Bonnie and Clyde (1967) ****

The film which made the killer bank robbers sympathetic, Bonnie and Clyde is one of my all time favorite films and piqued my interest of Depression-era gangsters. The film chronicles the brief, yet fiery, relationship between real-life criminals Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty) and Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) who "cut a path clean across this state [Texas] and Kansas and Missouri and Oklahoma" and this film assured that, even though they were already well know, their names would now become infamous and immediately recognizable. Beatty's smooth Clyde goes hand in hand with Dunaway's sensual Bonnie and their love story transcends the period and circumstances in which they live. There is a spark between the two of them right from that first time Bonnie glanced out her window and saw Clyde hovering around her mother's car. She's drawn to the sense of adventure life with him would allow a bored, small town girl like herself. He's attracted to her dazzling beauty, and the fire that exists just beneath the surface. She's a rare flower in a garden of weeds and the two fall in love at first sight, just as the audience does with them.

Why are these two killers so favored by the audience? Well the dynamic leads are a certain factor. Beatty and Dunaway light up the screen with their good looks and charm. The narrative also places them as reluctant killers, not ones who go off shooting innocent people for the fun of it, but only when forced to as a means of survival. Outside of that first murder, the bank manager who jumps on the car's runner, the murders perpetrated by the Barrow gang are only those of law enforcement officials who are trying to hunt them down. That first murder is also instantly regretted by Clyde. He states he's worried that they'll all hang now on a murder charge, but it's clear he's also shaken by the fact he has just purposefully taken another man's life. Similar to his reaction when the cook attacks him with a cleaver while he's stealing groceries, the life and death situation frightens him and he abhors having to hurt common folk, like them, who he's certainly not against. Murder in the film is a grisly business, and they are not carefree killers. Only when it's kill or be killed do they unleash their armored fury, such as when Clyde shoots the guard's cap off rather than kill him, and their battle is not with regular folks, who they avoid hurting at any costs.

It's not all gloom and doom however, as the Barrow gang robs banks for the thrill and fun of the criminal act. They don't rob individuals, other than stealing cars when necessary, or small businesses. During one such robbery, the only one we see where the full gang participates, Clyde inquires whether money on the counter belongs to the bank or the customer. Finding out it's the customer's, he allows the man to collect his money rather than take it with the rest of the haul. They're honorable thieves following a personal code of honor and partially due to this facet of their reputation is why they are so popular with the public. Another major factor is their high media profile, which they help contribute to by sending in pictures they take while on their exploits. Their newest excapades make for diverting reading during such harsh economic times, which only drives the law harder to try and bring them in as people start to revere outlaws.

The darker side of the criminal life is never really shown, other than the blazing gun battles they frequently engage in with the law. They're a wild group of people looking to keep spirits light, and most importantly to have fun. Clyde's brother Buck (Gene Hackman) would be the best example of this as he's looking to have a hell of a time with his brother. Though he is dragged into the on the run lifestyle because he was forced to kill a police officer during a shoot-out, he's the least serious of the bunch who always trying to get a laugh from the others. The rest of the gang consists of Buck's wife Blanche (Estelle Parsons, in an Oscar nominated role) who desperately wants Buck to leave all this danger and crime behind, and C.W. Moss (Michael J. Pollard), the automobile expert, who while a bit naïve at first regarding the life he's signing up for when he joins the gang, is as capable with an automatic gun as he is fixing an engine.

The most powerful relationship however is the love story between Bonnie and Clyde, one the audience knows is doomed to end with their deaths at the hands of the law. Their brief affair is alight with emotional passion, if not physical due to Clyde's impotence, which puts considerable strain on their relationship compounded with their frantic and deadly lifestyle. Despite all these obstacles, the love between the two of them is pure and clear by just how the two gaze at each other. Through all the turmoils, they stick together, close to the end they are all the other has and are content to lose everything else as long as they have each other. When Bonnie does get fed up and run off one day, Clyde chases her down and begs her never to leave without saying anything. That shot of the two of them holding each other in the cornfield, far away from the rest of the gang, is a visual depiction of how they two of them stay together even when everything else falls away.

Bonnie and Clyde balances the love story with the criminal exploits of the two real outlaws showing stark and brutal depictions of violence, particularly in the increasingly lethal shootouts with the law. It never holds back on the fatal consequences of the life of crime Bonnie and Clyde undertake, but it does ironically juxtapose suck dark acts with times of merriment and glee. The music score best exemplifies this with its upbeat banjo score which contrasts with the shooting getaway chases from pursuing police cars. The audience enjoys the time because Bonnie and Clyde are enjoying their time together. It comes to a unnerving conclusion when they're finally cornered and gunned down like animals, but we know all too well that they are better than that distinction. If you can feel remorse over the loss of these two killers, then the film has succeeded admirably in painting such amoral people in a truly sympathetic light.

Favorite moment: When Buck and Blanche arrive to complete the gang, they take some time to photograph these happy moments. Beatty and Dunaway reenact two of the most famous photos of the bank robbers, particularly Bonnie with cigar and pistol. It's moments like this which makes the film seem as if you're watching history actually transpire. You get to see them take some of their iconic photos, like the ones of the real Bonnie and Clyde that play out over the opening credits.