What global events had just taken place and were taking place at the time of the film’s production?

In a way Bonnie and Clyde were pioneers, consolidating the vein of violence in American history and exploiting it for the first time in the mass media. At the time, the Vietnam War was still taking place.

Explain how these events may have impacted on the style and content of the film itself.

The film resonated with the young movie-going public, conditioned by the violent images from the Vietnam War that were broadcast on the nightly news and splashed across the front of newspapers.

What global events had just taken place and were taking place at the time of the film’s production?

Casablanca is an exploration of the universal themes of love and sacrifice, but when the film was released in 1942, audiences viewed it as a political allegory about World War II. The film is set in December 1941, the month in which the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

Explain how these events may have impacted on the style and content of the film itself.

There was alot of realism in the film as it was filmed and set during World War II, it focuses on an American expatriate (Bogart) who must choose between his love for a woman (Bergman) and helping her husband (Henreid), a Czechoslovak resistance leader, escape from the Vichy-controlled city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Germans.

Men:

Women:

women are portrayed stereotypically in this film. With the character Ilse relying on Rick to save her having no say or control in what happens.

Authority Figures:

People of colour:

The character of Sam plays a role in the film being related to both of the main characters and their love story in Paris. It may be a minor role but for the time a black man having a part in the plot at all was progressive compared to other films that lacked or mocked people of colour.

Americans:

Europeans:

The late 1960s saw the transition from studio-led films to more creatively free ones, which gave Arthur Penn the opportunity to make Bonnie and Clyde more violent than the traditional Hollywood film would have been. Studios were unwilling to make financial risks at this time due to audience decline, but Warner Bros challenged this by still allowing Penn and Beatty to produce their intended version of the film.

Women are represented in a way that counters stereotypes from the 1960s, when the film released. Bonnie is portrayed as confident and unafraid to stand up for herself against characters like Buck. Additionally, she doesn’t simply take orders from the men of the film, instead being presented more equally.

Men such as Clyde too challenge common ideologies from the time. Throughout the film, Bonnie attempts to have sex with Clyde several times, but he refuses with lines such as “I ain’t much of a loverboy”, suggesting impotence.

Authority Figures can be seen through the character of Frank Hamer. He is initially portrayed as weak and incapable of stopping the group, but once Blanche is blinded, Hamer comes across as more vengeful and eager to put an end to Bonnie and Clyde’s crimes.

People of Colour are notably absent throughout the majority of the film, besides the character of Davis, who works with Otis Harris. Davis has no lines in the film, and can be seen waiting to be instructed by Harris before shooting the gun at the window. This is a negative representation, as Davis’ character is not represented equally to his white co-worker. However, it may be historically accurate, as racial prejudice was still common in the 1930s.

Working Class Americans are represented as sympathetic, having lost what they had worked for during the Great Depression (which is when the film is set). The farmer who had been evicted from his home by the bank is supported by Bonnie and Clyde, who allow him to shoot the sign in front of the house.

Men:

The character of Clyde is more in line with masculine stereotypes being the one that leads the crime spree teaching and guiding them as they go along. He is also the most violent out of the two being able to murder a random civilian without hesitation to get away.

Women:

The character of Bonnie breaks the stereotype of women within the film. As she is seen to engage within the violent behaviour carrying a gun and intimidating the park ranger. She also isn’t shown as inferior to Clyde having a say in decisions not being scared to stand up to him.

Authority figures:

Authority figures are shown as the antagonists throughout the film being an obstacle to Bonnie and Clyde’s criminal activities. In the first half of the film they are mocked examples being when they shoot at the barn in resentment of the bank or when they take menacing pictures with the park ranger. however in the second half they become more of a threat as the ranger is able to get their whereabouts leading to their death.

People of Colour:

Black people are barley represented within the film at all with the only black character being one the farmers who has little to no dialogue. the representation isn’t negative but inequality is still seen through an absent of racially diverse characters.

Working class:

Working class people are portrayed sympathetically having little to no money and are shown as victims of the upper class an example being the farmer who had his house repossessed by the bank. Therefore Bonnie and Clyde are not shown harming the working class but rather the rich in an act to avenge them in some way.

The film Bonne and Clyde plays around with it editing breaking the rules by using fast rapid shots and discontinuity editing. An example being the ending scene in which Bonne and Clyde are shot dead with the camera rapidly switching shots between them and the gunmen.

1.LS shot of gunshots through the bushes

2. MS shot of Clyde being shot and falling to the ground

3.MCU reaction shot of Bonne screaming before being shot at

4.reverse LS shot of gunmen in view shooting

Dialogue – Bonnie and Clyde referring to the character of C.W. Moss as ‘boy’ establishes the idea that he is looked down upon and isn’t respected by the pair.

Underscoring – As the final scene fades and ‘The End’ appears on screen, a quiet and sombre piece of music plays. This emotionally impacts the film as it reinforces to the audience that the main characters are dead and their crime spree has come to an end.

Sound Motif – Throughout the film, an upbeat song plays while the characters flee from places they have just robbed, adding an almost comedic tone to these specific scenes.

Sound Mixing – The use of bird noises during exterior scenes adds a sense of realism and verisimilitude to the film.

The hub of Film production had to move from the East Coast of America to Hollywood because of a patent that Edison had on essential filming techniques and equipment. Hollywood was far enough away from the East Coast to avoid the law, and not have to pay a fee for every time they use a piece of equipment.

Hollywood was also good because of its sunlight, versatile landscape, cheap land, etc…

The Cousins described Sweden and Denmark as the best place in the world to film. This was because of their unique light that gave films a certain look. Censorship was also fairly loose in these countries compared to America, giving filmmakers more creative freedom.

Two famous film directors that were marked as incredible by the cousins in this area were:

Victor Sjöström, who directed the film ‘Phantom Carriage’ (1921)

Benjamin Christensen, who directed ‘The Mysterious X’ (1914)

‘The Birth of a Nation’ (1915) was directed by D. W. Griffith. This was deemed a controversial film because of its showing of racism and portraying the KKK as heroes, and its use of ‘black face’. Despite its cinematic beauty, it then led to lynching’s, segregation, and is used by white supremacies.

D. W. Griffith is the director of Birth of a nation (1915) the film continues to divine opinions among film critics, practitioners and theorists as the subject of the film is extremely problematic regarding the writing and the cast, but also uses various film techniques that had not been used together before, making the film look very good despite it’s controversial writing.