The Loveless

Willem Dafoe earned his first starring role in this somewhat obscure biker film that also marked the filmmaking debut for future A list director Kathryn Bigelow ("Point Break", "The Hurt Locker"). Dafoe plays Vance, one of a bunch of bikers that stop over in a small town on their way to some races in Daytona. Unsurprisingly, they shake up the local populace, despite the fact that as some movie depictions of bikers go, they're kind of on the tame side.

While there are some appreciable exploitable elements (namely, nudity), "The Loveless" is indeed much more mood piece than action film. It does capture a certain slice of Americana at a certain time (the 1950s), when outsiders and rebels such as Vance and company were treated with suspicion. It's not completely without humor, but is also not afraid to get pretty grim and tragic. Excellent location shooting and local flavor help to make this feel authentic. Bigelow and her co-writer / co-director Monty Montgomery, who went on to work with David Lynch on a couple of projects ('Twin Peaks', "Wild at Heart", etc.), get able performances out of their mostly no-name, regional cast. Dafoe shows definite screen presence and charisma in this early showcase, while Tina L'Hotsky has plenty of appeal as the young sportster driving girl who catches Vances' eye. One of the co-stars is Robert Gordon, who's pretty good himself; he's been an icon in the rockabilly genre and naturally also composed much of the score.

Highlighted by a literate, philosophical script by Bigelow and Montgomery.

Seven out of 10.

Kathryn Bigelow's first film as a director. It's a superior biker flick, with the characteristic Bigelow gloss already visible. Don't remember much of the plot, but there are scenes - mostly between Dafoe and the eerily underage-looking Marin Kanter - that have stayed with me ever since I saw it years ago. Violent and sexy and almost too cool for its own good, with a rockabilly soundtrack by Robert Gordon and lots of long tracking shots of glossy cars and bikes. Worth watching, and one of Dafoe's less stunned performances (he really is much better on stage.)

Now that this beautifully sculpted, wildly atmospheric, true-to-the-era in which it is set movie is on DVD, I've watched and re-watched it many times. This is more of a review of the DVD than of the whole film, and the spoilers are more DVD commentary-related than plot-related, so read on if you wish.

This is, by far, one of the finest films paying homage to the motorcycle enthusiasts (or outlaws, as it may be), settings, and characters of the 1950's that I've ever seen, and I own many, so any rockabilly guys or gals out there reading this review - this movie is for you! It's moody, sexy, violent, and slick - great eye-candy with an outstanding cast of characters.

The DVD has one of the better commentaries, featuring conversations with the film's co-writer/co-directors Kathryn Bigelow & Monty Montgomery, as well as the film's star, Willem Dafoe. Dafoe credits the movie's directors for starting his career with this movie, a fact which Monty Montgomery humbly shrugs off. They get into the movies they watched that directly influenced how "The Loveless" was shot, trivia notes, like how Robert Gordon, who was paid to score the flick blew all of the budget on on single calypso tune that is featured for a few minutes of the film. It would also seem that Gordon, who is most noted for being a rockabilly musician (and an excellent one at that!) was inadvertently cast while meeting with the film's directors. Gordon created some on-set tension that flickered mainly between himself and Dafoe, as Gordon felt that he was the only one on set who truly understood the whole biker/greaser world.

It is interesting to note that the movie was Bigelow's thesis for film school, as well as her directorial debut, and it must've earned her some high marks, as she's gone on to work with people like David Lynch! Montgomery, too, has worked extensively with Lynch, producing "Wild At Heart", working on "Twin Peaks", and acting in "Mulholland Dr."

For those who expect this to be a biker exploitation flick (like "The Wild One" and all of its followers thereafter), you're in for a surprise. The directors intended for the audience to feel as if that is what they were in for while the initial scenes unfold, but as the story moves forward, we realize that it isn't so much a biker film but more of a kind of a wild-west movie. Monty Montgomery credits Edgar G. Ulmer's short, noir film "Detour" as being the major influence as far as the style, the framing, and the shots of "The Loveless" go. He also credits Kenneth Anger's movie "Scorpio Rising" as the movie that inspired the whole homo-eroticism of the biker world as presented in this, Montgomery's earliest film.

For those interested in some trivia, here ya be - Originally titled "U.S. 17", which used to be a U.S. superhighway up until the 1960's when the I 95 highway replaced it as the major thruway from Georgia to Florida and up to New York, the entire film is shot on location along this now abandoned stretch of blacktop. Monty Montgomery, the movie's co-director, grew up in and around the Georgia area where the film was shot, and at the time of filming, the stretch of road was like a time capsule, with abandoned motels, diners, and gas stations along the way which had not changed since the 40's and the 50's. This made the reality of the movie much easier to capture, and cut down massively on the cost of what would have meant sound stage creations of all of these types of locations. I wonder if any of these places exist now, as the movie was done at the beginning of the 80's? I can only hope...

There is no disguising that this film focuses more on atmosphere than on plot, and there is no pretense to suggest that the directors intended anything else. Montgomery even refers to it as "eye-candy", and why not? Sometimes my eyes crave the cavities offered up by such sweet treats as "The Loveless"! There are many a long, lingering shot of beautiful vintage 'cycles being worked on, close ups on tattoos (one of the actors, Larry Matarese, who plays "La Ville", opted for an actual old-school pinup gal tattoo on his forearm before filming began), tension-creating pauses while characters look on sipping coffee in a diner or lean on a 50's Coke machine clad in leather and denim, and all of this works for the piece that this movie was meant to be.

It is somewhat of homage to "The Wild One", but only in that it deals with motorcycle enthusiast-rebels in the 50's - all other plot comparisons and similarities fall by the wayside.

Though they wished for a score that was more like Sergio Leone's large, sweeping, and melodramatic western film's scores, and they were held back by budgetary constraints, I felt what they did have to work with offered the film the nostalgic atmosphere perfectly. The score as it stands on the DVD (which, unfortunately is not on CD, record, or tape, darn it!) largely done by John Lurie (of "The Lounge Lizards" fame, and also a regular in many Jim Jarmusch films), along with a minimal amount of tracks supplied by Robert Gordon, can be credited for being the cherry on top of this 50's diner served, tasty milkshake of a flick!

~T.Paul www.t-paul.com

Kathryn Bigelow's first feature, as well as Willem Dafoe's first credited role. Dafoe plays a 1950's biker who rolls into a small Georgia town en route to Daytona and meets up with some biker friends. The locals treat them with a mixture of fascination and contempt. But this isn't EASY RIDER or THE WILD ONE... its moody atmosphere plays more like a meeting of Kenneth Anger and David Lynch. Eerie bright colors, an aura of sleazy cool, homoerotic imagery, long lingering shots, smoky score and hip soundtrack. I found it fascinating and it unexpectedly drew me into its world. Some of the performances are weak and some of the writing is corny, but ultimately these flaws just add to the sense of iconography at play, a kind of mythical recreation of archetypes from another time. These characters (both the bikers and the townsfolk) are indeed "loveless", living without drive, detachedly picking up cheap kicks wherever they can. I really enjoyed watching this stylish, elegiac film.

They ride fast and live dirty and cool, that could be a tagline for The Loveless. The characters in this biker gang, who are actually relatively peaceful compared to the people in The Wild One (they aren't that rebellious, but just enough to make an impression), and just want to chill in a small not-quite town until they can go down to Daytona for a big race. But there isn't much to do in terms of hanging out. Sure, they can work on their rides in a local garage, and sure Willem Dafoe's Vance has a ladies-man charm that is uncanny (or just, you know, 'bad boy' style, as we see in an opening scene where he helps an older woman with a flat tire), and sure there's a night of revelry in a bar. But these guys aren't looking too much for trouble, relatively. It's more about how they just want to drink some good booze, listen to their rock and roll, and unfortunately get harassed by rednecks who think their Commies.

I can't really say for Monty Montgomery, as he directed this as his first feature and then went off into producing (save maybe for the connection to Wild at Heart), but as Kathryn Bigelow's first film as co- director it shows so much promise for the rest of her career. And intriguingly it's not quite like her other movies. It's inspired by some of the Wild One, some rock and roll, but in its look and melodramatic shades such as with the girl Vance hooks up with it's akin to Douglas Sirk. It's visual sheen is very 1950's, and it's got guys on bikes who are looking for a good time, and all the actors are cast spot on. Fun to watch as well is one of the bikers played by Robert Gordon, a Rockabilly legend. But it's Bigelow's vision that makes it unique, and perhaps Montgomery's affinity for 50's low-down road culture.

It's hard to pin-point what makes the movie interesting since, frankly, not a whole lot happens. There's the romantic fling Vance has with the girl- a scenario shot with loving close-ups to the girl and a fine look to the motel bed scenes- and there's some doing with the sub-plot of the redneck dudes looking to beat some biker ass. But the tone is what counts here, and what may actually turn off some viewers. There isn't a lot of 'plot' and in some ways, more than any other Bigelow film, resembles a European piece that concerns itself with how these guys move, react, listen to the music (and there's a lot, a close second to American Graffiti in terms of amount of 50's rock tunes, this less recognizable but still as meaningful), and get drunk in a bar with what looks like 100 bottles on a table.

What it comes down to in The Loveless is you can either take the figurative ride with these guys just hanging out, or not. I did, and it was enjoyable once it got me in its grasp. It's never boring though; you always are a little on edge that something *could* happen, and when it does (i.e. the confrontation between the girl's father and Vance) that it reaches a dramatic peak, or of course with the violent climax that could be an homage to Peckinpah. It's just a different kind of biker movie, less concerned with action and more about what it was like to be these guys, or be around them, in a sleepy nothing-town in the mid 50's. If Antonioni made a biker movie and had to have a soundtrack of wall-to-wall rockabilly, it might be this.