Bonnie & Clyde was right there at the forefront of what would become the New Hollywood explosion of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. If you haven’t read them yet, check out Peter Biskind’s “Easy Riders, Raging Bulls” and Mark Harris’s “Scenes From A Revolution” for an essential education in just how significant a role Bonnie & Clyde had to play in the birth of an era that would give us some of the finest films Hollywood has ever produced.
All of that “pivotal role” stuff should also be considered alongside the unquestionable artistic merits of the film in its own right. Adopting a sepia-toned, desaturated look and feeling like it was made in, not just set in, the Great Depression, Bonnie & Clyde gave us outlaws to cheer for, sexual ambiguity, an intriguing commentary on celebrity and where it intersects with notoriety and career stand-out performances from Warren Beatty, Fay Dunaway, Gene Hackman, Gene Wilder and Shelley Winters.
So, it is with no small amount of anxiety that I hear tale of a remake. Look no further for an exemplary illustration of “if it ain’t broke…”, but here we go anyway. Neil Burger, who directed Limitless and the under-appreciated Ed Norton film, The Illusionist, is set to direct from a Sheldon Turner (The Longest Yard, Up In The Air) script. Apparently the source material will not be the screenplay for the original, but instead a 2009 book that looked at the couple as an early example of media-fuelled celebrity worship an how the public’s appetite abated as the outlaws became progressively more violent.
Frankly, we’ve heard this “we’re looking at the story in a fresh way, giving it a new spin” spiel far too many times to be suckered in again, but perhaps I am being too harsh, blinded by my unwavering love for the original film. Up In the Air was an excellently written film and Burger seems to have some pedigree as a director. Who knows? More news as it surfaces. In the meantime, enjoy this reminder of what made the original so great.
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Source: THR
