The Loveless

Whether you see it as a homage to 1960s biker exploitation pictures, a nihilistic deconstruction of 1950s nostalgia, or just an exercise in style over substance, The Loveless is most notable as the debut feature of Willem Dafoe and director Kathryn Bigelow. Dafoe's unusual acting style was honed as a member of the famed experimental theater company The Wooster Group, and his off-kilter, slightly sinister attractiveness makes him a riveting screen presence even in his first picture. Bigelow co-directed and co-wrote the film with Monty Montgomery in what was originally meant to be the first of several collaborations. The plot, such as it is, centers on a motorcycle gang on their way to Daytona Beach who stop off in a small Southern town to make repairs to their hogs and get into all sorts of trouble with the locals.

Doyle Smith's glistening cinematography and the directors’ desire to let the camera lovingly explore both the bikers and their gear manage to recall both László Benedek's iconic Brando feature The Wild One (1953) and Kenneth Anger's groundbreaking short Scorpio Rising (1963). The inertness of the movie can be tedious, but I suppose it captures the monotony mixed with the type of danger associated with the life of outlaw bikers during this era. Co-star Robert Gordon provides the film with its signature score.

Though the film was made in 1981 and played some major festivals in '82, it was not released in America until January 1984, and then on for a limited run in New York City only.