The Loveless

As I’ve stated before, every biker film made since 1969 suffers from the curse of being compared to Easy Rider no matter how different the films may be. The Loveless suffers from this comparison. I’m not normally one to watch a mortorcycle film, but seeing as Kathryn Bigelow just became the first female to ever win the best director Oscar, I thought I’d like to see where she started and I am glad I did.

The Loveless is co-directed by Bigelow and Monty Montgomery and I have to say that it proves that from the get-go Bigelow didn’t concern herself about being a female director who should be concerned with woman’s issues – a rhetoric I hear quite a bit once the gender of a director is discovered by a critic. Instead, Bigelow concerns herself with the stuff of human emotion, namely conflict, rebellion, adversity and the hard to love hero. These are things normally placed within male protagonists and male-centric films, but the theme is universal to all.

In The Loveless, like The Wild One, the conflict comes from a group of bikers that head into town and stir up the prejudices and fears of the residents. The bikers are all ex-cons, unafraid of the locals disdain and willing to use the few residents who find them appealing, creating an end for their journey that ruins the town in a way The Wild One could not and the nomadic journey of Easy Rider didn’t allow.

This film is an exercise in the study of a rebellious character, but for those who want to see how Bigelow became who she is, or want to watch Willem Dafoe shine in his first major role this is a definite film to see.



Directors: Kathryn Bigelow & Monty Montgomery



Vance: You never can tell on a day like this- things could be goin' jake one minute, then, presto- before you know it, you're
history.