Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde: Importance in the Overall History of Art
There are many different thoughts of what makes a great movie: an interesting plot, handsome actors and pretty actresses, intriguing music, powerful writing, directing, editing, etc. Bonnie and Clyde by Arthur Penn is the movie where all the above-mentioned issues go hand in hand. Arthur Penn is regarded to be an innovator, who was not afraid to introduce new lines, retell real life stories, and use killers as the main characters to evoke sympathy and understanding of the viewers; his artistic achievement into the American history was unbelievable: he did not want to change the art of the movie industry only, his main goal was to draw audience’s attention and offer new ideas to a new generation.
This film was created in the middle of 1900s; and along with such great works like Singing in the Rain, Kiss Me Deadly, and On the Water Front, Bonnie and Clyde depicts the main themes of the mid 1900s, peculiarities of the Great Depression, and people’s attitude to everything that went around. Bonnie and Clyde was the movie that caused “moral ambivalence that piqued the censors” (Segaloff 70). The majority of people did not understand how it was possible to support and sympathize with the killers and, what is more important, to promote the idea of rebellion against the existing financial system and the banks. It was new to see how a man is shot in his face on the moving car. First, it was a new step for Arthur Penn as a director. Second, it was a real challenge for Arthur Penn as a human to break all ethical and moral principles and kill the representative of law.
Arthur Penn showed how it is possible not to afraid of people’s reaction. His Bonnie and Clyde is a powerful example of the work that may be not accepted as soon as it was created, still, gain recognition and admiration within a short period of time.