Bonnie And Clyde
With its sweeping visuals, visceral violence, and mythic performances, there can be no doubt that Arthur Penn changed the American filmmaking landscape forever with this film. The gunfights, a new innovation for audiences forty years ago, are still as crisp and action-packed today as they were then. The technical aspects, especially the cinematography and editing, help keep the film entertaining and fun to watch. As for the script, I was amazed at how many of the humorously interactive “character moments” (save for Hackman’s awful milk joke) caused me to crack a genuine smile or laugh out loud instead of feeling contrived. If there are any drawbacks, it’s probably the incessant banjo music that plays during almost every fast car driving scene. It may have been a new idea in 1967, but has since become such a cliche that it causes the film to feel dated. In addition, the pace does slacken a bit when Hackman’s character is introduced, but picks up about ten minutes later. As for the actors, many of them saw their career peaks here: Beatty has never been better as the psychotic yet charismatic Clyde, reading his counterpart like a book and is always interesting to watch, yet his sexual hang-ups seem almost ironic given Beatty’s real life reputation; Dunaway as Bonnie is hot, sexy, and likable. She becomes the character you feel most for as she senses that death is approaching; Pollard as CW Moss steals scenes on a regular basis from his first appearance on, no surprise he was nominated for playing a character who is both goofy in personality yet absolutely fearless when shooting it out with the cops; Hackman brings some good-ol boy charm to the role of Clyde’s brother, even if the writing for his character is the weakest in the film; Denver (Uncle Jesse) Pyle is rather fearsome as the obsessed Texas Ranger pursuing the gang; Dub Taylor get some nice moments as CW’s dad; and Gene Wilder makes a nice debut as the undertaker who gets taken for a ride; only Estelle Parsons (improbably the only performer here to win an Oscar) starts to grate on the nerves as Hackman’s wife. In many ways a stereotypical uptight preacher’s daughter, her performance luckily gets bailed out by good writing late in the film. Regardless, it’s really something to watch one amazing scene after another: The farmer shooting holes in his house, the bank robberies, the trip to see Bonnie’s mother, and of course the iconic ending, as emblazoned indelibly on our cinematic consciousness as much as anything else put in front of a camera…
9/10