One of the more admirable qualities of “Bonnie and Clyde” is the fact that it finds its own unique way to convey the fact that we are dealing with real people. In the case of this film it is through the use of old-timey photos, not unlike the montage in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” The photos appear over the opening credits as a way to sort of visually acquaint us with the main characters, because there will not be much delving done into their lives pre-each other. After our little virtual photo album we are introduced to Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway). Sulkily hanging out in her bedroom, she seems to be the embodiment of teenage angst, including gripping her iron bedrails like prison bars.
Given her implied “trapping” in her home life, it is no surprise (but still cheesily absurd) when she strikes up a flirtatious conversation with Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) a shady criminal she sees trying to steal her mom’s car. Within a matter of minutes (not just cinematic minutes but seemingly real-time ones) Clyde robs a shop and steals a car with Bonnie and, just like that, with no explanation, no thought process and motivation other than boredom and the fact that it is the Great Depression, Bonnie decides to get in the car with Clyde and set off on a life on the wrong side of the law.
A relatively groundbreaking concept explored in this movie is the very ahead-of-its-time notion of the woman being the sexual aggressor. Buzzing off the high of their first crime together, Bonnie forces herself on Clyde who essentially shoots her down. There is much ambiguity as to the reasons for his apprehension, impotence is implied several times as well as the distinct possibility that Clyde may be gay, especially given his all-too-desperate-sounding need to point out that he isn’t.
Despite Clyde’s promises of fortune and prestige, they find themselves squatting in a bank-foreclosed house. In an effort to make the horrendously immature main characters appear sympathetic and likeable, Clyde allows the former owner of the house to symbolically shoot the (remaining) windows out of the house in hopes that it will somehow ease the pain of the foreclosure. This scene isn’t particularly well done, and harkens back far too much to every other Great Depression film (the displaced farm family, the old jalopy, the urchin-like children etc)but it is important in establishing the film’s Robin Hood-esque modus operandi.
Along the way, Bonnie and Clyde pick up a dim-witted mechanic C.W. Moss who becomes their getaway driver and friend. Their lives soon revolve around small-time robberies, motels and fleeing the law. The gang continues to expand with the addition of Clyde’s brother Buck (Gene Hackman) and his wife Blanche, who is the classic “stick in the mud” character. The necessity for their inclusion in the group seems out of place and is never really explored beyond the fact that Buck is a convict too, which of course instantly translates into a brash willingness to kill for money, particularly considering the relatively small potatoes their heists have been pulling in, splitting the money 5 ways seems nearly pointless. There are some artistic devices employed as they hole up in a second-story motel and Bonnie stares out the window in the same brooding manner she does in the film’s opening- implying that she still hasn’t found the satisfaction she thought she would from her exciting life of crime, and that she is still the same trapped girl she was back home.
The addition of Buck and Blanche also causes Bonnie and Clyde to be more reckless and brazen in their endeavors. They begin circulating pictures of themselves and sending poems detailing (and exaggerating) their exploits to the media. This cocky exhibitionist behavior sets the stage for what will eventually be a fatal flaw when they are captured by a Texas Ranger. At mostly Bonnie’s urging, they photograph themselves with the Ranger in several degrading poses before cuffing him, putting him in a canoe and allow him to float away alive.
“If a policeman is killed in Dallas and they have no clue to guide/ If they can't find a fiend they just wipe their slate clean/And hang it on Bonnie and Clyde” (Bonnie Parker, “Bonnie and Clyde”)
Bonnie soon begins to develop a premonition about her own death (in a rare example of a film actually pointing out its foreshadowing) after a near-death shootout with the police and a chance carjacking of an undertaker. She goes back home to see her mother for what is very clearly the last time. Her elderly mother (though Bonnie is supposed to be young?) discourages the couple from settling down and living normal lives and basically tells them to keep running because death and the law are on their tails. Though Clyde expresses an ambition to make an honest living, his lack of a work ethic is evident given his career choice and earlier confession that he mangled his foot with an axe to get out of work detail when he was imprisoned. Because of the relative hopelessness of their situation, they almost begrudgingly resume their way of life.
In a very artistic manner, death as well as the law, begins to close in on Bonnie and Clyde. One particularly gory shootout leads to Blanche having an eye shot out and Buck being killed after taking a bullet directly in the face. Everyone in the gang except for C.W. winds up with some kind of injury and, in a scene that again exploits the clichés of the Depression-era films, they are welcomed as heroes when they stop at a Hooverville on their way to C.W.’s father’s house. Presumably this is because they are seen as the ally given their propensity to rob banks, there is also an unsatisfyingly corny feeling that it may be because word of their kindness has spread to the rest of the squatters from the man whose home they were squatting in earlier.
A not-so-elaborate plan involving the Texas Ranger they previously humiliated and a pre-arranged ambush with the help of C.W.’s father ultimately leads to their undoing. Seconds before the law opens fire on an (of course) unarmed Bonnie and Clyde, a flock of birds ominously flies from a row of bushes (birds appear as a recurring theme in the film; first with Bonnie’s “caged bird” depiction in the first scene, later with her canary yellow outfit and finally this scene with the implied “flying away” of the birds possibly being used to symbolize an ascent to Heaven or just that Bonnie’s desire for freedom ends up being her demise). As they both realize what is about to happen, jump-cut close ups of Bonnie and Clyde trade off back and forth in split-second shots clearly meant to be reminiscent of rapid-fire and then they are savagely machine-gunned down. Bonnie’s death (in keeping with the earlier foreshadowing) is particularly grisly as she is literally covered from head-to-toe in bullet wounds.
There are some well-intended directorial techniques in “Bonnie and Clyde” as well as some risqué (even by today’s standards) double-entendres likening penises to pistols, but at the end of the day there are just too many 60’s elements that make this movie feel very dated- the bright colors, the James Bond-like dialogue, the mod-style hipster clothes etc. I also take a lot of issue with the shallowness of the characters. It seems like content was substituted for shock value- no doubt that progressive filmmaking attitude is ironically the reason it is on this list in the first place.
Some movies age gracefully. This one, on the other hand, has aged like Faye Dunaway herself…
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