I’d heard of the film THE LOVELESS years ago but not about
its two directors at the time. One, Monty Montgomery, went on to work with
David Lynch and did most of his work as a producer. The other was Kathryn
Bigelow who went on to do films like NEAR DARK, POINT BREAK and THE HURT
LOCKER. Which was more responsible for the way this film turned out we may
never know but the film, while not a box office success, has garnered a cult
following over the years.
Taking place in the late 50s Willem Dafoe is featured in his
first leading role stars as Vance, a greaser on the road heading to Daytona and
stopping in a backwoods small town to wait for his friends. Slicked back hair
and black leather jacket over a sleeveless white T-shirt his mere appearance
informs the viewer that this is a loner, a non-conformist with a chip on his
shoulder. He’s one of the one percenters before the term was widely known.
The reaction of the townsfolk to Vance is overtly stereotypical.
He’s trouble and they don’t like him, to the point where the owner of the diner
almost doesn’t allow her waitress to serve him. What we as viewers notice
though is that he’s law abiding and doesn’t cause trouble. He pays for
everything he orders or buys throughout the film.
When his friends show one of them is having problems with
his motorcycle. The group goes down the road to the local gas station and rents
the garage for the night to work on the bike. Through the various customers
that come through the station we get a glimpse of the townspeople and their
reactions to the group. Once more through their appearance and behavior we get
the idea that this is a motorcycle gang but not the typical sort. These men met
in prison or on the road and are simply traveling together.
One of the townspeople that stops by is Telena (Marin
Kanter), a young girl driving a sports car and someone you know is more likely
to inspire trouble rather than walk away from it. Vance asks to drive her car
and the pair head out down the road where she tells him her story. Her mother
committed suicide and her father gave her the car out of guilt. They pick up
beer and whiskey for the gang, drop it off and head to a hotel together.
The sound of gunshots outside and the bursting of their room
door has Telena’s father grabbing her and taking her out as she yells that she
Vance didn’t do anything her father hadn’t done to her before. It’s a troubling
scene to think about and one that leaves Vance pondering what she meant.
Things come full circle as that night the gang heads to the
local bar to hang out. Telena’s father Tarver (J. Don Ferguson) is there and
trying to start problems calling the gang members Communists. He has plans for
them all and before the night is over things will indeed happen.
While all of this sounds like plenty to work with the film
is actually one of the slowest moving pictures I’ve seen in some time. I don’t
mean that in a bad way either. It just takes time to build up speed and the
highest point of that speedometer isn’t all that fast. As Vance says at one
point they’re going “nowhere fast”. There are no fast movements here, no bar
room brawls and no drag races to be seen. And yet there is violence and deep
emotion on display here.
Dafoe shows here in his earliest lead why he’s such a sought
after actor to this day. He never gives a bad performance that I’ve seen. As
his sidekick Davis rockabilly singer Robert Gordon does an admirable jobs and
comes off quite believable. He should have pursued a career in acting. Kanter
does a great job here too making the sweet young possible teen who seems
innocent actually something much more troubled than one would expect. Combined
with the experimental feeling of the cinematography and direction it makes of
an interesting film.
Do I really have to say after the praise I heap on all of
their releases how great a job Arrow Video has done here? They start out with a
brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative, approved by
co-writer/co-director Monty Montgomery and director of photography Doyle Smith.
Then there are their usual set of great extras. Those include a new audio
commentary track with Montgomery moderated by Elijah Drenner, “No Man’s Friend
Today: Making The Loveless” a look at the film with interviews Dafoe, Kanter,
Gordon, Phillip Kimbrough and Lawrence Matarese, “U.S. 17: Shooting The
Loveless” a new interview with producers Grafton Nunes and A. Kitman Ho,
“Chrome and Hot Leather: The Look of The Loveless” new interviews with
production designer Lilly Kilvert and director of photography Doyle Smith,
“Relentless” a new interview with musician Eddy Dixon, an extensive image
gallery, the theatrical trailer, a reversible sleeve with original and newly
commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx and with the first pressing only an
illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Peter
Stanfield.
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