Bonnie & Clyde Close-Up ("Ballet Of Death" Sequence)

01:44:54 - End

There is defiantly a sense of melancholy to this whole sequence, even before the final shootout at the end.

Bonnie is shown to be wearing white which not only symbolises purity, but also looks like a wedding dress. Like in the meeting family sequence, the audience is reminded of what Bonnie (and Clyde) can never have, and it is no coincidence that this happens again in the very final sequence of the film. Bonnie and Clyde, the audience knows not only from history but also from the events presented throughout the film, could never get married and therefore this is the closest that she would ever get to wearing a wedding dress.

The audience also gets a glimpse of what they could be like if they had not gone down the root of crime. They have gone shopping and look like a normal couple, not the crime duo that America viewed them as. This event also signals how they ahve both let their guard down in order to enjoy the everyday activities that couples would do. This is very much like how people were presented in the French New Wave, in contrast to Classical Hollywood style where everything was glamorised, heightened and plot centred.

Whilst they are shown to have let their guard down and be like a normal couple, there is still the sense that they are only able to play these roles. For example, whilst they may do grown-up activities (like the grocery shopping), Clyde has his shirt untucked and looks like he is only playing the role of a grown man. The same goes for Bonnie as well. Despite the outwards appearance, when she gets in the car (which is a much more persona space) she gets out the doll that she has bought and goes on to point out all of the small details. This is very much like a child, and calls back to how she was presented at the start of the film.

To add to the connection that the audience has with these characters, they are still shown as being clumsy and naive. This is mainly shown through the characterisation of Clyde in this sequence. Not only does Clyde leave the car door open showing how he has become more chill and relaxed, but when he puts on the sunglasses, they only have one lens in them. This makes him look quite child-like which again draws the audience into the characters more, which is all the more important in the final sequence in order to gain the right reaction.

Another key thing that is shown a lot in this final sequence is how close Bonnie and Clyde are. When they are in the car, they are together within the tighter frame showing their intimacy. Later on in the sequence, Bonnie and Clyde share a pear which ends up being their last meal. By having Bonnie hold the pear up to Clyde as he eats it, it demonstrates their closeness and trust even more.

At this point in the sequence, the editing is laid back and leisurely. Not only does this show that the characters themselves are relaxed and they don’t see the danger that we see, but this also helps to make the sudden shift more effective. Without the drastic change in pace of editing, the audience wouldn’t see the shock that the ending causes the characters, and would therefore result in a less empathetic view of the characters.

However, when Clyde gets out of the car to see C.W. Moss’ father, the pace changes. As the father moves away to hide and save himself, both Bonnie and Clyde see birds flying over their heads. This sound of the birds is heightened which sets up for the shocks a few seconds later. Most of this sequence has been developing and reinforcing the close connection between Bonnie and Clyde and therefore by (in close ups edited not entirely through continuity editing) cutting between their faces as they look at each other for the last time it shows the strong connection that they have and their dependence each other as well.

Unlike in the opening sequence when the editing cut put time to demonstrate how long she has been bored and restless in her room, the shooting is shown in slow motion to prolong this sequence and show it over a longer time than if actually happened. This is because by showing it in slow motion in mid shots it forces the audience to come to terms with the fates of these characters that we have built a connection with. This part of the sequence also shows excessive violence through the amount of squibs that were used, which caused much more shock at the time, than it does now.

Once the two characters have been shot, there are long takes on their dead bodies as the diegetic sound as lowered in the mix leaving the audience with silence as the characters that have shot Bonnie and Clyde walk forward to look at what they did. They do not look satisfied with what they did, which is what the audience also feels. This means that the ending feels anti-climatic which is much more common to the French New Wave than how Classical Hollywood style films ended.