Every time I watch "Bonnie and Clyde" I'm convinced that this time it won't shock me. And every time I'm proved wrong.
"Bonnie and Clyde" was one of the first American movies to acknowledge that Americans are turned on by violence. People blame this movie for ushering in the increasingly graphic content of movies that in the present day makes it seem as if nothing is off limits. But this is wishful thinking on the part of people who don't want to admit that America has been a violent culture from day one. "Bonnie and Clyde" was a huge hit, but it's because it gave people what they wanted, not because it introduced them to something they'd never thought of before. At least in this film, you see what happens when a bullet tears through human flesh -- I can't say the same for the countless morale-boosting WWII films from the 1940s or the John Wayne westerns that are so beloved by conservative America.
In the world of "Bonnie and Clyde," sex and violence are extensions of the same impulse. Clyde can't get one "gun" to work, so he uses another. Bonnie is as restless as a cat in heat -- but Clyde won't scratch her itch, so she finds other ways of releasing tension. It's a movie that makes us identify with the killers. They're gorgeous and glamorous, but they're also vulnerable. They're Robin Hoods, justifying their crime by stealing from the rich and giving to the poor; but they're also naive in thinking that when they steal money from banks they're not also stealing from the poor rural people who use those banks. Authority figures aren't seen much in the film, but when they are, they're sadistic. Sheriff Hamer is a stony, craggy mass in comparison to the movie-star killers, and C.W. Moss's dad, who's finally the one to turn Bonnie and Clyde in, does what is right morally, but that's overshadowed by the fact that all we see him do is beat C.W. and call him white trash. It's no wonder this half-wit kid ran away with the Barrow gang in the first place. We know there's only one possible ending to the movie, yet by the time it comes, we find ourselves half hoping that Bonnie and Clyde can start over and make the American dream a reality. We've forgotten that they've killed, many times, in cold blood.
The most haunting scene in the film is the one in which Bonnie visits her mother for one last time, and her mom tells her what the audience has known all along but hasn't consciously acknowledged until that point: "You try to live within three miles of me, and you won't live long honey. You best keep runnin'." It's one of the most chilling and effective moments I've ever seen in a movie.
Grade: A+
"Bonnie and Clyde" was one of the first American movies to acknowledge that Americans are turned on by violence. People blame this movie for ushering in the increasingly graphic content of movies that in the present day makes it seem as if nothing is off limits. But this is wishful thinking on the part of people who don't want to admit that America has been a violent culture from day one. "Bonnie and Clyde" was a huge hit, but it's because it gave people what they wanted, not because it introduced them to something they'd never thought of before. At least in this film, you see what happens when a bullet tears through human flesh -- I can't say the same for the countless morale-boosting WWII films from the 1940s or the John Wayne westerns that are so beloved by conservative America.
In the world of "Bonnie and Clyde," sex and violence are extensions of the same impulse. Clyde can't get one "gun" to work, so he uses another. Bonnie is as restless as a cat in heat -- but Clyde won't scratch her itch, so she finds other ways of releasing tension. It's a movie that makes us identify with the killers. They're gorgeous and glamorous, but they're also vulnerable. They're Robin Hoods, justifying their crime by stealing from the rich and giving to the poor; but they're also naive in thinking that when they steal money from banks they're not also stealing from the poor rural people who use those banks. Authority figures aren't seen much in the film, but when they are, they're sadistic. Sheriff Hamer is a stony, craggy mass in comparison to the movie-star killers, and C.W. Moss's dad, who's finally the one to turn Bonnie and Clyde in, does what is right morally, but that's overshadowed by the fact that all we see him do is beat C.W. and call him white trash. It's no wonder this half-wit kid ran away with the Barrow gang in the first place. We know there's only one possible ending to the movie, yet by the time it comes, we find ourselves half hoping that Bonnie and Clyde can start over and make the American dream a reality. We've forgotten that they've killed, many times, in cold blood.
The most haunting scene in the film is the one in which Bonnie visits her mother for one last time, and her mom tells her what the audience has known all along but hasn't consciously acknowledged until that point: "You try to live within three miles of me, and you won't live long honey. You best keep runnin'." It's one of the most chilling and effective moments I've ever seen in a movie.
Grade: A+