Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Directed by Arthur Penn. Starring Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Wilder, Evans Evans, Dub Taylor, Denver Pyle. [R]

Milestone of American cinema is a brash, vivid and controversial provocation presenting intertwined humor and violence that comment upon one another, both celebrating and criticizing the excess of filmmaking and the audience’s response to it, as well as the exploitation of the media in making folk hero stars out of criminals. Clyde Barrow (Beatty) and Bonnie Parker (Dunaway) are sold as young lovers on the lam that rob banks, but they’re not very good at robbing banks, and they’re not very good at loving each other either (killing people, on the other hand…). The two stars are peerless in their matching, and the rest of the Barrow Gang is terrifically performed and realized as well: affable hayseed Hackman, his shrieking wife Parsons, shy and dim Pollard. Penn never made a movie like this before or since, thrillingly alive yet sensationalistically brutal; Burnett Guffey’s Oscar-winning photography and Dede Allen’s landmark editing techniques work in tandem for a stylish, electric visual presentation. Shattering, blood-soaked climax is still a powerhouse. Parsons also picked up an Academy Award for her work.

96/100