The story of a pair of bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde during the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s is the best material for making a Hollywood movie. In the past, two Hollywood directors have filmed films based on Bonnie and Clyde: one is Fritz Lang's 1937 film "You Only Live Once"; the other is Nicholas Rey's 1949 film "Them Life at night. But Arthur Payne made this story a very different work from traditional Hollywood films.
The director Arthur Payne who emerged after the Second World War not only inherited the tradition of Hollywood movies, but was also influenced by post-war European art films, especially New Wave films. "Bonnie and Clyde" also has features such as thriller, cop, biopic, comedy, and prank. It is different from the Hitchcock-style suspense thriller and the action thriller of James Bond. It is a thriller with a social commentary and thought-provoking. In terms of style, its plot fade, segmented structure, tone and rhythm change, etc., all remind people of European art films.
After the film was released in 1967, neither the audience nor the critics realized its value. Many people attacked it because of its violence. For a while, this film showing illegal elements seemed to be illegal in itself, causing much controversy. It’s just that its producer (also the male lead), Hollywood free-thinking filmmaker Warren Beatty, made unremitting efforts to get re-released, and it was internationally, especially at the Montreal International Film Festival in the same year because of the film Only after the innovation in language and style was praised, it was re-recognized in the United States. The deviant thoughts of the film have been valued by the younger generation of audiences and film critics, and it has become a successful film at the box office and critics. The change in society's attitude towards "Bonnie and Clyde" has made it a major event in the film industry. "Time" Weekly uses its stills as the cover. The British "Queen" magazine even declared: "1967 is the year of "Bonnie and Clyde." "Bonnie and Clyde" became one of the most influential films in the 1960s.
"Bonnie and Clyde" is a violent film on the theme of anti-violence. In the past, Hollywood films had no bloody and violent scenes under the constraints of the "Hays Code." In the late 1960s, with the opening up of society, American films replaced the "Hays Code" with a classification system, and shots of bloody violence appeared on the screen. "Bonnie and Clyde" nakedly, realistically and meticulously filmed the shooting and killing scenes, creating a new manifestation of violence in Hollywood movies. Arthur Payne believes that the full expression of violence is to oppose violence, and violence is caused by society. The particularly violent scenes in the film-the two ambushes-are not against the Barrow and the group against society, but society against them. In a scene by the river, Blanche screamed with blood, Buck was dying and convulsed on the ground, and a group of police officers were watching, as if hunters were triumphantly watching the beast they shot struggling; in the last scene of the film , Bonnie and Clyde were betrayed by Moss' father and fell into a trap. The machine gun shot from the bushes punched them all over, like a sieve. Clyde's death was filmed in slow motion, showing a bleak taste. Many directors followed this approach.
Arthur Payne has always been known for his good at portraying people who have been abandoned by society. His films are often set in the past era, but they really hit the shortcomings of the times. The 1960s was a turbulent era. The children born in the post-war baby boom have grown into a generation of young people. They live in a material rich environment, but have experienced the crisis of faith brought about by the Vietnam War, are dissatisfied with reality, and oppose traditional values. They take drugs, are sexually liberated, and challenge the society. This ideological turmoil has something in common with the mental state of young people during the Great Depression. Bonnie and Clyde are ordinary Americans. They pursue personal happiness, but their spirits are empty and they have no sustenance. Clyde, a robber, is different from the aggressive, bold, and mysterious gangsters in Hollywood police films since the 1930s. He is neither aggressive nor bold. He is childish, lame, or impotent. But he and Bonnie both have a strong sense of self. If they have the opportunity, they pose for photos, write poems about themselves and send them to newspapers for publication. They need society to recognize their value, but they can't get it. Thus, violence has become a means of showing personal existence. The film secretly conveys such a message: Instead of dying of old age in this indifferent world, it is better to live happily and simply die, leaving a beautiful image. Violence in "Bonnie and Clyde" is absurd and profound, purposeless and targeted. When Clyde announced to the peasants who had been deprived of their houses and land that he was going to rob the bank, he was not foresight, but with the randomness of a wayward child, and a little shy. However, once he made a promise, he would do it wholeheartedly and mold himself into a "bank thief", thus unknowingly he fell into the snare he had woven, unable to look back, and was destined to live a life of wandering until his death. This kind of unpremeditated and indiscreet criminal activity is more shocking than a carefully planned crime.
"Bonnie and Clyde" had another translation called "They Have No Tomorrow". This translated name vividly depicts their tragic fate. Both Bonnie and Clyde, or Brownie and Buck, longed for a home. However, even this minimum wish is impossible to achieve. The root of violence lies in society. However, violence against society can only result in destruction of society and the destruction of individuals who declare war on society.
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