Bonnie and Clyde

'This here's Miss Bonnie Parker. I'm Clyde Barrow. We rob banks'

Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1966) is one of the first films of the French New Wave which became known as the New Hollywood era of the 60s and 70s. It incorporates genres of gangster, comedy, love, sex and violence. Censorship was loosened during this era allowing for more graphic details of sex and violence on screen.




Bonnie and Clyde broke many conventions and started the trend of filmmakers being more open with sex and violence. The film was released in 1966 however it was critically shamed and re-released in 1968, and led to the winning of many academy awards.

The film is based in the true story of Bonnie and Clyde who were two bank robbers of the united States during the Great Depression. The graphic detail of the violent scenes with blood and gun shots is counteracted with scenes of humor and laughter so as to not fully horrify the audience. The realism of the riot scenes is further portrayed with use of on location sets. This also allows us to engage with the characters as they are real people who have got themselves into a situation they can not get out of and we feel upset when they eventually are killed. When they are finally shot their last moment of looking at each other makes the audience feel sorry for the characters who really did want the saga to end, we want them to escape. the use of slow motion here dramatizes the event.

I really enjoyed the costuming in the film. Although set in the 1920's you can see the 1960's feel coming through in the costuming which is really visually pleasing. Attention to detail is not really an issue if you want to be pedantic ie the clothing always looks brand new and are never broken down to seem old and worn (Bucks overalls as he works in a gas station need to be more dirty). Continuity of Bonnie's hair is pretty bad, however they are shot in quite windy and high movement scenes it would be hard to keep her hair the same.

Bonnie and Clyde is full of action and violence that is balanced nicely with romance and comedy. It is a fun yet serious film that has influenced other films of the New Hollywood era and into contemporary film such as Oliver Stones 'Natural born Killers'.