I was excited for this week’s class. On Monday, there was a presentation by group two on a film called “Singing in the Rain” which was very good. Then I saw on the syllabus that we were watching a film called “Bonnie and Clyde”. This film was distributed by Warner Bros.- Seven Arts. It was released in 1967. The budget was $2.5 million. I was excited for this because this is the first film that I actually knew that we were going to watch. I’ve heard a lot about this movie and one day I decided to watch it. It didn’t hurt to watch it again in class. This film was about a small time crook name Clyde that tried to steal a car but then got caught by the owner’s daughter and they ended being together since then. The daughter was Bonnie. With both of them being together, their crime rates went up majorly from petty theft to bank robbery. Tensions came in when other members came into their gangs, which could have destroyed them all. Their was the driver, C.W., Clyde’s older brother Buck and his wife Blanche.
Bonnie and Clyde is considered a landmark film and was known as the first films of the New hollywood era, since it broke various cinematic taboos and was popular with the younger generation. After the success of this film, it prompted other filmmakers to be more open to show sex and violence in their films. The ending of the film became iconic as “one of the bloodiest death scenes in cinematic history”. This film received awards for Best Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography. It was the first 100 films selected for preservation in the United States.
I always thought of Bonnie and Clyde as relationship goals; except the crime part. They fell in love the very first time they saw each other and they been together ever since. Even though Clyde said he was no lover boy, Bonnie never left his side. I new when Blanche came around, things were going to get out of hands. I didn’t like her since the start. She was messing up everything up starting problems and all, especially with Bonnie. The part that got me was when Blanche was asking for her share when Clyde was splitting up the money, when she didn’t do anything. I don’t blame Bonnie for getting upset, I would too.
Also for this week, we had to read a chapter from the Introduction to World Cinema book. From chapter 20, it talks about Hollywood Revival and Anti-Myth Era: 1964-1976. This chapter was also talking about Bonnie and Clyde. “New cinematic trends from Europe helped Hollywood reemerged as a production center for commercial filmmaking”. These new films took another turn from the traditional genre films of Hollywood and started to explore the sexual and psychological conflicts of offbeat heroes. Another trend capitalized on the success of the New Independent Cinema and the experimental films of Andy Warhol and Stan Brakhage in New York. Their new films showed us new cinematic forms of elliptical construction and controversial depictions of sex,drugs and violence.
History of the Motion Picture 