Compared with "The Male and Female Thief", I prefer its other name "Bonnie and Clyde". It is recognized by the American Film Institute as one of the most important films in the United States, and it is also a symbol of a generation. The beginning of a new Hollywood film logo.
David Cook summed up the spectacle of this violent film in his Narrative Cinema: Arthur Payne's Bonnie and Clyde was released in 1967, and a new generation There was a flood of comments from American audiences. It was widely attacked by critics when it opened in August, but by November it was the top-grossing film of the year. The film then went on to be nominated for 10 Academy Awards, won two...and won the New York Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay...and many critics who slammed it at first later called 1967 "the best screenplay of the year". best film". "Bonnie and Clyde" was also the only film to have Time retract its critical review. This is perhaps its most successful place... Indeed, "Bonnie and Clyde" was such a success that many senior critics retracted their earlier rhetoric. The first time they saw it, they thought it was a traditional bloody cop movie.
So what is the significance of the era of "Bonnie and Clyde"? Inside and outside the movie, it can be said that it is an awakening of the social system and the spirit of the people, and it is also the fresh blood that the new Hollywood movies desperately need.
The story of the film takes place in 1930, when the United States was in the midst of the Great Depression, the economic boom and industrial growth of the 1920s had an impact on American values, at least from the mainstream culture, people enjoyed the abundance of life and consumption fashion, and thus strengthened The importance of personal happiness. But the impact of the Great Depression brought a huge psychological gap to the American people, and the decadent economy and the rapid decline in the quality of life cast a huge and invisible shadow on the American people's psychology. During the Great Depression, most of the unemployed workers and bankrupt entrepreneurs stayed at home. Most people chose to avoid this kind of blow, so at that time, Hollywood movies were mostly comedy movies that criticized the corrupt social system and promoted easy money and funny, of course, the latter more popular with the public. But not all American people are slumped and their fighting spirit is low. In a lifeless social environment, a younger generation like Bonnie and Clyde, who want to live a prosperous and free life but are overwhelmed by social institutions and disproportionate life pressures, are in desperate need of change, urgently needed Gain social recognition and find meaning in life. So they started what many people dared to think but did not dare to do: crime madly, challenge the social system, challenge the melancholy and boring life. For them, what really tempts them is not money, but freedom and excitement, and finding the meaning of their existence in violence is an extreme indulgence and a redemption of social identity. This is also the more interesting part of the movie. Bonnie wrote poems about their crazy crimes and sent them to the newspaper. They became "stars" that people dared not recognize, and were willing to help when they were chased by the police.
Just when Bonnie and Clyde were shot by the police after being betrayed by good people, the world seemed to be quiet, and the police walked over to their bodies with expressionless faces, as if asking for God's forgiveness. This is an awakening to the public. A strangulation of the CCP is also to maintain the incompetent social system while performing its own duties. Although they do deserve death for their sins, they just can't really hate them. Trapped in the complex logic of functionalism and public imagery, they even end up dying in sensational cinematic images.
It is worth mentioning that the love between Bonnie and Clyde that was doomed from the beginning did not go well under the setting of Clyde's impotence. When rejecting Bonnie's initiative twice, Clyde said, "I Not a good lover" is actually an important metaphor in the movie. Clyde's impotence is just like the incompetence of the government during the Great Depression. Clyde can only gain Bonnie's approval through male strength and courage to rob a bank, and the government can only obtain Bonnie's approval through unfulfilled promises and passionate slogans to soothe the disappointment of the people. After Clyde loses her brother, Bonnie and Clyde's mentality also changes, Bonnie reads the poem she wrote for the two of them on the grass, Clyde finally pounces on Bonnie and begins their First time having sex. This is also the best summary of the setting of Clyde's impotence. The social economy and people are depressed, but as long as people dare to make breakthroughs, there is hope, and the first thing they need is to redeem themselves.
In the 1950s, the film faced the impact of the television industry, and it also faced the impact. European filmmakers aimed to improve the artistic quality of the film and distinguish it from television. The most representative one was the French New Wave movement. The United States, on the other hand, spends its efforts on the innovation of film technology, and is still maintaining the old system and the old Hollywood marketing. Although film masters such as Hitchcock continued to attract audiences during this period, the turmoil in American society (murder clusters, the civil rights movement, economic recession) and political crisis (the Vietnam War) and the background and factors of the film's old institutions and ideas, Hollywood is still in trouble. TV products not only fill people's lives, but also show a large number of European films. At this time, a new generation of filmmakers graduated from film schools. They had their own ideas and were also influenced by the film ideas of the French New Wave, which meant that a film revolution in Hollywood also began quietly. 1967 was the beginning of New Hollywood, a year that included the violent "Bonnie and Clyde" and the bewildering "The Graduate."
The famous swimming pool scene in "The Graduate" also represents the new generation's desire to break free from the shackles of secular values, but they are confused, and their journey to find freedom and value has not been smooth, and even lost their lives. The French New Wave's breakthrough in film aesthetics also affected the production of new Hollywood films in this period. The characteristics of stream of consciousness, fragmented editing, and multi-clue narrative were also constantly reflected in Hollywood films of this period. More representative such as Coppola's "Godfather" trilogy and "Apocalypse Now".
New wave movies preach that movies are directed. Apocalypse Now is perhaps the classic example of "author-on-movie" in Hollywood. And Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" is also a representative work of this period.
What New Hollywood represents is undoubtedly young and energetic, these pioneers have broken free from all kinds of shackles, and they have more freedom than their predecessors. However, Hollywood is about the logic of money after all, and due to inertia, it will also set things right. The radical style of New Hollywood is short-lived, and only the system is permanent. But there is no doubt that the French New Wave movement is a milestone in the development of film history, and "Bonnie and Clyde" is a milestone in the development of New Hollywood. Without these great breakthroughs, there would not be the variety of styles you see today, and the taste of both refined and popular Many movie works.
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