But you jumped right on it larry.
It's an old thread that got a bit worn although I could talk about this film forever if someone wants to. I just watched it again on its course through the cable channels but not in the wide screen version. I should break down and buy the DVD to see it like it was shot (sic).
Lightwizard<
I have a VHS edition of Bonnie and Clyde. From time to time, I give it another look. For me, it is always a stunning experience. I always will think of Bonnie and Clyde as one of the best American films.
I think it deserves a spot in everyone's personal film library.
I saw it the first time in wide screen at a theater in Laguna Beach --it was a memorable experience. I remember thinking how violent it was and that was rather off-putting at the time. That final scene is so brilliantly filmed, almost balletic. Tough one to top as far as crime films even though one realizes that the real Bonnie and Clyde aren't nearly as photogenic as Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway!
The violence in Bonnie and Clyde, and the characters blaise attitudes towards their victims, served as a cinematic metaphor for the horrors of the Vietnam War. In this manner, the film reflects the era in which it was made.
As the nation is now at the brink of war with Iraq, perhaps another viewing of Bonnie and Clyde would help remind us that violence is "as American as apple pie."
I agree, wh -- violence is more American as apple pie than sex. At least factions of our government and population don't want to believe anyone is having sex. Many films have used blatant, ironic violence to expose our own inner feelings about violence. "Bonnie and Clyde" is one of those films. I would name others but some on these boards would have a field day and I think that subject is rather of a dead horse. What we get out of any art is a very personal thing and those who create it should refrain from criticizing the work of others -- it smacks of insecurity in their own endeavors, not to mention sour grapes. I'm also on the art forum and I don't think you will you ever see me pan an artist. I'm buzy painting myself and have an eclectic taste for all sorts of art. Sure some of it is executed with mediocre hand (even some great artists have produced junk). Monet burned over one-hundred canvasses and one of his collectors wanted to purchase one -- he said none of them were up to his standard and would not sell the canvas. I guess we all have to swallow our pride once in a while and let go of unsuccessful endeavors! (Sound of watercolor paper being torn up). On film, I'm not a filmmaker so I can really have at it although I am more of a positive than negative personality.
"Bonnie and Clyde" is one film that has reached classic status in my book and for a good reason, Ebert being as much of a film scholar as a critic has included it. For one reason or another he picked "Written on the Wind," the current selection here and it's a dubious pick in my book as I always considered it a guilty pleasure.
Speaking of balletic violence, John Woo specializes in that sort of thing now. His films hold me in awe, like no other gratuitous violence. Talk about your guilty pleasure.
Those who create art should refrain from criticizing the work of others, Lightwizard? What a crock. This means that no novelist could ever write a book review, that no painter could ever evaluate another painter's art, that no composer could ever record his/her impressions of another composer's music. Think how absurd that would be.
Larry,
...Not such a crock. I can empathize with that reluctance, even though I don't regard it as a steadfast rule. I for instance would hesitate to criticize a dancer, or writer, but someone insulting the artform, would evoke my verbal ire.
Lightwizard<
Once again, we agree. I put Bonnie and Clyde on my "classic" film list after I first saw it on the "big" screen.
Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch had a violent theme, too. I don't think it succeeded artistically as well as Bonnie and Clyde.
Whenever I see a more recent violent film, e.g. Pulp Fiction, I still see the influence of Bonnie and Clyde. Dede Allen, who was the editor of Bonnie and Clyde, along with its director, Arthur Penn, made a film that has influenced the generation of filmmakers who followed them.
To me, that influence alone makes Bonnie and Clyde worthy of the "classic" label.
I saw Bonnie And Clyde again tonight on Turner...still a masterpiece.
It is better than any of the many recent violent films like PULP FICTION because it makes you care about the characters, something Tarantino is incapable of.
The photography, editing, direction, and acting are all top-flight.
Beatty and Dunaway were never better. Hackman and Parsons all but steal the movie from them.
