Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
By: Arthur Penn (director), David Newman, Robert Benton (writers)
Starring: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons
A somewhat romantized account of the career of the notoriously violent bank robbing couple and their gang.
To fully appreciate Bonnie and Clyde, I think you have to understand its importance to American cinema. It’s the seminal film in the American New Wave movement that emerged following the shift to the film ratings system from the old Hollywood production code. It essentially obliterated the milk and cookies approach that had been limiting filmmakers for decades (If you’re interested in knowing more about the history around the film, Wikipedia has a pretty good quick and dirty article here). This is important to understand because as modern movie viewers, much of what made Bonnie and Clyde innovative—Realism, violence, overt sexuality—we are now completely inured to.
I think the real brilliance to this movie is how it never quite lets you get comfortable with it, as a viewer. The choppy and listless editing would be a detriment to a more polished story but is used to great effect here. The end result is raw and vaguely discomfiting, and while that doesn’t always make it the easiest film to watch, it nonetheless makes it compelling and dynamic. The end is abrupt, horrifying and quite upsetting, but it’s guaranteed you won’t forget it.
