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Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Director: Arthur Penn

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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 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

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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

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