Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a movie that could be told without words because of how amazing the lighting and camera angling and positioning. The movie itself is a different kind of Western, rather than be dark and somber throughout like the movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance with John Wayne, the movie manages to be more high-spirited and keep a happier tone. By saying that I don’t mean it wasn’t a serious movie, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was serious it kept the sense of adventure and the excitement you come to expect when watching a western but adding to the performance as a whole it also was upbeat and entertaining.
Scene in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Photo Credit from the Website - http://anamorphictilt.wordpress.com/2012/05/04/the-man-who-shot-liberty-valance/
While in the US, the beginning and the entire chase by the posse, the lighting of the movie was a slightly yellower tone. As though to show the dirtiness of the US and that the posse is “taking back” the US from the bank robbers, it makes shows that there is no more place for Butch and Sundance. Once the pair and Etta go to Bolivia the lighting is much whiter and has a higher value, to show that Bolivia is a brand new clean start. The director also used color in the end to add to the emotion of the audience when Butch and Sundance were going into their final shootout after already being wounded and shot. Both men are bleeding and in a plain room full of only different shades of brown, the blood is much more vibrant and evokes sadness and pain from the audience watching. One of my favorite scenes, due to the lighting and shock factor, had to be when it looked as if Butch was about to rape a girl. It began with him in the dark looking vile and as inhumane as possible and the girl was wearing all white and back lit to give her an almost angelic look. As the scene progresses and you continue to fear for the woman’s innocence she continues to have a white halo of light until she finally shows familiarity to Butch and you realize the woman is Butch Cassidy’s love interest.
The other reason this movie almost didn’t need words was because of the camera angling and positioning. The best scene, not due to any real relevance to the story but hilarious and a great use of camera positioning, was the bull pen scene. When Sundance accidentally crashes his bike into the bull pen and the bull and Sundance suddenly have a standoff similar to any gun standoff in a typical Western. The camera dramatically zooms into the bulls eye and then into Sundance’s and then back again. This showed the fear of being stuck in a bull pen from Sundance but kept it lighthearted and comedic at the same time. The movie was really great when it came to extracting emotion from the angles and positioning of the camera. From the beginning in any gun fight the camera was from the point of view of both Butch and Sundance. This made it easier to actually understand the feelings and actions of the two gunmen. Also in order for you to be on the same side of Butch and Sundance the director decided never to give the posse, who was shooting at Butch and Sundance, a face. You never had a specific person to hate there was just a fear of what could be and who could be coming up behind them. During the scene where Butch asks Etta to come to Bolivia with them they show Butch and Sundance in one shot and Etta in her own. This is as if to show there is no separating the boys, there’s them and there’s her. She is ‘allowed’ to come but in the end we all know that she is not truly part of the ending picture. The final scene very powerful, the scene is stopped and in the wide shot still it shows Butch and Sundance running out to meet the army of men who will shoot them.
The other reason this movie almost didn’t need words was because of the camera angling and positioning. The best scene, not due to any real relevance to the story but hilarious and a great use of camera positioning, was the bull pen scene. When Sundance accidentally crashes his bike into the bull pen and the bull and Sundance suddenly have a standoff similar to any gun standoff in a typical Western. The camera dramatically zooms into the bulls eye and then into Sundance’s and then back again. This showed the fear of being stuck in a bull pen from Sundance but kept it lighthearted and comedic at the same time. The movie was really great when it came to extracting emotion from the angles and positioning of the camera. From the beginning in any gun fight the camera was from the point of view of both Butch and Sundance. This made it easier to actually understand the feelings and actions of the two gunmen. Also in order for you to be on the same side of Butch and Sundance the director decided never to give the posse, who was shooting at Butch and Sundance, a face. You never had a specific person to hate there was just a fear of what could be and who could be coming up behind them. During the scene where Butch asks Etta to come to Bolivia with them they show Butch and Sundance in one shot and Etta in her own. This is as if to show there is no separating the boys, there’s them and there’s her. She is ‘allowed’ to come but in the end we all know that she is not truly part of the ending picture. The final scene very powerful, the scene is stopped and in the wide shot still it shows Butch and Sundance running out to meet the army of men who will shoot them.
Ending scene of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Photo Credit from the Website - http://bplusmovieblog.com/2012/10/
I have always loved watching old Westerns with my dad, I think I have seen every single John Wayne movie ever made but this movie has a special place in my heart. It is different but still keeps to the same characteristics of a great Western.
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