Editing in Bonnie and Clyde
Before Mickey and Mallory, there was Bonnie and Clyde. If you had thought by 1967 the gangster film genre had died, you would have been DEAD wrong. Bonnie and Clyde (1967) is a remarkable film for so many reasons. The film was released in the late sixties, well into the reigning progress of the new wave Hollywood fascist Czar Jack Valenti, therefore the director and editor had to find a way to find a unique way of expressing the violence without actually showing the violence. Authur Penn’s stunningly photographed and raw, heartpounding action film owes a lot to the way the film is edited. It is one thing to film a scene where someone is shot, but it is another to really dig into the story and find a unique way of taking that one shot, but breaking it down and showing the audience a little more than what the human eye is capable of perceiving. There are two scenes in particular that not only show excellence in fine editing, but create additional support for the story itself. The rhythmic editing in Bonnie and Clyde is used to evoke sexual tension and also give alteration to the plot itself.
The first scene is merely six minutes into the film, and takes place at the gas station, where Clyde tells Bonnie his past about robbing banks. The first shot is of Clyde chugging a coke, while holding a match gripped tightly with his lips, then we CUT to a reverse shot of Bonnie taking a small gulp, eyes set right on Clyde. She brings the bottle down and rubs the tip against her lips back and forth. CUT and we have a medium shot of both characters, where we notice Bonnie’s eyes have not left Clyde and he continues chugging, but this longer shot also includes Bonnie asking him about the experience. CUT to Bonnie again, eyes still planted, but she takes them away to look off and back on Clyde to say her next line. QUICK CUT back to Clyde, who looks down and thinks about it, even bites down on the match to cause it to bounce up and down, and then another QUICK CUT back to Bonnie, where she takes another gulp. CUT and back to Clyde, where he delivers his response, and then another QUICK CUT to Bonnie with her giving the unconvinced expression, where she brings the bottle down and begins turning. CUT and the action is sustained to the next shot, back to the medium, with Bonnie continuing the turn, and this one is also probably the longest of this scene (probably to give the audience a second to prepare for what is about to happen). Clyde looks around in this shot, opens his coat and discreetly pulls out a gun, holding it low. Very quickly, we CUT to Bonnie looking down to see what he is holding. At the very last second of the shot, she appears shocked, but then another QUICK CUT to her POV, looking downward at Clyde holding the gun. And then we have another QUICK CUT back up to Bonnie with her eyes still looking down, which now slowly come back up to Clyde’s level. CUT and back to medium close up with Clyde doing the matchstick bounce again. CUT and we have a shot from behind Clyde, where Bonnie slowly approaches him and looks down at the gun. QUICK CUT to the shot of the gun, but this time her hand softly grazes the tip of it, and she’s able to get in a, “Ohh yeahh.” QUICK CUT to close-up of Clyde’s face with a satisfied smirk. CUT to close up of Bonnie, whose mouth is open in amazement.
First of all, the scene contains a considerable amount of sexual tension, smuggled in subliminally. This scene is edited very rhythmically. Juxtaposing the cuts of the characters talking with the quick cuts of objects and their reactions creates a visual rapid pace, adding the icing on the cake to the sexual tension the scene conveys. The “experience” of robbing banks clearly symbolizes the act of sex itself, and the weapon he uses in robbing banks, the gun, well translates to his “weapon” of a penis in the act of sex. In the beginning, she rubs the bottle’s tip against her lips, symbolizing the longing of what later will be shown. This is apparent, because the scene after this one, Bonnie tries to have sex with Clyde. Story and editing come full circle, because no dialogue exists that is powerful enough to tell what the editing managed to show. But this analysis would not have been made possible without the rhythmic style of editing used.
The second scene involves the big shootout between the gang and the police. The scene is edited as follows: shot of Buck and Blanche sleeping in bed. Cut to C.W. sleeping in bed, Bonnie enters and puts a jacket on. Cut to tranquil shot of the outside house. Quick Cut to cop knocking on door. Cut to Buck and Blanche waking up. Quick Cut from behind, watching Blanche struggle to silence Buck. Quick Cut to Buck shocked. Cut to cop walking down to the next room. Quick Cut to Buck getting out of bed. Cut to cop walking around back. Cut to cop cars quietly pulling up. Quick Cut to guns firing. Quick Cut to mirror shattering. Quick Cut to Bonnie and Clyde hiding under the bed. Quick Cut to C.W. grabbing an Uzi. Quick Cut to Clyde leaping over the bed and taking cover under the window. Quick Cut to Buck and Blanche getting things together. Cut to more police cars pulling up. Quick Cut to police officers firing. Quick Cut to house being shot at. Quick Cut to window shattering. Quick Cut to Clyde knocking light bulb out with gun. Quick Cut to C.W. shooting at police. Quick Cut to Clyde knocking out window and firing. Quick Cut to cop firing. Quick Cut to house, with firing occurring from both windows. Quick Cut to police firing from behind cars. Quick Cut to Buck and Blanche still getting ready. Quick Cut to Bonnie taking out another Uzi from the closet. Quick Cut of her changing places with C.W. Quick Cut to C.W. taking a grenade out of a box in the closet. Quick Cut of Bonnie firing. Quick Cut to cop getting shot. Quick Cut to C.W. sneaking out the back window. Quick Cut to Clyde shooting, and then quick cut to Bonnie shooting. Then five consecutive Quick Cuts of cops shooting. Quick Cut to a medium long shot of the firing back and forth. Quick Cut of Clyde running out. Quick Cut to car pulling up. Quick Cut to Clyde shooting and Quick Cut back to the car, which flips over. Quick Cut to Buck and Blanche holding mattress. Quick Cut to cops firing. Quick Cut to C.W. holding grenade. He throws it. Quick Cut to car explosion. Quick Cut to Bonnie and Clyde getting into car. Quick Cut to cops firing. Quick Cut to Buck and Blanche coming out shielded by the mattress. Quick Cut to cops firing. Quick Cut to Buck getting shot in the head. Quick Cut to car coming around. Quick Cut to Bonnie shooting. Quick Cut to continuing shots fired in a different location. Quick Cut of everyone getting in the car.
This scene is pivotal, because many editing techniques are used. They take the idea of montage and push it to the extreme. By using the contrast Quick Cuts, one feels the “collision-effect” while watching this scene. Also, there exists a rhythmic pace from the shots in the beginning with the cop inspecting the grounds, invoking a calm feeling, to the intense feeling of chaos in the shootout shots. Spatial relation is used as well with the crosscutting of Bonnie and Clyde shooting from inside the house, to the cops shooting outside, and even to Buck and Blanche getting ready. Duration is played around with as well, because even though the individual shots are quick, the overall scene is pretty long, making one feels like they are watching a neverending war occur on the battlefield. Editing and story come full circle by marking the first moment where the cops have the advantage. Buck is even shot in the head, creating the death, therefore erupting the mental stability of the group, which handicaps Bonnie and Clyde, eventually bringing them to their demise.
