Two bandits

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Movie
German title Two bandits
Original title Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1969
length 105 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director George Roy Hill
script William Goldman
production Paul Monash ,
John Foreman
music Burt Bacharach
camera Conrad L. Hall
cut John C. Howard ,
Richard C. Meyer
occupation

Zwei Banditen (Original title: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , also generally referred to as Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid on more recent releases of the film in German-speaking countries ) is a western comedy by screenwriter William Goldman and director George Roy Hill from 1969 . The film describes the life of the two likable train and bank robbers Butch and Sundance and is one of the greatest box office successes of its time.

action

Based on a true story about the Hole in the Wall Gang or Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch in the 1890s, the film tells of two American bank robbers. Robert Leroy Parker ( Butch Cassidy ) and his partner Harry Longbaugh ( The Sundance Kid ) are hunted down by a "police" force after years of successful raids; their last coup turns out to be a trap. They flee through the mountains, but find that the hunters are still on their tracks. The pursuers are led by a man named Lefors , who was hired by the owner of the robbed railway line, and the Indian-born Lord Baltimore , who has a legendary reputation as a tracker and persistent bounty hunter. Lefors is not played in the film; he only appears in the distance as the head of the pursuer with a white straw hat; the more people talk about him. Worn down by Lefors' persistence, Butch and Sundance retreat to Bolivia . Sundance's friend Etta Place accompanies them - on one condition:

“I'll do anything you ask of me except one thing. I won't watch you die. "

"I will do everything you ask me to do, except one thing: I will not watch you die."

The two crooks can successfully continue their careers for several years. To get away from their persecutors for good, they decide to do honest work. However, as guardians of a wage money transport for a silver mine, they are ambushed by bandits. The two manage to repel the attack. Here Butch kills Cassidy for the first time, which puts him in shock. Etta, realizing that death has now entered her life, decides to return to the USA. Then Butch and Sundance decide to resume their criminal career in Bolivia. At the height of their raids, they are caught by the Bolivian police and seriously injured. The film ends in a frozen frame where Butch and Sundance jump out of their hiding place with the last of their strength firing. From the off you can hear the three powerful rifle volleys from the soldiers of the Bolivian army posted on the surrounding roofs, which are quietly faded out. The death of the two bandits is not shown.

The end

The end of the film has gone down in film history: the death of the two protagonists cannot be seen, rather the film ends with the fact that they jump out of the house surrounded by the military - a scene that resembles their jump from the cliffs ( in the middle of the film) when they successfully escaped the bounty hunters. Director Hill explained that he consciously wanted to leave open the vague possibility that they could somehow save themselves in the end. This is part of the legendary game that the film is about. (The bodies of the two real gangsters were never found, and rumors arose early that they had survived and returned to the United States.) By capturing this moment like a photograph, the image joins the series of photo-like stills that shapes the portrayal of the happiest times of the two (or the three) - with Etta in New York, a stopover on the way to Bolivia.

The director ran the scene right up to the moment when they were likely to be killed and then stopped the image ( freeze frame ). In this way it became part of the pictures that show the three in New York. However, if historical photographs were used in the New York sequence into which the actors were retouched , the final image had to be produced in a complicated process: A still camera with sheet film in 8 "x10" format was placed on the roof of the building opposite and aimed at the door Newman and Redford would sprint out of. First, some film recordings were made with a 35 mm Panavision camera, of the two walking towards the camera and shooting. Then a still image was taken of the set with no actors. This had to be done extremely quickly and precisely so that the shadows on the 35mm image matched those in the still image. The last picture of the 35mm recording on which you can see them running out was stopped, then the colors were faded to the historical sepia hue and the picture was glued into an enlargement of the still from the set. At the end it was filmed again with an animation camera and zoomed out . In this way it was possible to show Newman and Redford as part of a photograph of the whole scene.

reception

The postmodern western Two Bandits had its cinema release in the United States on September 23, 1969 in an initially small number of movie theaters. Over a period of several months, however, the film was shown across the country. Of all the films released in 1969, Two Bandits was the most commercially successful. In second place was the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service .

The German theatrical release took place on October 10 of the same year.

In 1974, the 20th Century Fox motion picture was brought back to theaters.

Reviews

  • For Joe Hembus the film was a “nice, lazy film” that “does not dramatize the famous bandit life of Butch and Sundance with a cinematic dramaturgy, but strolls along with infinite serenity”.
  • Phil Hardy emphasized the commercial success of the film, it was one of the most financially successful westerns of all time. The script is "routine and funny", Hill's direction fluctuates "between exuberance and poetry" and Hall's camera work is "wonderful".
  • In the rororo Filmlexikon (Volume 1, 1978), the western is rated as follows: “The film romanticizes the adventures of two historical outlaws: the pursuit, which takes up almost the entire second part, is fictitious. Newman and Redford are lovely guys; the film is visually very gripping and offers some interesting montage effects. Stylistically, it is characterized by a carefree jumpiness (...), but still has its own charm and wit, which the music, especially the theme melody ' Raindrops ', is not unrelated to. "
  • Michael Hanisch certified the film with “great sovereignty and composure in dealing with well-known Western heroes and with events that are told over and over again. [...] Two bandits has everything from a wistful and at the same time cocky ballad full of gallows humor and full of nostalgia. "
  • The evangelical film observer drew the following conclusion: “The stylistically not very closed film plays down its heroes in a humorous and humorous variety into loyal, stupid rascals. An undemanding film pleasure for adults. "

Sequels, Prequels, and Influence

In 1976, the television film Gesucht: Die Frau des Banditen S. was made as a continuation . It tells how Etta Place, again played by Katharine Ross , joins Pancho Villa .

In 1979 the prequel Butch & Sundance - The Early Years , directed by Richard Lester - appeared with Tom Berenger and William Katt in the title roles.

In 1970 the Italian western parody Vivi o, preferibilmente morti (outside Italy under the satirizing title Sundance Cassidy and Butch the Kid ) started.

Directors like to allude to the end of the film, especially when it comes to creating legends. The end of Christopher Roth's RAF film Baader is reminiscent of this scene in which, contrary to the real story -  Baader and Raspe were arrested alive - the two of them are killed in a hail of bullets from the police. The two-part TV series The Color of Magic - Die Reise des Zauberers (2008) based on the book of the same name by Terry Pratchett also alludes to the famous ending of Two Bandits , when the magician Rincewind and the tourist twoflower confront a superior force of opponents have to fight back.

Likewise, admitted Doug Liman in his DVD commentary to Mr. & Mrs. Smith that he would be happy to complete his film at the moment with an abruptly stopped picture when the couple Smith (played by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie ) from the garden shed Jumps out of the department store surrounded by professional killers. However, this would have thwarted the inevitable happy ending in this film - in that case one would have had to assume the death of the two heroes, just like in Two Bandits .

Also in the American action comedy Beverly Hills Cop - I'll definitely solve the case by director Martin Brest from 1984, reference is made in the dialogue to the end of the film when the two policemen Rosewood and Taggart on a garden plot in front of the Suspect's house caught fire.

Awards

The film received at the Oscar -Verleihung in 1970 four Oscars:

In addition, Zwei Banditen was nominated for three other categories this year:

Finally, the film received the Laurel Award for “Best Action Drama 1970” and nine British Film Awards in 1971 , including best film.

In 2003 it was accepted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress (USA).

DVD release

  • Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid - Special Edition. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2005.
  • Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid - Cinema Premium Edition, 2-DVD Set. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2006.

Documentary film

  • The Making of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” , documentary by Robert Crawford , USA 1972, approx. 40 minutes.

literature

  • Milan Pavlovic: Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid / Two Bandits in Film Genres - Westerns / Ed. by B. Kiefer u. N. Grob with the collaboration of M. Stiglegger. Reclam junior, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-15-018402-9 ; Pp. 301-306.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Making of “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” , documentary by Robert Crawford, USA 1972. To be seen on: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid . Cinema Premium Edition. 2 DVD set. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment 2006.
  2. ↑ Joe Hembus: Western Lexicon - 1272 films from 1894-1975. Carl Hanser Verlag Munich Vienna 2nd edition 1977. ISBN 3-446-12189-7 . P. 80.
  3. ^ Phil Hardy: The Encyclopedia of Western Movies. Woodbury Press Minneapolis 1984. ISBN 0-8300-0405-X . P. 311.
  4. ↑ Wolfram Tichy , Liz-Anne Bawden , et al .: rororo Filmlexikon. Volume 1: Films A – J (OT: The Oxford Companion to Film ). Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1978, ISBN 3-499-16228-8 , p. 95.
  5. ↑ Michael Hanisch: Western: The development of a film genre. Henschel Verlag / Art and Society, Berlin 1984, p. 372.
  6. ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 466/1969