In films before this the villains would never be the stars of the film however, in this film the morality wasn't at question as it connected with the youth. The movie is very against establishments which is what the youth of the time connected with, they didn't want the star to be a conformist that fought for the government they wanted it to be an underdog that fought for what they wanted, therefore, the villainous duo became idols for the youth (Kael). Bonnie and Clyde isn't just a story about a couple that rob banks and end up getting tragically shot, it is about a couple that doesn't want to have an authority making their every move for them, they wanted to become famous so that they could prove to the public that they can in fact stand up to the authority and fight for what they want, this message really stuck with the youth. An example of this message can be seen in the scene were Bonnie and Clyde capture the sheriff, they don't kill him, instead they take a picture with him and mock him. This is them sending a message. This shows that they want to become famous so that they can show the world their mischievous ways they don't care about the money. This sort of behaviour can be seen in American culture, many of the riots held in America regarding the war were peaceful, the message was that they was anti-establishment however, they was fighting for love and peace, although the protests were peaceful, police still used force against the public, this is reflected in the death scene of Bonnie and Clyde, the couple had not even hurt the authority to provoke the brutal attack however, instead of imprisoning the couple for their crimes they killed them in a very painful way which had not chance of recovery (Ebert). Bonnie and Clyde are two characters that represent the public that is fighting for the people without a voice, they are speaking for those struck by poverty because of the war, they speak for those killed or injured in a pointless war, it speaks for the people hurt by police brutality.(Penn) An example of this can be seen when the couple are staying in an abandoned house, the man in the house mentions that the property was taken from them by the bank, this enrages Clyde so he shoots the sign in the window which states ownership by the bank (Ebert). This shows that the couple aren't bad people they are just painted in a bad light by the media which in the 60s and even today is very influential yet not always true.
Another theme in the movie that links to the time is art, in the 60s art was a very influential way of representing the values of the youth, we see it in films, poems and art displays. In this movie the use of art is also used to reflect this same message, Bonnie used poetry to portray the adventures the couple had been on, C.W. Moss used his tattoo to reflect the ideas of the time. In Bonnie's poem she talks of the awaited demise of the two, she says "to few it'll be grief, for the law a relief, but it's death for Bonnie and Clyde", this poem creates a tonal shift in the movie, before this there is some comedic value, even when robbing one of the banks they must reminds everyone that they are in fact robbing them (Penn). In this scene however, everything starts to become gloomy, this reflects how in the sixties although much good came from it such as technological advancements and civil progress there was much evil, the counter culture movement was killed by the use of drugs and violence, there could have been so much progress made in the country if it wasn't for this needless violence which hindered their movement. Although in this movie they reflect the message that we should fight back against the authority it also shows that over time the fight is what leads to their tragic death. The fact that Bonnie can predict her future is what really resonates with the audience it shows her morality and allows her to be seen as a real person that understands the faults in her ways. C.W. Moss' tattoo portrays an image of a lady with flowers in her hair and doves flying above her, the work "love" is at the bottom placed on a scroll. The use of flowers represents the Hippie Movement which represents peace, this movement protests against the war and the needless killing of soldiers (The Take). Doves are a symbol of a messenger of peace and love, they represent the values that youth feel strongly about. The word "LOVE" is in capital letters representing it importance and the value that youths place in love and compassion. The use of displaying the art form in a tattoo reflects the rebellious nature of the new generation, tattoo are seen in society as a bad thing, older generations in the 60s are big believes of Christianity therefore, the idea of piercing the skin is frowned upon therefore the younger generation use this as a form of rebellion. C.W. Moss' father is more against his sons tattoo than he is of the crimes he has committed, this is because he sees it as a form of rebellion rather than an art form (Penn).
A scene which I found especially strong is the tragic death scene the editing and camerawork in this scene is astonishing, they tell such a brilliant narrative in this scene yet they don't use words (The Take). The use of past paced editing in this scene as the police approach the scene foreshadows the gruesome death of the characters. The editor was cut between a close up of each characters face reacting to the oncoming vehicle separately and a flock of birds flying away (Kael). The use of the flock of birds here suggests to the audience that something with high energy is going to happen, it is very common that when a loud sound occurs birds tend to fly away therefore, this insinuates the idea that the lovers are going to be gunned down. The use of a shot reverse shot was used to suggest the villainous lovers are staring into each others eyes one last time before their tragic demise (Penn). This is very subtle yet it is very powerful, it shows that their love is stronger than any words they could have said, it also shows that even till the very end they stood true to the values they believed in. Once the characters start getting shot, the use of a slow motion shot is used to depict Clyde falling to the ground, the use of a slow motion here gives the audience time to take in what has just happened and it allows for a sad tone to be established as the audience see the pain the man has to go through even slower. When they are being shot, it is very prolonged, the use of temporal overlap is used to show us multiple perspectives of the lovers being shot, I believe this may have been done in order to reflect the police brutality in the 60s, they could've shot each character being shot once to kill them, instead we must see a gruesome death which was done out of principal, they wanted to send a message that the Bonnie and Clyde's of the world will be treated with no mercy. The use of the Kuleshov effect is used here, we don't directly see the lovers being shot, we see shots of the guns firing paired with reaction shots and various shots of the lovers with gun wounds on them. The use of this technique here allows for the audience to infer that they are being shot however, instead it allows us to focus on the emotion of the characters rather than the bloodshed. Once the couple finally dies, there is no sound whatsoever to be heard, it is as though the editors want us to take a minute to mourn the dead and to take in what they meant. A tracking shot is used next, the camera moves behind the vehicle and captures a shot of the police looking into the car with a dissatisfied expression. The dissatisfied expression suggests that killing Bonnie and Clyde proved to make them feel remorse, they realised maybe there was a better way to go about it. There is a gun shot hole in the window from which the camera is shooting from, this puts the violence and chaos into perspective and puts the idea of police brutality at the forefront of the shot showing how important it is. The shot cuts straight to black, no words, no sound, there is nothing. This can be seen as quite a disappointing ending yet very strong. It shows how what is done, cannot be fixed at the end of the movie, the idols are dead, we see what they see in the final moment, nothing.
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