Editing in the Death Scene in Bonnie and Clyde

Bonnie and Clyde mixes Hollywood continuity style with European editing techniques. The final death scene has especially unique editing techniques. The sudden close ups on Bonnie and Clyde immediately show their distress. The editing of the shooting scene is very disjunctive and it gives the scene a noticeable style. There are many cuts used as Bonnie and Clyde are being shot and the cuts are all clear to see because the give the scene a jerky quality. The cuts almost seem to go in rhythm with the noise of the gun shots. This choppy editing makes the death scene all the more shocking and tragic. This scene also uses overlap editing which seems to emphasize that is happening. The fact that they die in slow motion invites the audience to feel their pain because they are forced to slowly watch them die.

The duration of the death scene does not match up with the temporal continuity of the rest of the film because it is the only part of the film that is in slow motion. This could be to help signify that all throughout the rest of the film they were running and the only time they can stop running is during their death. However, even though the duration is slow due to the use of slow motion, the pace of the editing is fast. There are so many cuts used during this scene, but they all take place very rapidly to match up with the sudden fire of the gun shots. The face pace of the cuts just adds to the shock value of the scene.