Violence In Bonnie And Clyde

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Rebellion, mischief, and killing: The American outlaw couple has been one of the most iconic folk stories of cinema. Bringing violence and heart- throbbing suspense into an action packed storyline, crime films had captured the attention of many Americans during the 1960s. One of these films, in particular, introduced violence which had never been seen before: Bonnie and Clyde. Establishing a rather complex and intertwined mixture of love, murder, and adventure, the film pulled viewers into the bank- robbing journey of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Its successor, Badlands, came a few years later and continued to adopt the theme of the “outlaw couple.” However, its aesthetic and dreamy storyline engaged viewers in a crime film unconventional and rather mild in its approach to violence. In whatever way they were …show more content…

They are also based on the “Mad Dog Killer” of the 50s and the real Bonnie and Clyde--adding to the eeriness of both plots. More importantly, they signify an insatiable desire for discovery which derives from their boring and placid lives. After all, how do two sets of people look so beautifully benign and yet menace the person who looks at them? It’s a mysterious twist for viewers, who try to decipher the characters and understand their motives. Terrence Malick’s Badlands and Arthur Penn’s classic Bonnie and Clyde seem to exhibit a variety of similarities; however, upon further examination, their differences convey a completely distinct structure and interpretation of American crime couples on the run. The aesthetic, fairytale- like methods Malick employs in Badlands suggest a striking difference from Penn’s pragmatic Bonnie and Clyde. Malick’s construction of a fairytale amounts to an unsuccessful interpretation of crime lovers through its banality and unrealistic

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