We Rob Banks

#42-- Bonnie and Clyde

Sometimes I wonder if our society has a strange obsession with crime and criminals, especially when it comes to organized crime and/or the Mafia. Of course I am on the fence with this observation because who doesn’t like a good crime or Mafia film. Films like this that I find the most interesting is movies that are based on actual people. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not about romanticizing their stories by any means, but I am intrigued to learn why some of these people did what they did. I’m not entirely sure that is what I got from #42 on the American Film Institute’s 100Year…100 Movies list, a film about a pair of the most notorious thieves during the 1930s. I present to you Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde.

Bonnie and Clyde is a very broad version of the two’s crime story. Some of the facts of their true story have been mashed together and twisted to fit this film. Surely I know that most true crime films do this to make the film more exciting and profitable, but from what I gather this film goes to harsh extreme, even going as far as challenging Clyde Barrow’s (Warren Beatty Bugsy) sexuality. What the film does stay true to is that the pair were thieves during the 1930s, they were in love, and they did pretty much what they wanted and not caring who they hurt (or killed) along the way.

Now I am going to go out on a limb and firstly say that I respect all film critics past and present. I also very much respect the American Film Institute and their quest to preserve and education everyone on film and the filmmaking process. However, I really don’t understand why Bonnie and Clyde is even in conversations about “greatest movies ever” or why it is even on this list. I am not completely sure why, but for some reason I found this film kind of offensive. Director Arthur Penn, Beatty, and the screenwriters (David Newman and Robert Benton) basically decided to portray Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway Chinatown), Clyde Barrow, and their ‘gang’ as ignorant hicks out just trying to have a good time. This point was accented by the banjo musical score that would play while they were robbing a bank and/or trying to escape from the police. There is no real thought into their methods or reason for them going on their crime spree. The feeling the filmmakers give is that they did what they did because they could.

The only redeeming quality about this film is Dunaway and her portrayal of Bonnie. Dunaway captures the ‘small town girl looking for excitement’ aspect of Bonnie Parker and gives off this almost sociopathic quality of the character. I’m sorry to say that I just found the rest of the cast kind of annoying. I’m not sure why Beatty tried to mess with Clyde’s sexuality or hinted at a deep rooted problem with his sex life, but I just didn’t see the point. I also found Estelle Parsons (Roseanne) to be quite irritating as well. Now I have read that the script for this film didn’t call for Parsons take on Blanche Barrow, Clyde’s sister-in-law, to be so helpless though the way Penn finalized the movie Blanche screams and hollers through most of the movie.

As I mentioned, I do respect the AFI and my peers’ opinions so I can understand the significance of this film and the start of harsh violence in film. Bonnie and Clyde was one of the first films to depict sex and violence on screen like it did leading the way to other films to take it further. I give kudos to Penn for taking a chance and giving a more realistic view of these robbers, but I also have to wonder if this is the film we must blame for the gratuitous violence and sex in our mainstream media.

I’m just so annoyed at this moment because I wonder how this film even made it on this list. I think I am more perplexed with this film than I was with Sound of Music. At least with Music we can go to the classic musical number/songs that will stay the test of time. This film just brought violence to the mainstream in a big way. If you are like me and would like to watch every film on this list, then you must push through this. However, if you are a casual watcher, then I would just skip this and watch Scarface or even Michael Mann’s Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp. At least it will give you a better vision of what a criminal in the 30s was all about.

The Verdict: Shouldn’t Be On List.