Szu Hua Wu. Bonnie And Clyde- The New Style Narrative And

The movie “Bonnie and Clyde” is a Netflix mini-series movie, which follows the timeline of real life criminal events committed by Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Bonnie and Clyde were notorious criminals for strings of crimes such as robbery, theft, and murders committed over a span of two years. The crimes Bonnie and Clyde committed described a variety of criminological theories including social learning theory, strain theory, and rational choice theory.

In the opinion of most Bonnie and Clyde where the most famous and most romantically involved criminals in American history, Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow were two young Texans having and early 1930s crime spree before my time of birth would forever leave their legacy to be criticized by many and envied by most. Most people only live to tell the story of what was expected, but I am here to state the facts of who Bonnie and Clyde really were, grasping your attention, making your mind run full with imagination and placing yourself in the era owned by Bonnie and Clyde the 1930's.

In the fourth chapter of The Cultures of American Film, author Robert Kolker, indulges into the legacy of one of the most well-known writers, producers, and directors in early cinema – D.W. Griffith. Kolker dissects the cultural and racial implications of Griffiths most successful film, The Birth of a Nation, as well as, how Griffith impacted film. Griffith’s use of naturalism, parallel editing, and formal methods separated himself from other’s in the film business. We also get a look at how Oscar Micheaux responded to The Birth of a Nation, and became one of the first African-American filmmakers.

“Bonnie and Clyde” is a kind of a realistic, drama, comedy, tragic, gangster movie, which was produced by Warner Bros and directed by Arthur Penn. This movie was released in 1967 and it was based on real-life events. Bonnie and Clyde were two criminals who were traveling around central United States, robbing banks in the hope of becoming rich and famous. Before they began being partners in a crime, Bonnie was a hot, blonde waitress who worked in a café and did not like her job because boys who came to the café usually wanted to take advantage of her. On the other hand, Clyde was a young, handsome, small town thief who was robbing small stores and gas stations for a living. They both lived in hope to change their old, boring lives.

The debate over Casablanca and Citizen Kane has been a classic argument between film critics and historians alike because both of these pieces contain great cinematographic value, and are timeless pictures that have managed to captivate audiences well beyond their era. However, the real question at hand is which film is the greatest? Which film transformed the future of American film making? It is these questions that I as many others have, will attempt to answer in the following essay as I explain why I believe Citizen Kane has achieved the status of greatest film ever made.

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow died in a very  horrible way because they did not had the chance to surrender peacefully. When Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were ambushed on their way to Ivy Matthews place. Bonnie Parker nor Clyde Barrow had a single chance to surrender peacefully. Prentiss Oakley who “couldn't control himself” (Guinn, 2009, p.339)  was the person who fire the first shot. Deputy Oakley coud not control himself and that is why the massacre occurred. The worst of all, is that the posse members that was made up of six men total. Included, Frank Hammer, Ted Hamilton, Bob Alcorn, Manny Gaut, Henderson Jordan and Prentiss Oakley, tried claim that “Clyde sensed Oakley’s movement on his left and reached for either a shotgun or a BAR” (Guinn, 2009, p.340). However, Clyde Barrow was probably yards away from Oakley. After Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were dead, the posse then walked to the V-8 and overkilled them, shooting more bullets into Barrow’s and Parker’s dead bodies.

Film Noir, a term coined by the French to describe a style of film characterized by dark themes, storylines, and visuals, has been influencing cinematic industries since the 1940’s. With roots in German expressionistic films and Italian postwar documentaries, film noir has made its way into American film as well, particularly identified in mob and crime pictures. However, such settings are not exclusive to American film noir. One noteworthy example is Billy Wilder’s film Sunset Boulevard, which follows the foreboding tale of Joe Gillis, the desperate-for-success protagonist, who finds himself in the fatal grips of the disillusioned femme fatale Norma Desmond. Not only does the storyline’s heavy subject matter and typical character

“The fact that the story is set 35 years ago doesn't mean a thing. It had to be set sometime. But it was made now and it's about us.” – Roger Ebert 1

In the mid 20th century intriguing drama directed by Dennis Hopper, Easy Rider, we were drawn back to 1969 to shed light on the influences of drugs, sex, and culture as the characters began to question the American system in this counterculture movement. The counterculture movement provoked an alternative lifestyle that came about during the Vietnam War. The tensions following the protests of human inequalities embodying racial segregation and the frustration faced with the draft system resulted in not only the Civil Rights Movement, but the counterculture movement as well. This film, Easy Rider, helped to formulate and to transition over to the New Hollywood era, or also referred to as the American New Wave.

Films throughout American history have focused on such a wide array of topics – a lot of them having to do with the time period in which they were produced. Some of these topics appear all throughout the history of film, one of them being crime. No matter where you go or where you look, whether it be in a certain place or a certain time period, you can’t escape crime; it’s always there – which is why I think crime is such a popular topic in American films. One of the most popular crime films in America is Bonnie and Clyde – a 1967 film, set during the Great Depression, about a woman who leaves home with a man whom she just met and soon falls in love with to rob banks. However, this movie has a bit of a twist: Bonnie and Clyde, the criminal couple, are portrayed throughout the movie as heroes – the audience is actually sort of invited to root for them to not get caught by the laws and to escape. This unusual crime film illustrates a liberal perspective by portraying Bonnie and Clyde, the criminals, as the heroes and the cops, as well as the banks, as the antagonists. The uniqueness of this film kind of shows how America in the 1960s felt about crime and how the cops and the banks are a part of a failing system in society at the time.

This essay is based on films of the same story, told in different ways, with emphasis, themes, meaning and interpretation shaped or shaded by the situation of the storyteller; the cinematic mise-en-scene. Based on the same story, the films reveal and reflect the film-maker’s social norms and views, emerging from their different national contexts. While exploring the two films, this essay will examine elements of film language or semiotics: color saturation (or black and white), sound, setting, type of camera angles used; repetition of visual motifs (Metz, 1985). The two films explored were made in the 1960s. Neither film is American, yet both reveal influences and reflections on American cinema and American power; the Western film, adherence or detracting from Hollywood Classical cinema tropes, i.e. close-ups, shot-reverse-shot, POV, depth of field (Bazin, 1985: 128-9). The two films are Kurasawa’s Yojimbo (1961) and Leone’s Fistful of Dollars (1964), from Japan and Italy, respectively. How are they different; how similar? Why do they use the same plot,

The Bonnie and Clyde film does promote the life of an armed robber or law breaker in many ways, through the costumes, makeup, props, music and the film production. making bonnie and Clyde seem like Robin Hood during the great depression in the film. committing violent crime sprees across the country. Going after banks that are taking away the homes of many that can’t afford it.

It had been a month since Bud Shirley’s death. At only sixteen years of age, young Belle Starr stared at the gravesite with a heavy heart. Her brother had been by her side since her birth in 1848. Her mother had taught her to enjoy ladylike pursuits, but Bud had taught her how to ride and shoot a gun. Belle excelled at marksmanship and put herself above any man. With Bud gone, Belle found a new way to exploit her talent by running away from her Missouri home and stealing riches. As a right hand to Jesse James, Belle was the “Bandit Queen” and was an outlaw in her own right. In her travels, Belle had never forgotten her brother’s murder at the hands of Yankee soldiers. As she stood at the grave of her brother, her partner, Bruce Younger, dismounted his horse.

With themes of dramatic violence, intense promiscuity and unusual social norms, Bonnie and Clyde is nothing short of a spectacular winding rollercoaster of a film that takes its audience through numerous ups and downs.

By analyzing the historical contexts of these specific movements, we take a deeper look at society's social, religious, economic, and political conditions that existed during a certain time and place. These relevant factors profuse mass influence into a filmmakers decisions while in the production process of a film. Additionally, these components have the role of establishing distinct trends in the film industry. Each movement has its own purpose for creating each film in regards to a stylistic standpoint.