his uniform and his chopper, then spends the rest of the afternoon impersonating one of L.A.'s finest. What begins as a thrilling charade soon takes an unexpectedly violent turn as the actress learns that not everyone loves the boys -- or girls -- in blue. The power of the badge is a fascinating subject, and Ash has many thoughts on the matter. So many, in fact, that once he's got his heroine into uniform, he's not quite sure just where to take this intriguing masquerade. How is authority represented? Who respects it, who doesn't, and why? Do the police enforce the law by working above it? The film wants to pose all of these questions and more (Ash throws issues of race and gender into an already complex mix), even if it means never satisfactorily answering any of them. leave a comment --Ken Fox