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Bernstein, Matthew. "Perfecting the New Gangster: Writing Bonnie and Clyde."
Film Quarterly 53.4 (2000). JSTOR . 26 Mar. 2008
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Bernstein’s article analyzes the continual script revision of Bonnie and Clyde to demonstrate how the film integrated characteristics of French New Wave cinema with conventions of Hollywood. Screenwriters David Newman and Robert Benton were great admirers of French New Wave Cinema. In fact, Francois Truffaut even helped edit their script after turning down the position as director. According to Bernstein’s analysis of the script, the French New Wave influenced the original concept, storyline, narrative structure, and character development. Newman and Benton were focused on developing Bonnie and Clyde as endearing bad guys. Similarly, the writers tried to create a mixture of tones through juxtaposition of opposites, such as the combination of comic relief with gory violence. The original script was actually even more European in style, but revisions create a more coherent and Hollywood style by making Bonnie and Clyde more conventionally romantic and strengthening the linear narrative by focusing mainly on Bonnie and Clyde’s perspective. This article also demonstrates how Arthur Penn and his team broke tradition and started a new era in Hollywood. For example, despite offending studio-head Jack Warner, Newman, Benton, and Penn were determined to include gory action sequences and charged language.
This article demonstrates how Newman and Benton used the stylization of French New Wave to create a new American gangster, mainly through a mixture of tones and juxtaposition of opposites (such as love and crime, or comedy and violence). Additionally, the writers knowingly and purposefully broke social conventions of Hollywood. For the first time, brutal criminals were likable, and horrific scenes were integrated with comic undertones. As a result of Bonnie and Clyde, directors earned more power and took greater stylistic risks. Films, therefore, were developed according to new institutional standards with significantly less studio influence.
Film Quarterly 53.4 (2000). JSTOR . 26 Mar. 2008
0?searchUrl=http%3a//www.jstor.org/search/
AdvancedResults%3fhp%3d25;si%3d1;q0%3dbonnie%2band%2bclyde;f0%3d;c0%dAND;wc%3don;sd%3d;ed%3d;la%3d;dc%3dAnthropology;dc%3dArt%20History;dc%3dCl>.
Bernstein’s article analyzes the continual script revision of Bonnie and Clyde to demonstrate how the film integrated characteristics of French New Wave cinema with conventions of Hollywood. Screenwriters David Newman and Robert Benton were great admirers of French New Wave Cinema. In fact, Francois Truffaut even helped edit their script after turning down the position as director. According to Bernstein’s analysis of the script, the French New Wave influenced the original concept, storyline, narrative structure, and character development. Newman and Benton were focused on developing Bonnie and Clyde as endearing bad guys. Similarly, the writers tried to create a mixture of tones through juxtaposition of opposites, such as the combination of comic relief with gory violence. The original script was actually even more European in style, but revisions create a more coherent and Hollywood style by making Bonnie and Clyde more conventionally romantic and strengthening the linear narrative by focusing mainly on Bonnie and Clyde’s perspective. This article also demonstrates how Arthur Penn and his team broke tradition and started a new era in Hollywood. For example, despite offending studio-head Jack Warner, Newman, Benton, and Penn were determined to include gory action sequences and charged language.
This article demonstrates how Newman and Benton used the stylization of French New Wave to create a new American gangster, mainly through a mixture of tones and juxtaposition of opposites (such as love and crime, or comedy and violence). Additionally, the writers knowingly and purposefully broke social conventions of Hollywood. For the first time, brutal criminals were likable, and horrific scenes were integrated with comic undertones. As a result of Bonnie and Clyde, directors earned more power and took greater stylistic risks. Films, therefore, were developed according to new institutional standards with significantly less studio influence.
tagged arthur_penn avant-garde david_newman francois_truffaut french_new_wave gangsters jack_warner robert_benton
by kingsley
...on 09-APR-08