Director Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde, the fact-based drama of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow’s crime spree across the Depression era Dustbowl was a shocker back in the summer of 1967. Movie goers had not seen that extreme graphic violence especially coupled with the films beauty. The final shootout scene was a turning point towards naturalism and realism in American film.
Audiences couldn’t help but relate to Bonnie and Clyde – they were presented as glamorous, love crazy desperadoes, and romantic, sexual beings bathed in golden light of the wheat fields when they weren’t robbing banks and killing people. We were complicit in what they did, which was the power of Penn’s direction and the fact that they were cultural superstars of the 30’s.
Penn’s Complexity
Set against the violence was its poetic tone and evocative performances by Warren Beatty, Fay Dunaway, Gene Hackman and Estelle Parsons. Penn’s graceful; risk taking direction gave it tremendous moral complexity.
Penn said at the time “I thought that if we’re going to show this (violence), we should SHOW it. We should show what it looks like when somebody gets shot. TV coverage of Vietnam was every bit, perhaps even more, bloody than what we were showing on film.”
Bonnie and Clyde garnered ten Oscar nominations and won two, one for Parsons for her incredibly full bodied portrayal of the reluctant criminal’s wife and the other for Burnett Guffey’s breathtaking cinematography. Itremains a classic and a money maker (It cost 2.5M and by 1973 had earned 50M) but it’s rarely seen on the big screen. TIFF Cinemateque is remedying that with showings over the next couple of weeks as part of its tribute to Penn called Night Moves,, from now until April 4th.
The Essential Penn
Penn’s career began in the days of live television drama, where Norman Jewison earned his stripes.He went on to make seminal movies and then returned to television in his later years, always with his unique thumbprint. TIFF calls him “a severe critic of American values, a generous chronicler of moral dissent, a maverick who helped disassemble the studio system, and, perhaps above all, an actor’s director”. Penn famously directed 8 actors to Oscar winning / nominated performances - Patty Duke, Anne Bancroft, Estelle Parsons, Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, Michael J. Pollard and Chief Dan George. Duke, Bancroft and Parsons won Oscars for their performances in one of Penn's movies.
TIFF Tribute Line-up
Other Penn films on the TIFF roster are Little Big Man (1970), Mickey One (1965), The Left Handed Gun (1958), The Miracle Worker (1962), The Missouri Breaks (1976), Alice’s Restaurant (1969), Night Moves (1975), Four Friends (1981) and The Chase (1966).
Little Big Man
Dustin Hoffman’s character ages 100 years in Little Big Man, a sprawling western epic that co-starred Dunaway as an older would be lover. Hoffman’s character recites his personal history as a white boy raised by natives and was present at Little Big Horn when Custer fell.
Alice’s Restaurant
Alice’ Restaurant seems an odd turn for Penn, the story of a hippie arrested for littering, whose life is turned upside down. The script was gleaned from Arlo Guthrie’s “story song” of the same title. Guthrie, who was Woody Guthrie’s son, starred although he had no acting experience and as usual for an actor under Penn’s wing, completely charmed audiences and the film became a breakout hit.
Mickey One
Warren Beatty stars in the jazz flavoured crime noir Mickey One, as a comedian with mob problems. The plot is winding and information is uncertain and the film is infused with paranoia reflective of the Cold War.
The Miracle Worker
Patty Duke and Ann Bancroft battle it out as a deaf mute girl and her teacher Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker, based on a true story. At points the representation of emotion is so keen it’s hard to watch but there is no doubt that the Duke, Bancroft and Penn are a combustive trio.
Penn’s Legacy
It’s a rich legacy Arthur Penn left behind. In many ways he shaped the culture of the 60’s and 70’s by presenting films that reflected the zeitgeist and energy of the times, remaining steadfast and unafraid to make movies exactly the way he envisioned them, set in their times and places.
Anne Brodie - I review films each week on Corus and Rogers TV and for Metro News Canada, AskMen.com and Monsters and Critics. I profile celebrities for ...
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