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CMurphy08
Reviews
The Last Picture Show (1971)
Great film
The Last Picture Show is, in my opinion, one of the finest films of the 1970s. The film is an illustration of life in small-town America of the 1950s. The film also examines the rise of capitalist dominance and the demise of American simplicity.
The breakdown of the American family is one of the principal motifs of the film. The affair with the coach's wife exemplifies this theme. The coach was working many hours and not spending enough time with his wife, therefore she found it necessary to seek out another sexual partner to satisfy her desires.
Another metaphor may be interpreted with Jacy's relationship with Duane. She is encouraged by her family to abandon that relationship for one Billy, a boy from a more affluent family. I saw this as a metaphor for the rise of cutthroat capitalism, quality being sacrificed for greater profits.
One of the most compelling quotes was at the end of the film, when one of the cinema employees comments that the popularity of the picture show is declining in favor of television. This is a commentary not only on the decline of great Hollywood films, but also American entertainment itself. I believe the director, as well as Larry McMurty, wanted to comment on the demise of the content of American entertainment. In today's entertainment we see much more violent, sexual and generally immoral content. I believe that this quote and the film and general served to protest against that trend.
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Horrible portrayal of 2 low-life criminals
My reaction to this film is very dichotomous. The film was revolutionary in the way that it was filmed: it shattered a longstanding code of film-making wherein studios were discouraged to include violent and sexual material. The film is known among film scholars as the genesis of a period of American film known as the Hollywood Renaissance.
Many agree that the film was groundbreaking, with new film techniques and risqué content never before seen on the big screen. This aside, the film was sickening in the way it portrayed the notorious thugs Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. Most people who see the film know that Bonnie and Clyde were real criminals whose crime spree shook Midwestern America in the early 1930s. Perhaps many people don't realize the scope of their crimes, however.
By the time they were shot down by the FBI in 1934, the five criminals portrayed in the film had committed an extensive number of heinous crimes. Collectively, the group was thought to have murdered three police officers and four civilians; kidnapped a chief of police, a sheriff and two innocent people; and committed countless robberies and automobile thefts.
It is clear that these people were low-life cop killers and thieves. So why they were portrayed in such a heroic manor is beyond me. Some film scholars cite the reason for this shocking content as a social commentary on the rebellious attitudes of 1960s pop culture. This is a poor justification. The film undoubtedly contributed to the advent of popular films and video games in which cop killing and grand larceny is encouraged. Such a movement is a scar on our society.
My opinion of the film would be drastically different had the group been portrayed as the antagonists of the story. The film would have been much had the police been portrayed as the heroes in the film, working diligently to catch the group of homicidal criminals. Bonnie and Clyde would have been less likable and less sexualized. This approach, however, would have been much less groundbreaking and would have ended up being a typical detective movie popular in that period. Hollywood executives, as we would expect, clearly opted for the plot that would sell the most tickets.
The point to be made here is that Bonnie and Clyde were villainous murderers who had no regard for society or the law. They murdered innocent people and civil servants. The couple and those who joined them on their reign of terror are undeserving of the way they were portrayed in this film.