Bonnie & Clyde is a film that attempts to bring America’s favorite crime committing duo to the big screen, and perhaps cast the legendary couple in a different light than ever before. Everyone has heard of the name, but few in today’s times really have a concept of the mayhem and violence that followed Bonnie & Clyde wherever the two and their gang went. At some moments this film watches like a romantic comedy, but it becomes clear very quickly that they are not a couple of typical lovebirds. There are some significant differences in the real-life narrative of Bonnie & Clyde and the one that the filmmakers developed, and I think these discrepancies were done with specific intent. Not only does this film serve as a secondary source of the actual …show more content…
Bonnie & Clyde crime spree and the era that followed the Great Depression, but it can also be considered a primary source of the 1960s if you watch it in context. Overall, the film did a fairly decent job portraying Bonnie & Clyde, as well as the rest of the gang.
The cast has great chemistry and the screenplay seems like a natural progression of events. However, it is worth noting the things that were off in the film based on what history tells us. For starters, Frank Hamer was portrayed much differently from we know about the actual Frank Hamer. In fact, the real Frank Hamer’s widow and son actually sued Warner Brothers in 1968 for defamation because she did not approve of his character in the film. They pressed the issue so much that they were eventually awarded an out-of-court settlement in 1971 from the movie producers so that they both would stop pursuing the …show more content…
charges. In the film, Frank Hamer is portrayed as a vengeful Texas Ranger who is captured and humiliated by Bonnie & Clyde and the gang, but this does not reflect real events. In reality, Hamer had already been a legendary Texas Ranger long before he crossed paths with the gang, and was actually semi-retired when his fellow law enforcement officials coaxed him into pursing the outlaws. Frank was certainly never captured by the gang, he never even made physical contact with the bunch until the moment him and his posse ambushed and killed Bonnie & Clyde in 1934. It is not hard to understand why the family of Frank Hamer was so displeased with how he was represented.
In the film, it seems like the couple gets the best of Hamer and outwit him until they meet their demise, but given the real story, the producers likely made these adaptations for added dramatic effect. Bonnie & Clyde are the anti-heroes that the audience cannot help but admire at least somewhat. Every hero needs a villain in cinema, even though Hamer’s character was a Texas Ranger trying bring criminals to justice, he is still the film’s antagonist. By changing the story so that Hamer was kidnapped, they made the narrative more personal and set up his character to have a real vendetta against the couple. One thing that the film tries to hint at is Clyde’s known problems dealing with intimacy. While he was first imprisoned, Clyde was raped on multiple occasions. He ultimately murdered his rapist, this was his first in a long line of murders. Many people who were close to Clyde said that he was never the same even after his release. These intimacy problems are exhibited throughout the film whenever Bonnie tries to get close to Clyde or touch him, he immediately becomes distant and tries to get away from her despite being in love with
her. It is surprising that the film was not more explicit in this reference, if someone watching the movie was not already previously aware of Clyde’s rape, they would be unable to make this connection. Clyde never mentions his time in prison much, and whenever Bonnie tries to confront him and get him to open up about what is bothering him he just responds by telling her that he is not a lover boy. In classic Arthur Penn style, Bonnie & Clyde is very much a reflection of the era in which it was produced, similar to Little Big Man. This film was released in 1967, right at the same time as the birth of the hippie movement. Many Americans were questioning authority and our government in general at this time, and this film tries to take advantage of the movement and get the audience to identify with “the bad guys”. 1967 was a turbulent time in the United States. The “Summer of Love” in San Francisco launched the hippie movement that spread nationwide, U.S. involvement in Vietnam continued to escalate, and racial tensions were simmering. Another landmark event of 1967 was the Monterey Pop Festival. This event launched the careers of rock icons Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and The Who. All of these artists reflected the counterculture’s desire to push the envelope in terms of creativity, sexuality, and the all-around status quo. The movement was all about challenging authority and convention. Bonnie & Clyde may not be the most accurate representation of the pair historically speaking, but it still succeeds in being an entertaining adaptation of their story. Arthur Penn is unlike many other filmmakers in the way he recreates history with modernized twists and themes.
Bonnie had a bitter taste in her mouth thinking that she wasn't part of the gang but still knowing it was for her own good.4 Clyde had picked her up in Dallas and they had started to make their way to New Mexico, while during the depression it was very hard for anyone to take a vacation during these times; a police officer had seen the car and had their plates ran. The police officer had realized that the car had been reported stolen so he approached the car and Bonnie and Clyde forced him into the car at gunpoint, but later releasing him so he could tell their story.
One of the main products of this movie that popped out to me was the stars. They all seemed to be great actors even though I only knew one of them. For example, I thought that Ian Michael Smith did a great job portraying Simon Birch. He made the movie cute and funny all at once. I also thought that Joseph Mazello did a great job portraying relatable feelings in the movie. You could tell by his facial expressions what his mood was. All the actors did a great job and I can’t pinpoint one of them who did worse than the
A search of this car found a prescription bottle,which led special agents to a drug store in Nacogdoches,Texas,where investigation disclosed the woman for whom the prescription had been filled was Clydes Aunt. That’s when Bonnie and Clyde met at a mutual friends house. Their plan to raid the prison farm was achieved on January 16,1934.During the siege,in which mounted guard major Crowson was killed,Clyde freed his friends Raymond Hamilton,Joe Palmer,and Henry Melvin. Raymond and Clyde became bitter enemies,however,when Raymond hid some cash after a bank robbery. They both went their both ways-Raymond later dying in the electric chair.
Three additional children followed Clyde’s birth, and the families financial difficulties worsened as the price for cotton bounced up and down. After some years the Barrow’s found it impossible to provide for their children and sent them to live with relatives in east Texas. At one relatives home Clyde developed two interests that remained with him to the end of hid life: a passion for music, and an obsession with guns. Even as Clyde drove along the lane in Louisiana to his death, he carried a saxophone and reams of sheet music, as well as an arsenal of firearms. Clyde loved and named his guns, and regarded them as tokens of his power.
By the end of the movie, Bonnie Grape was no longer alive, but she had just begun her path to the positive spectrum of her psychological crisis: generativity. As Newman & Newman (2012) proclaims ‘this motive is aroused as one recognizes they won’t be around forever (p.512). If she was alive to make it to the next developmental stage, she would be on the right track to beginning her journey of integrity in later
The 1960s till 1980s was the period of the Hollywood New Wave, where American cinema reflected the politically and socially driven films of the time. The Hollywood New Wave overlapped with the Second Wave Feminism. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) reflects those movements of the time with its unique editing and shooting techniques. Geoff King describes the camera movements as (Smith, 2010). When Bonnie and Clyde premiered in 1967, America was in the height of a sexual revolution, which reflected these themes in the film. In the film, Bonnie is a sexually frustrate woman, because the man she loves is initially impotent in their sexual encounters. She gets sexually attracted by violence and crime, which is a concept that was rarely explored on screen.
Bonnie still visited him daily, and on one of these trips she smuggled in a colt to Clyde and his cell mate. That night they escaped, although freedom was short lived. They were captured in Ohio and Clyde was sentenced to 14 years. He was pardoned in 1932, after the intervention of his mother. He soon returned to Bonnie and they left in none other than a stolen car. He kept himself busy with Robberies, and Bonnie was soon drawn into the plots.
With the release of a movie containing an almost entirely different plot, it is difficult to sort facts from fiction. These are the facts, though, of the lives and death of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Their lives were dangerous, not romantic. Being on the run was not a walk in the park, but more of a trudge through quicksand while vultures descend. Barrow was left broken by the destroyed prison system, and Parker damaged by the people in her life. While the two lovers made choices, there was most likely some predisposition for ruthlessness present. Their love was probably at times wrong, and they did not deserve to be gunned down without trial. The people they killed did not deserve to be murdered in the name of cold blood, either,
...ning of the 1930’s Depression era was depicted, which was outside the norm of typical gangster films. The setting also showed the action and traits of the characters; Bonnie and Clyde robbing banks in the Great Depression to simply make ends meet, not wanting to harm innocent citizens of society for power or control. Lastly, the specific character types presented in Bonnie and Clyde fulfilled the various roles of a couple, family, outlaws, and antiheros, the most significant character type of the typical gangster film genre. However, these antiheros showed sympathy for their fellow man and thus provided the audience with character roles that were relatable, and overall made the audience empathetic towards them. Therefore, the film Bonnie and Clyde demonstrates a genre-bending gangster film with distinct genre conventions and elements of film noir blended within it.
The first thing I will go over is the actors. Overall, they did a fantastic job and portrayed the characters well. Zachery Schaftlein, who played Father Brenden Flynn, and Abigail Elmore, Sister Aloysius Beauvier, both did a fantastic job in their roles. I loved the
Bonnie Parker grew up with a normal childhood went to school every day was an above average student. She was born in Rowena Texas on October 10, 1910. Her father Charles Parker was a brick layer, but he died when bonnie was only four. After her father’s death the family moved in with her grandparents by Dallas Texas. She met Roy Thornton and soon after they got married, but Thornton got in trouble with the law and sentenced to five years in prison leaving bonnie on her own. She had a waitress job but was unhappy after Roy left. Until went to visit a friend in West Dallas where she then met Clyde Barrow. Clyde was born March 24, 1909 in Telico Texas. Clyde Barrow’s father was Henry Barrow who was a share cropper. He was one of eight children in the family. Clyde’s academics was anything but consistent. When his father quit farming the family moved to West Dallas which was were his dad opened a service shop. Clyde started high school but that was short lived he dropped out of school. Bonnie and Clyde met in West Dallas at a mutual friend’s house .Bonnie’s life prior to their crime spree was completely normal for a teenage high school student job at a café, showing no signs of becoming a notorious robber. Clyde on the other hand was the complete opposite. After dropping out of high school he went out with his brother selling stole...
In both films, the main characters are all rebelling against common things that audiences can relate to. In Rebel Without a Cause, Jim Stark is rebelling against his parents because he is upset with the fact that his father will not stand up to his mother. His girlfriend, Judy, is also rebelling against her parents, but for a different reason. Her father refuses to give her any affection because she is too “grown up.” Jim’s friend, Plato, is rebelling against his parents because they have abandoned him. These three characters rebel in many ways. Jim and Judy both smoke because they were told not to. Plato shot and killed puppies to get attention. Jim and Judy are both involved in a gang because it is “wrong.” Jim and Judy both pay a visit to jail: Jim because he is drunk and Judy because she ran away from home. In Bonnie and Clyde, Clyde Barrow is rebelling against the law and the common way of making a living. He rebels by robbing banks. Bonnie also rebels against the law and her old life working as a poor waitress in a small town. She rebels by helping Clyde rob banks. C. W. Moss rebels against his overbearing father. Buck Barrow rebels against the law, but his wife is never too keen on the whole rebellion thing. Clyde, Bonnie, C. W., and Buck all rebel by robbing banks and stores, stealing cars, and killing. C. W. also rebels by getting a tattoo on his chest because he knows that his father will not approve of it. The theme of rebellion can be seen in both films by showing what the characters rebel against and how they rebel.
The films protagonists Kit Caruthers (Martin Sheen) and Holly (Sissy Spacek) are loosely based on the real life adolescent criminals Charles Starkweather and his girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate. Starkweather and Fugate become infamous after their murder spree through Nebraska and Wyoming in the 1950’s, however the story of two young fugitives in love is not one that is unfamiliar with audiences; the most notable is Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde (1967). The character of Kit also bears a resemblance to Jim Stark, James Dean’s character i...
Phillips, John Neal. Running with Bonnie and Clyde the Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults.
Clyde was able to get out of prison and come back in as he pleased which means he was able to plant bombs and kill people while everyone thought he was in prison, but that was not the case since no one was checking on him because he was in solitary confinement. Clyde had disguises to get through the city without being spotted, but Nick found out that Clyde had bought a car garage across the street from the prison and that is where his tunnel had started and led to the solitary confinement cells and that is where he stored his explosives and his disguises. Clyde was ready to go to war with nick and he had the armory hidden under the prison to do it