Written by William Goldman
Directed by George Roy Hill
This is the classic revisionist western that most would say started the movement of classic neo post-modern self-referential filmmaking that we know today. This is also one of the first recognizable buddy pictures, where the characters were meant to become the friends of the audience watching it. Everything about this movie was unconventional at the time, from the plotting of the action to the modern dialogue in a past setting, to the use of modern music in what could be called musical scenes, this is everything that the classic western is not.
If you don't know the story, you've likely been under a rock your entire life, or you're just severely behind on what is one of the best films ever created. Butch Cassidy and his Hole in the Wall gang are the late west's friendliest train and bank robbers. With his right hand man The Sundance Kid, Butch is a kindly outlaw, a Robin Hood-esque hero to the people, that while selfish in his profession, is kind in his heart. However improbable and innaccurate in the portrayal, the two are in fact heroes that are meant to be liked.
It is only upon the formation of a super posse that is paid a ridiculous sum to hunt Butch and Sundance that the two are sent running, which again is evidence of the film's resistance to classic movie standards. In most westerns, the characters are considered cowards if they ran, here, they would be stupid not to. It's this break in classic structure that changes the face of this movie as well. The first act is a typical first act, setting up the characters, their relationship, their profession, and the setting for the story.
Suddenly all of this is immediately broken the second the super posse comes flying out of a train car that approaches Butch and Sundance. Immediately, their ties with the rest of the Hole In the Wall gang are broken, not to be seen again for the rest of the film. This abruptness signifies the lifestyle of Butch and Sundance, but at the time it was very uncommon in a major motion picture.
It signified the beginning of the second act, an act which in itself was very unconventional, as Butch and Sundance spend the entire length of it running from a faceless posse that is only spoken of, and seen through a very deep lens as indecipherable specks for the length of the second act. It is in this time that Butch and Sundance decide already that they're tired of running from these lawmen, or whomever they are, they decide instead to take off permanently, and due to Butch's offhand suggestion of "Bolivia" they decide that will be a fine place to settle. This acts end is punctuated with Butch and Sundance taking a daring dive off of a cliff face into a quickly moving river, which carries them away from danger and into the third act.
It is in this final act where the two men, along with Sundance's girl Etta, take leave of the west, and go to New York first for a while, and then eventually take a boat and then a train to Bolivia. For the sequence where they are in New York, director Hill uses an ingenius tactic of placing music, again modern music, over still images of the activities of Butch, Sundance, and Etta while in New York. He uses special photography tricks to place them in old time pictures of turn of the century New York, and all of this ends as they land in Bolivia, staring at a vast expanse of nothingness.
In Bolivia, they have trouble settling, for they don't know the language well, but they quickly return to what they know best, robbing banks. They became known as Bandidos Yanquis, or Yankee Bandits, and were quickly as hunted in Bolivia as they were in America. After a while, and a few quick escapes, the two outlaws take up jobs as payroll guards, which is quickly interrupted by other bandits in the area.
In the end, this is the story of two misfits of society, doomed to their own devices, their only true connection between each other. The movie itself is a testament to the storytelling style, it is a misfit in its genre, and like its characters, a beloved one. The film went on to be recognized for its greatness and superb direction, cinematography, and acting, setting up Redford's career as a star, and cementing Newman even further as one of the best and most versatile actors around. Before this most people thought he couldn't do comedy, but as the dry sarcasm of Butch Cassidy will show anyone, he's just as funny as anyone. If it weren't for this film, it might have been an even longer time before the subversion of different genres were experimented with, so in that sense it's a real piece of history, in another, it's a classic in the library of westerns, Paul Newman, and Robert Redford.
8.4/10
No comments:
Post a Comment