Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Everything Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid does is done with a specific point in mind. The movie opens in sienna projecting a train robbery onto an oldfashioned screen. This coupled with the reminisicent music implies that we are reflecting on the good ol' days of the old west. The movie starts off like an older western film, with Butch looking dramatically out a window and Sundance reaffirming his status as the fastest gunman in the West. It is uncertain for a while whether or not Butch and Sundance are the "good guys" or the "bad guys" because they are train robbers and cheat at poker but they are also the title characters, assuming then they are the "good guys," or at least not the antagonists of the film. Later we discover that they are both good men who are also outlaws. This contrasts many other Western films where there is a more solid line between "good/white" and "bad/black." The use of sienna reflects this "grey" area by making everything neutral rather than starkly black or white. Mid way through the film, the reminiscent sienna-trainrobbery-depressing music scene happens again like it did at the start of the film. This time though the train robbery doesn't go as well and it is the beginning of a long chase and Butch and Sundance never stop running.

Quickly though the film moves from the dullness of sienna to vivid color. This drastic change happens as Butch and Sundance are moving over the natural land and the color makes the land look even more natural. As the film moves to color, Butch says it's "like seeing it fresh for the first time," mimicking the change from neutral colors to vivid colors. With the change to color we also see that Butch is a dreamer. He is always dreaming of new places to go and new opportunties to take while Sundance is more content to stay in one place and not be chased. The relationships between Butch Sundance and Etta are later contrasted and reaffirmed when they are on the boat to Bolivia. This is the only segment of the film that is in black and white. It is also the only part of the story that is told solely through photographs and not through moving action. We are left to draw our own conclusions from the different photographs. The photographs, particularly the ones where Etta is dancing with Sundance and Butch is on the side, do a lot to reestablish and affirm our ideas of their relationships with each other.

There is very little use of non-diegetic music in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid which helps it avoid the inherent cheesiness that many 70's and 80's films have because of their score. The use of music in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid has a very specific purpose the few times it is used. The first scene there is non-diegetic music is when we see the first interactions between Butch and Etta, establishing their relationship. It is the quintessential romantic bike scene as the two lovers bike together, one riding in front, and one actually driving the bike. The song "Raindrops keep falling on my head" plays and the scene has an overall feeling of lightheartedness that one would also get from a romantic comedy. Another time music is used is during the montage of bank robberies, chases, and fine dining in Bolivia that Butch, Sundance, and Etta enjoy. This sequence has an overall feeling of enjoyment and it is funny as well as suspenseful because we know that this lifestyle cannot last forever. The limited use of non-diegetic music makes it all the more powerful when it is used. The few times it is used it almost seems satirical or like it is poking fun at other films for their use of montage and romantic bike rides. The rest of the film is in silence, musically. This makes even more of an impact than using music to create mood because it reflects the silence of the country and the silence builds suspense during the long chase through the American countryside. The silence during the long chase also helps contrast Butch and Sundance's feeling of being hunted there to their feeling of freedom and ease in the Bolivian chases.

The overall feeling of the final scene is simultaneously one of suspense and sarcasm. As viewers we hope that Sundance and Butch will get out alive, but with the arrival of more and more armed forces, we know that will not be the case. And so do they. The dialogue keeps the scene from getting too heavy as they become more and more cornered. Their sarcasm and wit fights the grim reality that they are going to die soon. But it also matches their personalities because they are unafraid to face their final crazy battle. The very last shot is of the two of them running out head on to meet the gunfire, but we never see their demise. The film ends with the same reminiscent music and the same neutral color as we look at the last moment of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid never giving in.

Works Cited

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. N.d. Photograph. Web. <maxseesmovies.blogspot.com>.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Twentieth Century-Fox Films, 1969.