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Bonnie and Clyde remains as influential today as it it was in 1967. This film has been charged with glamorizing criminals and elevating the acceptable threshold for screen violence. Additionally, French New Wave Cinema heavily influenced the film, particularly in its mixture of tones and choppy editing. Director Arthur Penn began a new tradition of auteur-driven projects and capitalized on the weakening Production Code, which permanently changed the Hollywood Studio System. While it was not the first film to depict violence, it was the first do so in the name of art film and in such an extreme manner. The reception of this film was controversial, with some critics praising its innovativeness, while others condemned the explicit violence. These sources lend insight into the controversy surrounding Bonnie and Clyde, the influence of French New Wave Cinema, and the impact of Arthur Penn on New Hollywood. Drawing inspiration from French New Wave cinema, Bonnie and Clyde broke Hollywood taboos by portraying murdering bank-robbers as a glamorous and sympathetic romantic couple.
tagged 1960s arthur_penn auteur_theory bonnie_and_clyde french_new_wave screen_violence
by kingsley
...on 09-APR-08
Bernstein, Matthew. "Perfecting the New Gangster: Writing Bonnie and Clyde."
Film Quarterly 53.4 (2000). JSTOR . 26 Mar. 2008
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Bernstein’s article analyzes the continual script revision of Bonnie and Clyde to demonstrate how the film integrated characteristics of French New Wave cinema with conventions of Hollywood. Screenwriters David Newman and Robert Benton were great admirers of French New Wave Cinema. In fact, Francois Truffaut even helped edit their script after turning down the position as director. According to Bernstein’s analysis of the script, the French New Wave influenced the original concept, storyline, narrative structure, and character development. Newman and Benton were focused on developing Bonnie and Clyde as endearing bad guys. Similarly, the writers tried to create a mixture of tones through juxtaposition of opposites, such as the combination of comic relief with gory violence. The original script was actually even more European in style, but revisions create a more coherent and Hollywood style by making Bonnie and Clyde more conventionally romantic and strengthening the linear narrative by focusing mainly on Bonnie and Clyde’s perspective. This article also demonstrates how Arthur Penn and his team broke tradition and started a new era in Hollywood. For example, despite offending studio-head Jack Warner, Newman, Benton, and Penn were determined to include gory action sequences and charged language.
This article demonstrates how Newman and Benton used the stylization of French New Wave to create a new American gangster, mainly through a mixture of tones and juxtaposition of opposites (such as love and crime, or comedy and violence). Additionally, the writers knowingly and purposefully broke social conventions of Hollywood. For the first time, brutal criminals were likable, and horrific scenes were integrated with comic undertones. As a result of Bonnie and Clyde, directors earned more power and took greater stylistic risks. Films, therefore, were developed according to new institutional standards with significantly less studio influence.
Film Quarterly 53.4 (2000). JSTOR . 26 Mar. 2008
0?searchUrl=http%3a//www.jstor.org/search/
AdvancedResults%3fhp%3d25;si%3d1;q0%3dbonnie%2band%2bclyde;f0%3d;c0%dAND;wc%3don;sd%3d;ed%3d;la%3d;dc%3dAnthropology;dc%3dArt%20History;dc%3dCl>.
Bernstein’s article analyzes the continual script revision of Bonnie and Clyde to demonstrate how the film integrated characteristics of French New Wave cinema with conventions of Hollywood. Screenwriters David Newman and Robert Benton were great admirers of French New Wave Cinema. In fact, Francois Truffaut even helped edit their script after turning down the position as director. According to Bernstein’s analysis of the script, the French New Wave influenced the original concept, storyline, narrative structure, and character development. Newman and Benton were focused on developing Bonnie and Clyde as endearing bad guys. Similarly, the writers tried to create a mixture of tones through juxtaposition of opposites, such as the combination of comic relief with gory violence. The original script was actually even more European in style, but revisions create a more coherent and Hollywood style by making Bonnie and Clyde more conventionally romantic and strengthening the linear narrative by focusing mainly on Bonnie and Clyde’s perspective. This article also demonstrates how Arthur Penn and his team broke tradition and started a new era in Hollywood. For example, despite offending studio-head Jack Warner, Newman, Benton, and Penn were determined to include gory action sequences and charged language.
This article demonstrates how Newman and Benton used the stylization of French New Wave to create a new American gangster, mainly through a mixture of tones and juxtaposition of opposites (such as love and crime, or comedy and violence). Additionally, the writers knowingly and purposefully broke social conventions of Hollywood. For the first time, brutal criminals were likable, and horrific scenes were integrated with comic undertones. As a result of Bonnie and Clyde, directors earned more power and took greater stylistic risks. Films, therefore, were developed according to new institutional standards with significantly less studio influence.
belongs to Bonnie and Clyde project
tagged arthur_penn avant-garde david_newman francois_truffaut french_new_wave gangsters jack_warner robert_benton by kingsley ...on 09-APR-08
tagged arthur_penn avant-garde david_newman francois_truffaut french_new_wave gangsters jack_warner robert_benton by kingsley ...on 09-APR-08
Call#: Van Pelt Library PN1995.9.R63 M54 2006
Mills, Katie. “Genre and Gender in 1970s New Hollywood.” The Road Story and the Rebel: Moving Through Film, Fiction, and Television . Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2006.
Katie Mills’ book describes the roots and defining features of New Hollywood. The term “New Hollywood” distinguishes the time periods of the old studio system and the director-driven projects of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Inspired by the French New Wave, American filmmakers were dedicated to auteurism, which emphasized signature styles of individual directors. During this new era, American directors combined the European avant-garde with relevant cultural themes like social revolutions, rebellions, the mystique of the open road, and powerful female characters. In fact, Mills praises Bonnie and Clyde for its groundbreaking portrayal of gender. Bonnie was a sexual and powerful female, which represented the growing influence of the women’s movement.
According to Mills, Bonnie and Clyde mixed French New Wave art film rebelliousness with the American themes of outlaws, rural heartlands, and romance of the open road. Arthur Penn helped inspire the auteur rebellion against Old Hollywood and invited New Hollywood institutions, practices, and themes by breaking tradition. Most importantly, Bonnie and Clyde proved the commercial success of trying something new, in this case French New Wave style, which contributed to the rise of New Hollywood. Penn’s film had a huge impact on the style and narrative of auteurist films and the road genre.
Katie Mills’ book describes the roots and defining features of New Hollywood. The term “New Hollywood” distinguishes the time periods of the old studio system and the director-driven projects of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Inspired by the French New Wave, American filmmakers were dedicated to auteurism, which emphasized signature styles of individual directors. During this new era, American directors combined the European avant-garde with relevant cultural themes like social revolutions, rebellions, the mystique of the open road, and powerful female characters. In fact, Mills praises Bonnie and Clyde for its groundbreaking portrayal of gender. Bonnie was a sexual and powerful female, which represented the growing influence of the women’s movement.
According to Mills, Bonnie and Clyde mixed French New Wave art film rebelliousness with the American themes of outlaws, rural heartlands, and romance of the open road. Arthur Penn helped inspire the auteur rebellion against Old Hollywood and invited New Hollywood institutions, practices, and themes by breaking tradition. Most importantly, Bonnie and Clyde proved the commercial success of trying something new, in this case French New Wave style, which contributed to the rise of New Hollywood. Penn’s film had a huge impact on the style and narrative of auteurist films and the road genre.
belongs to Bonnie and Clyde project
tagged arthur_penn auteur_theory french_new_wave new_hollywood road_films women's_movement by kingsley ...on 05-APR-08
tagged arthur_penn auteur_theory french_new_wave new_hollywood road_films women's_movement by kingsley ...on 05-APR-08