Review: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Reviewer: Mikaela Porter
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid / 1969 / 8.2
Director/Studio: George Roy Hill
                          Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
                          Campanile Productions
                          Newman-Foreman Company
Box Office: Budget- $6,000,000 (estimated)
                    Gross- $102,308,900
Genre: Adventure/Crime/Western
Running Time: 110 minutes

          Before viewing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, I was intrigued to find out that these two outlaws were real-life bank robbers and leaders of the Hole-In-The-Wall Gang, in 1905, who take a journey with Sundance's (Robert Redford) woman, Etta (Katherine Ross), to Bolivia to strike gold and create a new name for themselves. However, their tales were only legend and in the beginning of the film there were captions telling the audience that what we were about to watch is partially true.
          The overall mis-en-scene feel to this movie was indeed that of a western genre film. The setting was beautiful and scenic, recognizable to anyone that they were now in the midst of the wild wild west, home of the cowboy, in desert terrain with treacherous valleys and canyons. Especially noticeable when Butch (Paul Newman) and Sundance were on the run from hired gunmen to chase them down after stealing money and blowing up the Union Pacific Railway's train, they were in a shooting sequence in which they were in a canyon trying to erase their trail and the mis-en-scene was amazing. In the following picture you can see Sundance in a full vigilante costume including a cowboy hat, mustache, dusty complexion and complete with his gun, again supporting the western feel.

The Sundance Kid (Robert Redford) holds a Single Action Army as he reacts to shooting a snake in the canyon

Butch and Sundance on the run in the canyon.

          Another element of filming that I greatly appreciate was the film montage in the middle of the movie showing the audience about the trio's adventures on their way to Bolivia. It was a sequence of events in sepia toned photographs that take you deeper into the time period and compresses time to convey more information. Especially in the beginning of the movie, there was another sort of film montage in the same set of sepia tone that was meant to set us in the time period even before the actual movie begins. It was a reel of film that had an old-timey feel with a sort of old-fashioned music and the sound of reels whirring in the background.  Following are snapshots of the montage and from the beginning of the film.

During film montage, showing Butch, Etta and Sundance on their way to Bolivia.

Beginning of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid  whirring reels in the background.

          What I also completely loved was the way that the cinematographer and everyone who helped, was the juxtaposition of the beginning and end of the movie. Above, I explained how the beginning was a sequence of film shorts that gave us a time period reference, the middle of the movie gave us another montage of the same tone, however most of them were photographs. In the end, we come right back again to the sepia toned image, however, only one. This was the final image that was shot showing Butch and Sundance in their last shootout battle. Because we see this sort of tone in the beginning and middle of the movie it gives the views a sort of closure, knowing that the vigilante train robbers are now beaten, especially since Etta was not there to see them die ( it was her wish that she would leave if they were to die, which she did leave).

Butch and Sundance in their last shootout.

        From viewing this movie and analyzing the mis-en-scene elements, I am in love with the use of scenery, location as well as the overall feel of the wild west that was incorporated into the making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I loved the costumes of the characters and most of the film angles and shots that gave the viewer a sense of their adventure as well. The juxtaposition of the entire film was very well done and is a rare element not seen too often. ★ ★ ★ ★ Porter.

References:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064115/

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=EE05E7DF173CEE61BC4D51DFBF668382679EDE

http://www.reelviews.net/movies/b/butch_cassidy.html

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/File:Bcsk-saa1.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butch_Cassidy

http://imthecautionarywhale.blogspot.com/2013/08/hit-me-with-your-best-shot-butch.html

Viewing courtesy of Western Washington University's class, Introduction to the Cinema THTR 201 taught by Professor Chapman.