When a character is killed, there is always a sense of shock. Whether it be in slow motion, regular motion, or even offscreen, the loss of a main character is always a hard blow to the heart whenever the character has been well-developed. The scene I am referring to in Bonnie & Clyde (I would be very surprised if you have remained unspoiled for this one since 1967) takes the effect of murdering two well-established characters to its logical extreme, submitting the audience to the brutal slaughter of its protagonists. The ambush that concludes this 1967 classic refuses to justify its Law-abiding antagonists in favour of complete sympathy for its outlaw heroes. The two infamous criminals are not even armed when their car is blown to pieces by a posse of policemen. By cutting back and forth between slow motion and normal speed, the execution is rendered as painfully as possible, no doubt inspiring Sam Peckinpah along the way. As one of the most violent films of its time, the closing scene of the film is unapologetically bleak, and undoubtably memorable. The most devastating aspect of this scene is how director Arthur Penn chose to separate Bonnie and Clyde (Clyde being outside of the car at the time), openly defying any pretension toward a tragically romantic end as well. There is no way they were ever going to die in each other's arms.
Self-evidently a man who writes for the Internet, Robert also writes films, plays, teleplays, and short stories when he's not working on a movie set somewhere. He lives somewhere behind the Hollywood sign.
