True Stories 6: 60s—Bonnie and Clyde

As we continue our look at films that are born of true stories, we move from last week’s In Cold Blood where we follow two murderers as they commit a horrific crime, to this week’s Bonnie and Clyde [1967] by David Newman and Robert Benton, where we follow two killers as they commit multiple murders on a mad crime spree.

Both films came out in 1967 but—even though they each focus on two killers—they couldn’t be more different. There’s a darkness and psychological angst that permeate In Cold Blood while Bonnie and Clyde gives us two characters who are magnetic and fun. Sure, they have their problems, but they also just seem… misdirected, somehow, rather than truly evil.

Take a look at the trailer for the film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ACCpXaA-MU

As the trailer says in its romantic opening—“They’re young. They’re in love. They kill people.” So we see a love story and a crime story. We’re allowed—in fact, pretty much encouraged—to like these two young killers. We’re shown all sides of them and some viewers might even find themselves rooting for them, despite their murderous ways.

How interesting, yes? The fun, exciting, romantic side of crime.

Like In Cold Blood, this film is based on a true story - that of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. And no, it’s not 100% accurate to the facts. For example, in real life Bonnie was married but her husband was in jail for murder.

One interesting aspect of Bonnie and Clyde is that it’s set in the 30s during the depression. Both Bonnie and Clyde were raised in poor households and both were tired of being poor and of living the dull lives they seemed stuck with. Clyde started out as a small-time thief—just to get out of the poverty that he hated. And Bonnie—just like in the movie—did write poetry.

Both of them are interesting characters. They’re brazen, for sure, but we also see them in vulnerable moments. They’re not just “the bad guys” because we see them in more situations than just the killing they do.

In In Cold Blood we see Perry and Dick only as broken, twisted men. Through the trial, we try to get to their reasons for doing what they did, but in the end, they’re just despicable and we can’t wait to see them punished for their crimes.

But there’s a tinge of regret when we see Bonnie and Clyde pay the ultimate price for their crimes. Over the course of the film we’ve gotten to know their backstories, their friends, their hopes—and sure, they’re callous and no good, but still… Still there’s something sad about how they end up. They’re characters who aren’t all bad—they’re bad, but there’s a part of each of them that shows a vulnerability that’s hard to forget. So in the end, we’re torn… just a bit.

And that’s masterful storytelling—to showcase two brazen killers and still let us see the humanity in them.

Next week, let’s go to politics in the 70s and a different stratum of the criminal element… in All the President’s Men

Copyright © Diane Lake

10Jul22

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