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Research essay on bonnie and clyde
Bonnie and clyde research paper
Bonnie and clyde research paper
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Social and political critique and commentary in Bonnie and Clyde
“The fact that the story is set 35 years ago doesn't mean a thing. It had to be set sometime. But it was made now and it's about us.” – Roger Ebert 1
At the time of its release in 1967, Bonnie and Clyde was the subject of intense debate. While the American film critic Roger Ebert hailed it as a milestone in American moviemaking, Bosley Crowther, another critic, referred to it as “a cheap piece of bald-faced slapstick
Comedy”. 2 It was called the sleeper hit of the decade, and gained extreme notoriety for its breakage of traditional cinematic taboos, in that it showed rather explicitly both sex and especially, raw and brutal violence. It greatly surprised both the audience and Hollywood itself, and has since its release been labelled as both a landmark film and as an iconic masterpiece of cinema.
[NB on it’s vs. its. It’s = short for “it is”. Read the sentence through – if “it is” doesn’t fit then you mean “its” not “it’s”]
But why did it cause such a stir, and why did it become such a massive hit especially among the younger generations of the audience? Well, As Roger Ebert wrote in his review for the movie, even though the story of the film was set 35 years earlier (than 1967), Bonnie and Clyde was in fact truly about the 1960’s America. The film dealt with themes and engaged with social and political issues that strongly marked and defined the America of the time and struck a chord with the people living in America in the 1960’s.
On the surface, Bonnie and Clyde, directed by Arthur Pen and co-written by David Newman and Robert Benton, might seem to be just another love on the run, individual versus institution film, a kind of film rather common duri...
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...s. Arthur Penn created a film not about them, but about us, and that’s truly what makes Bonnie and Clyde such a great film.
References:
1. Ebert, Roger. Review of Bonnie and Clyde. Originally published in the Chicago Sun Times, September 25, 1967.
2. Crowther, Bosley. Review of Bonnie and Clyde. Originally published in the New York Times, April 14, 1967.
3. Eisenstein, Sergei. Battleship Potemkin (1925) Mosfilm.
4. Mazzucco, Thomas. Bonnie and Clyde. Reel American History. Last edited December 2009. Link to website: http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/trial/reels/films/list/1_63_9
A) Referring to Friedman, Lester D. Bonnie and Clyde (2001) British Film Institute.
5. Kanfer, Stefan. The Shock of Freedom in Films. Originally published in Time Magazine, December 8, 1967.
6. Kanfer, Stefan. The Shock of Freedom in Films.
Oney, Steve. And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank. New York : Vintage, 2004. Print.
Bang! Pow! Bullets are raining down on the infamous Bonnie and Clyde. It is a standoff with the local police department. Bonnie and Clyde are in trouble again; robbing a liquor store of their cigarettes and their liquor. It seems as if Bonnie and Clyde were the greatest pair of criminals in history.
The two films that are analyzed for similarities and differences to convey significant ideas for the integrity of their own story line: they are Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, directed by George Roy Hill and released in 1969, and Thelma & Louise, directed by Ridley Scott and released in 1991. In these two films, we watch them search for freedom within ourselves and freedom from societal norms. Along the way this creates entanglement with the law and causing a constant chase throughout both films. What keeps these characters from backing down is their free-spirited, brave, and most important a firm grip on their own fate. This mentality keeps the characters on their toes from what’s holding them back, however their own actions, history
Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker burst upon the American Southwest in the Great Depression year of 1932. At the time of Clyde’s first involvement with a murder, people paid little attention to the event. He was just another violent hoodlum in a nation with a growing list of brutal criminals, which included Al Capone, John Dillenger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and the Barker Gang. Not until Bonnie and Clyde joined forces did the public become intrigued. The phrase “Bonnie and Clyde'; took on an electrifying and exotic meaning that has abated little in the past sixty years.
The noir style is showcased in Sunset Boulevard with its use of visually dark and uncomfortable settings and camera work, as well as its use of the traditional film noir characters. In addition, the overall tone and themes expressed in it tightly correspond to what many film noirs addressed. What made this film unique was its harsh criticism of the film industry itself, which some of Wilder’s peers saw as biting the hand that fed him. There is frequent commentary on the superficial state of Hollywood and its indifference to suffering, which is still a topic avoided by many in the film business today. However, Sunset Blvd. set a precedent for future film noirs, and is an inspiration for those who do not quite believe what they are being shown by Hollywood.
Keathley, Christian. "Trapped in the Affection Image" The Last Great American Picture Show: New Hollywood Cinema in the 1970s. Ed. Thomas Elsaesser, Alexander Horwath, Noel King. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2004. 293-308. Print.
The first thing about this film that caught my eye from a sociological perspective is that the society in the film is not depicted as a “perfect society” as most films do, instead it shows the real conflicts that society had back then with certain subjects. The film shows us the prejudices, and misconceptions that people had about things like sex, and homosexuality at the time.
November 1998, written for FILM 220: Aspects of Criticism. This is a 24-week course for second-year students, examining methods of critical analysis, interpretation and evaluation. The final assignment was simply to write a 1000-word critical essay on a film seen in class during the final six-weeks of the course. Students were expected to draw on concepts they had studied over the length of the course.
"Bonnie and Clyde (Page 3)." About.com 20th Century History. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
Since the late 1890’s films have been constantly changing the history of pop culture and the way people view war, politics, and the world as a whole. As the timeline of the history of film progressed, there were many different phases: gothic noir, slapstick comedy, tragedy vs. love, romance, and many more. Towards the more recent times, the central ideas of films started drifting to the greatness of the directors. Directors such as Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and many more were noted as outstanding directors of action and cinematography. In this paper I will speak about Wes Anderson, Martin Scorsese, and the ever so infamous Baz Luhrmann. These directors have changed the way filmmaking has been and will be looked at from this point on.
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...
Glasser, William A. "A Farewell to Arms." The Sewannee Review 2nd ser. 74 (1966): 453-69. JSTOR. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. .
201-213. The. Notes i. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Crack Up. ii. Lewis, Roger. "
Bloom, Harold. Introduction. Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea, 1987.
The film “Modern Times,” directed by Charlie Chaplin, is set in the mid nineteen thirties. This time frame places the characters in the middle of the Great Depression and the industrial revolution. The film depicts the lifestyle and quality of living for people in this era by showing a factory worker who cannot take the monotony of working on an assembly line. The film follows the factory worker through many of his adventures throughout the film. The film’s main stars are Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard.