Well after Dances with wolves and Wyatt Earp , Kevin Costner finds the american lowlands with The Highwaymen . Available on Netflix, the film by John Lee Hancock ( In the shadow of Mary ) tells the story of the hunt for the mythical couple of robbers Bonnie and Clyde. And sheds light on an interesting page, and most misunderstood, of this famous hunt for the man.
The narrative takes a different approach to the classic Arthur Penn, with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, who turned to the thugs in figures glamorous and tragic. The couple bloodthirsty there is, here, that silhouettes fleeting. The heroes are two rangers, retired, Frank Hamer, and Maney Gault, in charge of putting them out of harm’s way. Leader of men, the duty pegged to the body, Hamer (Costner) has not the state of mind of his partner (Woody Harrelson, Hunger Games ), much less taiseux but falsely good-natured.
Memories of the good old times, the humor wry in the face of the ravages of corruption and the Great Depression, The Highwaymen is a road-trip twilight in a country full of doubt. Putting this further in its political context loaded, the biopic shows how much Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were idolâtrés, then they had nothing of Robin hood redistributing it to the poor.
Kevin Costner formed a duo pleasing with Woody Harrelson. Sometimes funny, sometimes philosophical. The disagreements of aces of the trigger on the meaning of violence does not prevent the complicity and a certain form of melancholy. In the Face of a modernity bitter, in a world that changes faster and faster, what is the future for his rangers of the old school, who learned the trade on a saddle and not behind a steering wheel? This impossible task brings out their mortality. Passionate by the 1930s, Kevin Costner did not hesitate to show it in a day far from being its most favourable. Leaving to do more than his 54 years as he assigns to the Figaro .
LE FIGARO. – You play as a vigilante aging in The Highwaymen . Did you hesitate before saying yes?
Kevin COSTNER. – The Highwaymen had been created for Robert Redford and Paul Newman. But the death of the latter was to return the project into hibernation. I was proposed a few years ago, but this was not the right time. And then again two years ago. And then something clicked. It fitted better in my life and what I thought I could give this character. I am always on the lookout for great stories, mixing humor and drama. If, in addition, it is inspired from real facts, I really appreciate it. I am an avid non-fiction. As Frank Hamer, I knew that I would gain weight, run so awkward and be short of breath!
Have you seen the cult film of Arthur Penn, Bonnie & Clyde , with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway?
I discovered the film in 1967. I was 12 years old. I loved this film. I devoured books that dealt with this time. To prepare for the role of Frank, I am back in the books and the pictures. I didn’t want to see his family, even if we are now in contact since the release of the film in the dining room in the United States. They are very happy with the result. They have entrusted us have really thought to see their primogenitor. To tell you everything, I even kept the Ford of time that you see me driving in The Highwaymen . It is for my children.
Even if you know well the historical context, is that the details will have surprised?
Nothing surprises me in the world of politics, but the importance of the games to be able to in tracking down Bonnie and Clyde was unexpected. The rivalry between federal agents, rangers, and the key role of the controversial governor of Texas My Fergurson. The film shows the extreme popularity of Bonnie and Clyde. Their funeral drew 30,000 and 20,000 people. Public opinion was fascinated by the photos of this couple. These States of the Midwest were populated by simple people, who lived in the suburbs, in camps of fortunes, worked on farms.
“Nothing surprises me in the world of politics, but the importance of the games to be able to in tracking down Bonnie and Clyde was unexpected,” says Kevin Costner. Merrick Morton/Merrick Morton/Netflix
How would you describe Frank Hamer?
there are always two facets to a crime. Those who commit and those who stalk. Frank Hamer a guy, quiet, discreet. And gifted in what he was doing. He was born to be a ranger, even if at the beginning he felt a vocation as a priest. Way that it was ultimately not followed, as he explains in The Highwaymen . With Maney Gault, he is a man of a different generation. They have learned their trade in the era where we pistait still a horse. With Bonnie and Clyde, they find themselves in front of a police scientist who has just emerged! Their methods are completely offset.
The Highwaymen is a movie where you go through again the great open spaces of america. As with Dances with wolves, The Postman or Wyatt Earp . What is it that attracts you so much in these wanderings?
I love american history. My ancestors lost everything in the Great Depression. The banks have taken everything. They have lived in camps for the displaced. It is perhaps for this reason that I feel so comfortable in the great outdoors and nature. I would very much like to dedicate a movie to this family history.
