Review of Bonnie and Clyde (1967) by Chris W — 20 Jul 2009

I had always heard how influential this film was, and the ways in which it earns its status as such an inportant and influential film. Having now seen it, I can now give my view. I agree. This is a very important and influential film.

Seeing it has made me realize just how big of an impact this film has made on cinematic history. This film came out at a time when it was uncommon to have a handsome leading man with sexual difficulties.

It was also a time when strong violence, at times brutal, was just an idea and not a reality. This film broke those, and other rules. This film was also at the forefront of the wave of cynical, nihilistic, and confrontational films to be released over the next 12 years or so that really expressed the disillusionment over all the fucked up shit going on in the world at the time, something that no other art forms could capture quite as effectively.

Outside of this, the film is also a success aesthetically. The performances are really, really good, the characters (most of them) likeable, and the cast top notch. Arthur Penn's direction is also great.

Balancing romance and comedy with jarring, shocking violence is no easy feat, but he gets it to work. Some violence is comical, but then, whe nthe audience isn't expecting it, it takes an unexpected turn that isn't easy to forget.

Despite coming out in '67, the film still looks gorgeous, and, since it is a period piece, the fact that you can tell it came out then only helps the film in terms of capturing the spirit of an age gone by.

For some, this film may not seem all that special, as they are used to all the stuff that was made possible as a result of this film, films such as Natural Born Killers, any of Tarantino's work, and even stuff like The Godfather, among many others.

This film took the gangster genre and gave it a stark twist. After this film, the way violence and sex were treated on film changed forever. Even though I have seen far more brutal films than this, I was still genuinely surprised and shocked by some of what this film shows, mainly because, unlike so many films, this one makes you feel sympathy for those you shouldn't, thus making the impact of the violence that much more unsettling.

Bottom line, see this film, both because of its importance to cinema, and because it's just a damn fine piece of work in its own right.