disjunctive editing when Bonnie tries to run

The editing in Bonnie and Clyde maintained continuity throughout most of the film, making the few scenes with disjunctive editing very noticeable. One scene in particular used disjunctive editing to give us a perspective similar to that of Bonnie. When the previous scene ended, suddenly a voice was calling Bonnie’s name and a sequence of shots showed a cornfield, Bonnie running through the field, Clyde running down the edge of a road, and the others slowly driving behind in the car. The cuts were quick, giving flashes of Bonnie moving frantically and Clyde jogging down the road. Bonnie was running from screen right to left, and Clyde was also running from screen right to left. This gave the impression that perhaps Bonnie was running further and further away from Clyde as he tried to catch up. There was no establishing shot, however, so I had no impression of where Bonnie was in relation to Clyde or in what direction she was actually running. This style gave a sense of disorientation and confusion. The others did not know where Bonnie was, and perhaps she didn’t know which way she was running if she became disoriented in the field. At last, Clyde spotted her and rushed to Bonnie’s side, but even this reunion did not make her location entirely clear. In addition to creating a sense of being physically lost in a field, the effect of this scene was psychological. Bonnie wanted to escape this lifestyle and return to a safe life with her family, but she also loved Clyde and could not conceive of leaving him. Bonnie wished for the best of both worlds, but she settled for a life with Clyde despite its dangers and restrictions. In one sense, she was comforted when he found her, but she continued to long for the stable home she was futilely trying to reach.