American New Wave Research - Bonnie and Clyde

Bonnie and Clyde is a 1967 American biographical crime film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the title characters Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker. 

Bonnie and Clyde is considered a landmark film, and is regarded as one of the first films of the New Hollywood era, since it broke many cinematic taboos and was popular with the younger generation. For some members of the counterculture, the film was considered to be a "rallying cry." Its success prompted other filmmakers to be more open in presenting sex and violence in their films. The film's ending also became iconic as "one of the bloodiest death scenes in cinematic history".

1967 was the year that everything changed. As Peter Biskind puts it, two films “sent tremors through the industry”. One of those films was The Graduate, directed by Mike Nichols from the Charles Webb novel, adapted by Buck Henry. The other was Bonnie and Clyde.

The 1960s was the era when Hollywood fell behind in every way possible: æsthetic, commercial and technological. Instead of setting trends, for the first time it was following them.

• legitimised violence against the establishment
• a movement film

Bonnie and Clyde influenced many films since its release including Taratino's Pulp Fiction