Bonnie and Clyde Flashcards
(15 cards)
Analysis?
Close up of lips first shot; eroticised, post hays code
Jump cuts: distortion of time and space to show the slow elapse of time/ her boredom
Handheld camera; authenticity, intimacy
Lack of non-diegetic score: departure from HW norms
Framing behind bars: Bonnie’s sense of being trapped in her life / Sexual Frustration
Analysis?
Use of gun (MES/prop) as Phallic Symbolism:
“You ain’t have the gumption to use it” Challenges his masculinity, so he robs a store. Criminality acts as stand in for Clyde’s sexuality.
Subversion of gender stereotypes in Clyde’s willingness to oblige, to prove himself
Beatty’s subdued vocal tone and physicality (limp) portray him as flawed - he may dress like a Classical hero, but he ain’t the real deal
Archival photos from great depression; grounds the film in reality - distinguishing it from the purely fantastical escapism of of classical hollywood
Fake archival pictures; Postmodern attitude to fact/fiction and Penn’s interest in Myth.
Proxemics in Clyde’s intro.; evoke romeo and juliet balcony scene - introduces a fatalism to their encounter
Also, High angle shot repr. her confidence - while naked = sexual liberation
Clyde’s introduction as a thief - contravenes Hays code, yet she isn’t afraid or even very wary of him,
Blocking reveals the claustrophobia of the Ranger’s humiliation
Strange tonal shifts as edit pace accelerates
POV shot; emphasises the Ranger’s helplessness
Vocal tone intensifies - Clyde’s righteous anger ‘Ought to be protecting the rights of poor folk!’
Close Up; reveals microexpression twitch of the eye - he seemed to have accepted death, but humiliation?…
Realisation that Bonnie is the ringleader - the maker of the myth,
Phallic symbolism; Beautiful woman rubbing her gun in your face - get pwned you big nerd
Utter emasculation, in fact she kisses him! absolute subversion of gender roles.
Contrapuntal score; recurrent upbeat Bluegrass music juxtaposes the violence we see
Montage builds their myth; car chase interspersed with banks customers
Dalogue expresses their fatalistic niche as folk heroes - everyone loves them but knows they aren’t gonna live forever ‘I’ll take the missus to their funeral’
Their abduction of Gene Wilder and co. is played for laughs; crazy tonal shifts - Velma is revealed to be older than eugene thinks (lol)
C.W. eats eugene’s burger - he says a little too forcefully forgetting they’re hardened criminals (awkward)
Eugene reveals he’s an undertaker - Bonnie’s mood changes; she knows they’re doomed and she wants rid of all reminders of mortality
The Shallow Focus, the Low key-light, Dunaway’s expression - this is a new Bonnie, a new intensity a recognition of mortality
The Wide shot; Their smallness in the frame repr. Their insignificance, their transience
Lighting; Cloud crosses their path metaphorises their doom
Sound; dieg. ambient wind, Clyde’s cries
AND
Rare use of parallel score - a moment of real honest emotion as Bonnie longs for her mother (repr. of knowledge of mortality)
