In pursuit of Bonnie and Clyde The Highwayman (2019) – only old men go into battle

Our translators made us happy again: they translated The Highwaymen (2019) by John Lee Hancock as The Highwaymen as in Pursuit of Bonnie and Clyde. Highwaymen are “people from the high road”, but not “robbers” in any way: they mean Texas Rangers. Perhaps it is impossible to adequately translate the film into Russian while retaining the original title, well, to hell with it. In general, personally, I would watch The Highwaymen because of Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson alone. It’s not even about Dancing with Wolves, but rather about the Hatfields and McCoys. And in “True Detective.”

Sergei Dovlatov wrote in his Notes to the Warden that there are usually two points of view: the Russian one, originating from Dostoevsky, that criminals are usually good people, and jailers are all scoundrels, and the American one, that policemen are well done, and criminals are notorious scoundrels. Dovlatov, having worked in the zone, was convinced that both sides were not much different from each other: many prisoners could well work as guards, and many guards deserved prison.

So Frank Hamer, one of the protagonists of The Highwaymen, being almost killed by the first scoundrel he came across, immediately stopped playing the noble knight and since then has not disdained any methods. He prefers to take criminals dead rather than alive – he would rather read out the rights to a dying person or say “Hands up!” to a dead person than catch a bullet again.

Woody Harrelson played in “Natural Born Killers” the reincarnation of the 90s Clyde – Nicky Knox – and now he was on the other side of the barricades. Here he is Manny Gault -Hamer’s partner-in-the-blackboard-a guy who can start a conversation with anyone, constantly goes to take a leak, and stories always happen to him. All the murders he once committed weigh heavily on his soul; when his grandson told him someone’s words, “they say you, grandfather, will go to hell for this,” Manny hung his head, and at the same time a cloud covered the sun.

These retired rangers – one without fear and reproach, the other reflects and picks up – undertake to stop the crazy couple until the wave of unhealthy popularity of Bonnie and Clyde in the States has turned into an obsession. The men are far from being in the best shape: they run slowly, shoot badly, drive a car no matter – they can only rely on their wits.

William Sadler successfully entered the role of Clyde Barrow’s father. He knows how to play the parents of bad guys. Their dialogue with Hamer is one of the best scenes in the film.

Clyde once stole a chicken – it is believed that this particular case was a wrong turn in his biography. It seems to me that this is not so: one case can hardly just take and change a person. Theft must become a habit and become systematic – otherwise it is impossible to cross the gap that lies between theft and murder. I think each of us has stolen something in our lives and clearly understands how big the difference is between a pack of chips and a person’s life. In the end, stolen goods can be returned, but life cannot, and even the most sincere repentance and the most severe punishments do not resurrect the dead. And theft – it does not mean at all that a person has a black soul. Often they steal simply from hunger and hopelessness.

Perhaps the whole point is that justice can sometimes be too cruel: it is quite possible to become a “black sheep” even for an innocent prank – something similar happened to Clyde, which is why he simply did not see a way back. Or maybe it’s all about the 10 commandments, where all these postulates are put in one plane, in one list.

Philosopher Vasily Rozanov noted that the degree of religiosity in people can manifest itself in a rather ugly way: for example, a murderer robber who ambushed and killed a person on the road will not eat sausage found in his supplies if there is a fast. The Church taught the observance of rituals, but not ethical dogmas. Priorities are set incorrectly.

Bonnie Parker composed good poetry, and Clyde Barrow practiced the saxophone and wanted to become a musician. These seemingly talented people went down a crooked path: robbed banks, killed policemen – rebelled against the system, acted brazenly and boldly. For that, they earned the love and adoration of the common people – those who were offended by the system or came from the same lower strata of society as them. But in the film, only Manny can sympathize with the couple a little, and another lawyer, Ted Hinton, who was once in love with Bonnie – everyone else has no doubt about the justice of retribution. There is no romanticization of their activities here – Bonnie and Clyde are shown as brutal murderers.