Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Director: Arthur Penn
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Reclaiming the American gangster movie after it had been stolen by the Nouvelle Vague, Penn's film was so successful (and so imitated) that it inevitably met with some grudging devaluation. But it's still great: half comic fairytale, half brutal fact, it reflects the essential ambiguity of its heroes (faithfully copied from history and the real-life Barrow gang which terrorised the American South in the early '30s) by treading a no man's land suspended between reality and fantasy. With its weird landscape of dusty, derelict towns and verdant highways, stunningly shot by Burnett Guffey in muted tones of green and gold, it has the true quality of folk legend.Author: TM
User reviews of this film
-
- usman khawaja said...
-
Posted on Jun 15 2008 15:27
Most people will agree that texas is such a fragile and volatile land ,that to fuel it with such farcical ,charismatic,spurious legendary villains made by cinema antics into icons is a travesty in itself.
Texans hardly attire as stylishly as these 2 desperados do in the style set by Dietrich and Fairbanks and they talk like Trotsky too,but the guns of texas spare no one ,mostly innocents and penn takes a macabre delight in staging his gory orgies .
This is the beginning of the slasher-mafia gang shootout GENRE ,and a celebration of violent spectacle and it reflects on the vietnam trauma faced by a nation which had killed millions in a pointless war ,maybe the success of the venture was secondary to the thirst for bringing the violence to home states in the form of romanticism .
The performances ,technical details and costumes along with production design is immaculate if inappropriate ,but as for authenticity -Terence mallicks Badlands beats the movie by far .
The serial killing hedonistic hetero sexual couple here were rather perfunctory though gorgeous to look at ,the antique cars are a treat to look at as are the somewhat vapid talents of beatty ,but he is a very handsome man and has a certain charm ,though i am sure clyde was rather an ordinary fella -but then history is never interesting till romanticised and this is more romance with violence galore then an authenticated historical account .that i think will never be made -as today it has degenerated into a crass of ambiguous immorality which worships at the pulpit of tasteless vulgarity overblown by insipid characters played by mediocre stars .
This is vintage wine though made in texas .but it does serve a basic purpose and dunaway and beatty do have some delightful chemistry,even though the rest of the cast is perfunctory.
usman khawaja - jbz7879 - Report as inappropriate
Cast & crew
Director: Arthur Penn
Producer: Warren Beatty
Cast: Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J Pollard, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, Denver Pyle, Dub Taylor, Gene Wilder full cast
Genre(s): Gangsters
Duration: 111 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Jackson's This Is It: review
Kenny Ortega's posthumous concert film is a rousing eulogy for one of pop's great enigmas
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Lone Scherfig talks 'An Education'
Danish director Lone Scherfig was an unlikely choice for a very English affair like 'An Education'. Cath Clarke meets her
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now