Rebel and Die In the Hails of Bullets

By Joanna Wu

Due to the turbulency of the American society in 1960s， the radical young people began to have the spirit of counter culture. The film Bonnie and Clyde was the production of that time. Rather than the couple's love and sexual liberalism， I deem that the key word of this movie is confrontation against the social injustice， and from this violent confrontation， I can dig out more essence in American movie.

The prototype of Bonnie and Clyde is a couple of robbers in Great Depression. In this film， what Bonnie and Clyde had done represents the confrontation against social injustice. In one scene， Bonnie and Clyde meet a farmer when they are practicing firing guns. The farmer tells them that he and his families are leaving there because of their bankruptcy， and their house has already taken by the bank. Then Clyde gives the farmer a gun to shoot the window and let him give vent to his dissatisfaction. To some extent， this means revolt against the authority. The bank here represents the authority and the strong while the farmer is weak and poor； however， the strong wants to exploit the weak. This is very unfair. Then， Bonnie and Clyde stand out and confront the injustice. Clyde says to the farmer， "We rob bank！" This is the beginning of their aboveboard confrontation， and their ways of revolt are so-called "violence against violence"， because they fight with guns and kill so many people. Also， the policemen， symbol of the government in the film， become villains. The scene of the shoot-out between the two robbers and the policemen exactly reflects the confrontation against authority. Why does this film have the theme of confrontation？ This film was produced in 1967， but the setting was Depression when the people were struggling against poverty. The condition of Depression is similar to that of 1960s which is the exact time of the film. The society is under the shadow of riot and unrest. The struggle in Depression implies the confrontation against society. Through this implication， the film intends to show and criticize the social injustice in a subtle way. Furthermore， from the unexpected ending that Bonnie and Clyde are shoot to die， I can learn that the film essentially shows that usually confrontation is associated with violence and death. Actually， this film is a violent film against violence. Bonnie and Clyde are resisters confront against the social injustice， and they've tried， but they fail at last. The cost is their lives. From this point， it means that the violent confrontation against society will destruct social order eventually no matter how just it seems， and this unwise rebellion is destined to be repressed by violence in turn.

Many people think that American films are full of violence， but I would rather consider they have the spirit of confrontation which means being brave enough to fight against the darkness of society. The American culture is rational and critical， and it advocates individual freedom. The deeply-rooted culture is a potential factor of this film. In my heart， Bonnie and Clyde are not the general robbers that we have seen on the screen. They revolt and they die in the hails of bullet. It's really a cool life.

Bibliography

[1] Bonnie and Clyde. Dir. Arthur Pen. Pref. Warren Beatty， Faye Dunaway， Gene Hackman and Michael J. Pollard. Dis. Varus Video and Warner Home Video. 1967， film.

[2] http：//movie.mtime.com/10389/.

[3] http：//baike.baidu.com/view/881302.htm.

（Unit of work：SUN YAT-SEN UNIVER-SITY）