Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid serves as a great example of the changing stigmas of masculinity and stereotypes that we saw in the late 60's and early 70's in the United States. The American society at that time was in the midst of a social movement to bring about great change to the sterile society of the 1950's. This is shown by this movie through the departure from old cliches about cowboys. The main characters Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were more witty, caring, funny, and expressive than any cowboy in a movie before. The cowboys people were used to seeing were stoic, callous, and would shoot anyone that so much as lifted a finger against their wishes. This concept takes a variety of forms throughout the film.
The cinematography of this film was about more than the place the camera was placed or what it was looking at. There was a color pallet and a lighting style used to emphasize the characters and their actions throughout the film. For example in the scene shown above, the color of the scene takes on a bronze tint to make the scene seem more like a scene from film noir. The wild west vibe is brought out very clearly here with the addition of the man in front of Sundance Kid, who has his hand hovering over his revolver. The placement of the camera gives us a forced perspective to only see Sundance while blurring out the challenger and keeping his face out of the scene. The movie tries to keep the verisimilitude of a cowboy movie alive with scenes such as these, as well as the costumes and set design for towns and houses.
In the famous chase scene between Butch and Sundance and the lawmen in pursuit, the setting takes a new twist. The film had been mostly in towns or on a railroad until this point. The movie now takes a new path to filming wide expanses of rocky desert, forcing the viewer into a completely new setting. This scene lasts a long time by our standards, as most chase scenes now are action packed and only take up a few minutes of the film. The time is reflected within the film as well, where the chase leads into the afternoon and eventually into the night. The setting sun creates a golden light effect for part of the scene, before night descends and allows the director and cinematographer to use more dynamic lighting and shadows in their portrayal of the escaping criminals. This chase eventually ends with a scene of the two men jumping off a cliff into the river below to escape. This allows for some quick cuts and changes of perspective to show the sudden jump in suspense.
The setting then takes two more quick changes, again changing the art style and composition seen by the audience. The first change doesn't actually include film, but a series of stills bringing back the bronze tint used early in the film. This change comes with a change to costumes as well, using less rugged, more sophisticated costumes. These costumes are also used in the next setting when the trio goes to Bolivia. This new setting of South America also brings out a new setting with new architecture and costumes on extras in the scene. This allows the director and cinematographer to make another big change in the visual direction of the film. The montage in New York had some basic effects to portray a long period of time spent in the city, as well as an effect to create the illusion of spinning even though the picture stayed still.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was a new kind of western movie, it has roots in the art design of other westerns with the brown and bronze color palette for most of the movie. Even with this the movie was different in many ways, such as the scene with Paul Newman and Katherine Kross where they ride around on a bike with the song Raindrops Keep Fallin on my Head playing in the background. The scene was bright and vibrant, the sun is bright and the set is almost like the garden of Eden. The couple laugh and play with the bike before returning home to Robert Redford just waking up from slumber. The scene departs from anything that would be expected of a cowboy movie. The characters are having fun, it is bright and shiny and colorful etc. and there are no guns present. Overall the movie was still sticking to the visual script most of the time with wide angle shots and deep focus to show great landscapes or a variety of characters in a scene, but it still did many things with comedy and art direction to break out of the mold of western films. This departure came to fruition with the three main characters, as the woman was never weak or scared as many were in early westerns, and the men were less gruff and more wily. The men were more a reflection of what people were looking for in their piers in the time period than what people expected of a movie in the wild west. The criminals stayed in character the whole way through, and even in their final moments they were trying to preserve their humor and sense of adventure.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was a new kind of western movie, it has roots in the art design of other westerns with the brown and bronze color palette for most of the movie. Even with this the movie was different in many ways, such as the scene with Paul Newman and Katherine Kross where they ride around on a bike with the song Raindrops Keep Fallin on my Head playing in the background. The scene was bright and vibrant, the sun is bright and the set is almost like the garden of Eden. The couple laugh and play with the bike before returning home to Robert Redford just waking up from slumber. The scene departs from anything that would be expected of a cowboy movie. The characters are having fun, it is bright and shiny and colorful etc. and there are no guns present. Overall the movie was still sticking to the visual script most of the time with wide angle shots and deep focus to show great landscapes or a variety of characters in a scene, but it still did many things with comedy and art direction to break out of the mold of western films. This departure came to fruition with the three main characters, as the woman was never weak or scared as many were in early westerns, and the men were less gruff and more wily. The men were more a reflection of what people were looking for in their piers in the time period than what people expected of a movie in the wild west. The criminals stayed in character the whole way through, and even in their final moments they were trying to preserve their humor and sense of adventure.
References:
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Directed by George Roy Hill
Looking at Movies by Dave Monoham and Richard Bonsam
All images from Google Images
IMDB.com
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Directed by George Roy Hill
Looking at Movies by Dave Monoham and Richard Bonsam
All images from Google Images
IMDB.com