They're Young.
They're in Love.
They KILL People.
So said the tagline for Bonnie and Clyde. The romance is expected.
The violence is something the audience has to deal with.
Before Bonnie and Clyde, when a gun was used as a weapon in a
movie, the victim would clutch his chest, his eyes would widen, his body
would stiffen up, he might drop to his knees, and finally, he would keel
over and die. Seemingly, this ritual act would magically make the bullet
disappear.
Bonnie and Clyde doesn't have these dances of death, and yet
the violence is more noticeable. There's remorse, anxiety, sorrow, pain,
suffering...the violence is actually felt. And there are consequences.
This is noteworthy itself, but especially significant because of the following
cliché: it changed the way movies are seen and made.
Sure, Bonnie and Clyde itself was influenced by the French Wave
and at least in one small part, by Battleship Potemkin, but Bonnie
and Clyde went on to influence thousands of other movies—everything
from The Godfather to Pulp Fiction.
And like Battleship Potemkin, it remains a very familiar film,
just because it's inspired so many other films. (And been ripped off a
bajillion times...)
Despite this, Bonnie and Clyde is an unexpected film. It jumps
from romantic comedy, to action movie, to drama, to tragedy, back and
forth, in between, often in the same scene. Everything about the film
is atypical.
Clyde (Warren Beatty) isn't the typical leading man. He doesn't enjoy
killing and he actually listens to his partner in crime, Bonnie (Faye
Dunaway), who is very much his equal. In another movie, Bonnie would be
a standard damsel in distress, but in Bonnie and Clyde, she poses
with a gun in her hand and a cigar in her mouth. On their first Bank Robbery
attempt together, Bonnie stays cool and calm, while Clyde is visibly nervous.
Bonnie and Clyde isn't completely free of the conventional—the
only way Clyde catches Bonnie's lust is with his reckless attitude, and
more specifically, his phallic gun (and a matchstick that springs to action)—but
at least in this film Bonnie gets to use the gun. Besides, one might argue
that this symboligy has to be there, because of all things, Clyde is impotent.
(?!) He's got nothing else going for him.
Bonnie and Clyde refuses to subject itself to movie clichés,
which is ironic, because it sparks clichés like, "It was ahead
of its time."
In addition to its famous namesake couple, Bonnie and Clyde is
also famous for its strong supporting cast, which includes performances
by Gene Hackman (who has a variation of Dick Clark syndrome: he doesn't
age either, but has always looked old), Estelle Parsons (who plays one
of the most annoying characters in movie history), and Gene Wilder (a
very strange, small role).
But most famous of all, is the Final Death Scene.
This is where all the clichés spring out of mind.
There had been death scenes in movies before, and less predictable ones
(everyone knows, including Bonnie and Clyde, that they are going to die,
and probably deserve it). What makes the scene so shocking and powerful,
is that it shows that violence is, well, violent.
Historical records show that over 1000 rounds were fired at Bonnie and
Clyde.
They never drew their guns.
It leaves a lasting impression on the conscious. You deal with it.