some 21st century updates.
This film is well made and for obvious reasons is considered a milestone in formulating an acceptance of the anti-hero (one of the first American movies to portray sympathetic murderers), as well as pushing the era's limits in its depiction of sex and violence. Wouldn't argue with any of that. Nor would I argue with it being well written and superbly acted.
Some may consider this movie to be the beginning of the end of polite and civil society. A reporter from the New York TIMES was eventually fired for his critique which expressed a general revulsion for the film's violent content. The reporter, Bosley Crowther, was let go from his position for being deemed out of touch with the public’s tastes.
The Texas Ranger whose posse shot down the Barrrow gang in Louisiana is depicted as a bumbling fool who seeks revenge for an earlier humiliation shown in the film. Yet in real life Texas Ranger Frank Hamer had never set eyes on any member of the Barrow gang prior to his part in their violent death. Upon the released of BONNIE AND CLYDE, Hamer’s family sued for defamation of character and settled for an undisclosed amount out of court. The sidekick savant is a composite of two members of the Barrow gang. In the movie, this character plays Judas in this modern passion play. The real life W.D. Jones filed a lawsuit against Warner Brothers, essentially for being portrayed as a squeal. His petition was never heard. Perhaps it’d be better to play loose with the facts long after anyone who’d personally be affected by such a film had died. Even the real life Blanch found her portrayal by Academy Award winner for best supporting actress Estelle Parsons to be inaccurate enough to have her say, "That film made me look like a screaming horse's ass!"
As I think of the area where I live and the gangsters who are much admired in this region where I live – one of the cities in the Oakland/Richmond/Vallejo triangle. There’s a scene in BONNIE AND CLYDE where the three remaining outlaws seek water in a downtrodden migrant camp. The poor and destitute treat Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker as though they’re saints or guardian angels, adorning them with humble gifts of gratitude. Now I live in a mostly black neighborhood. There’s no great love where I live for the police or for banks. If well-known criminals were to come seeking refuge from some of the folks who live here, they might receive a similar treatment, bestowing of gifts and all. I can think of a few immediate friends and family who might be inclined to do same.
No doubt there’d be a cry of outrage from some black or Latino groups if this were shown in a mainstream film, as well as some cause for consternation amongst various law enforcement groups. Such outrage would be justified and, as with Ice T’s “Cop Killer,” guardians of the First Amendment might find themselves having to protect that most precious of American rights if a modern version of this film were made. After all, none of the Great Depression era police officers killed in 1967’s BONNIE AND CLYDE are shown to be especially corrupt or deserving of their violent deaths. Although nowhere near as charming, the modern equivalent of this film is Oliver Stone’s NATURAL BORN KILLERS, a film which is something of an acquired taste not to the liking of most.
All these years later BONNIE AND CLYDE still packs a punch, for better or worse. Avoid the cinnamon Wheat Thins if possibl