¶ … crime dramas of cinematic history, Arthur Penn's 1967 Bonnie and Clyde exhibits many hallmarks of accomplished filmmaking. Mainstay elements like character development, pacing, and screenwriting combine with the subtler aspects of moviemaking like mis-en-scene, cinematography, and sound editing. Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker and Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow fulfill their most iconic roles. The film is based on the outlandish but true story of a heterosexual bank robber couple, and holds nothing back when it comes to violence or immorality. As such, the film is perfectly situated and representative of the historical and cultural context of 1960s America. Because of its moral ambiguity, Bonnie and Clyde remains one of the most classic and enduring films in Hollywood history.
Sexual tension between the two titular protagonists is well developed in Bonnie and Clyde. The tension is achieved by the actors' performances, writing, and direction. Bonnie is scripted as a strong, confident person who defies gender stereotypes, roles, and norms. Gone are the gender roles of the 1950s and earlier, in which women were idealized as homemakers. Here, Bonnie serves in a position of self-determination as she chooses an alternative lifestyle and independent financial success. She partners with Clyde not because she wants a man to take care of her, but because she wants to remain independent of the patriarchal and capitalist system. As Bonnie and Clyde fall in love, the audience experiences catharsis because the film builds up to their tragic union. The writers and filmmakers also depict Clyde as having progressive gender norms, given the way he comes to trust Bonnie as his partner in crime.
When they first meet, the filmmakers capture the chemistry between the couple using symbolism as well as relying on clever dialogue and the actors' talents. Both Bonnie and Clyde are confident individuals; neither one is depicted as chasing the other, or as being submissive in any way. Clyde suggests to Bonnie that he chopped off his toes to get off work duty, and her interest is piqued. Clearly, Bonnie is attracted to danger. Both she and Clyde share a mutual mistrust of authority and established social institutions. Bonnie wants to know what armed robbery is like, and when she asks, she sucks on a bottle of coke suggestively. The innuendo is apparent, and the filmmakers do well to establish the relationship between Bonnie and Clyde as being one that is electrifying and treacherous.
In one scene, they meet C.J. Moss, who becomes part of their bank robbing team. Moss services the car, while Clyde goes inside and Bonnie takes charge of the situation. Her deft ability of handling tricky situations shows that she is not serving a stereotypically subordinate role, but rather, a leadership position. Bonnie remains seated in the driver's seat of the car: a symbolic position. Clyde remains on the periphery, also symbolic of the reversal of gender roles. The director allows Bonnie to remain in the center of the action, even while the perspective of the scene shifts from her to C.J. Moss, to Clyde. For example, one shot's mis-en-scene depicts three distinct layers, with C.J. In the foreground, Clyde in the background by the gas station store. Bonnie turns meek C.J. into her prey, luring him with her sexual allure and her temptation to leave behind his gas station life to pursue the more romantic life of an outlaw. As the car is huge, so too looms Bonnie's personality. She unabashedly tells C.J. that the car is a "stolen" four-cylinder Ford coupe, just a few minutes before Bonnie boldly introduces herself to C.J. Moss with the phrase, "we rob banks."
This same scene develops the moral ambiguity that is a necessary underpinning of the movie. After telling C.J. Moss they rob banks, Bonnie and Clyde continue...
That they were recognized as "America's most famous outlaws" ("Bonnie Parker Biography") would have been enough to encourage them to continue for the sake of popularity. But Bonnie and Clyde did not commit their crimes for psychological reasons alone. Greed, and the desire for wealth, led them to commit their crimes for financial reasons as well. Bonnie's poetry seems to communicate this as well. In her "The Story of Suicide
Bonnie and Clyde Through its film design, Bonnie and Clyde is able to capture a relatively truthful dramatization of Bonnie and Clyde's final journey together. Despite its many historical inaccuracies, the film is able to capture the essence of the Great Depression through the narrative and mise-en-scene. Bonnie and Clyde focuses mostly on the fictionalized relationship that develops between the titular characters and the various ups-and-downs that the couple underwent
Bonnie and Clyde What accounts for the persistence of the legend of Bonnie and Clyde? For two not particularly distinguished criminals from a bygone era in American history, the staying power in the collective consciousness of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker is nothing short of remarkable. In part, the media has played a substantial role, with the epochal 1967 Arthur Penn film having been succeeded in 2013 by a television miniseries
Romeo and Juliet defy their parents to marry one another. Romeo even defies the law of the land, to return to Juliet, and Juliet defies her father's will when he tells her to marry Paris. The Italian couple's loyalty to one another, to the passions they feel overrides family, country, and kin. Bonnie and Clyde's devotion to one another was similarly unswerving: "It is said that Bonnie never killed anyone....she
Through the characters of Bonnie and Clyde, the filmmakers present and critique the social values of 1930s America. Issues related to anti-trust legislation and monopolies were important at this time, especially as they related to the stock market crash and the Great Depression. It is against this bleak economic and social backdrop that Bonnie and Clyde commit their crimes. The anti-establishment worldview of the title characters also corresponds with 1930s
Blade Runner directed in 1982 by Ridley Scott, is a film which examines the nature of reality, something that it plays with very heavily using factors like visuals and memory design. The film features Deckard, the protagonist who hunts replicants. However, over time, it becomes clear that Deckard is not too different from those he hunts (Reagle, 1996). "The replicants rely on photographs and implanted memories to bolster their nascent
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