The significance of Bonnie and Clyde lies in its social and political context, and people are embracing it so well because the images of society presented in this movie are vivid, bold, and authentic. Its uniqueness lies in the braveness to confront the unfairness of society , which no movie had done well before. The societal context was accurately presented in the film, it's the things we see on news - The farmers who don't have money became “slaves” of the bank; farmers in Oklahoma went bankrupt and fleeing famine, while Pennsylvania country folks ate dandelions - the gap between the rich and the poor is enormous, and it is made very clear in the movie. While rich people were still driving around in their nice cars, the poor couldn't even fill their stomachs.Touches of Sarcasm on such gaps between the rich and the poor appear very often in Bonnie and Clyde.
Bonnie and Clyde is an anti-genre film at a glance. I say that because the essence of American genre films is the narrative structure and the setting of typical characters. Such essence was carried forward through noir films and crime thrillers in the 30s and 40s , later adapted by Godard and others, creating a new wave. And Bonnie and Clyde give the feeling that it brings back the classics from old predecessors of the new wave. Bonnie and Clyde shells itself in the routines of crime and road films, and even a bit western at times. While its content and techniques are derived from smart editing and simple use of shots, in addition to the anti-traditional moral angle it takes on, it is indeed refreshing among movies made nowadays.
Bonnie and Clyde: their method of rebelling against society is to rob banks, that is, to fight against violence with violence. How ironic that the only feasible way to rebel is through the form of violence itself. Clyde, a man whose job is “ to rob banks” as almost an existing line for Bonnie and Clyde, is not very serious with the money they robbed, and he doesn't shoot until he is made to. To him, the things he upholds the most in support of his actions is the belief that robbing the rich and helping the poor.
Bonnie, some may argue, is the more popular one in the duo. It holds true both in real life and in the film that Bonnie is a very self-conscious female character. She chose to go on the road with Clyde - she chose to do things because she wanted to, and not coerced by anyone else's standards. There is a turning point in the film where Bonnie and Clyde switched roles and she started to take initiative and decided to stay with Clyde instead of going back home. And Clyde became a not-so-typical male protagonist where he is almost like a counterpart. Clyde's sexual impotence only strengthens Bonnie's independence, because believe it or not, the sexual ability is and has been consciously or not affecting people's opinion on power, and in this case , Bonnie regains the power by being free from that thinking convention.This film's ability to emphasize women's sense of autonomy creates a female image that is ahead of what a female's position has been in movies, and thus culturally important to us. In a time like the one we are living in today, it takes courage and awesomeness to portray the yearning for complete personal freedom, and the doubts about a capital-monopolized society.
Back to the narrative method of the film. It is concise, direct, but yet powerful, and it is not shy from using violent scenes. The ending scene of the film - the scene where the momentarily free-from-chaos love birds are enjoying the triumph of feeling free even its freedom in the most unconventional way - are killed. The camera kept switching in the sights of birds flying above; ambushes; and close-ups of the two, to create the atmosphere with the right amount of strangeness - something is about to go sideways. Accompanied by the close-up of Bonnie and Clyde, they almost smiled at each other and were shot by 167 bullets.
How romantic.
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