Vance: “We’re goin’ nowhere. . . fast.”
Back in the late 1970s, then first time co-writer/co-director Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break; The Hurt Locker), along with Monty Montgomery (best known as the producer of Wild at Heart and The Portrait of a Lady. . . as well as being The Cowboy in David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive), were fortunate enough to have spotted one Willem Dafoe on the stage – a member of the Wooster Group experimental theater company. Asking him to be a part of their movie, it would also become the actor’s first credited role. That film would eventually be called The Loveless (1981). . . prior to that, it was known as US 17 and Breakdown.
Set in the 1950s and infused with a post-punk flair, the narrative follows Vance (Dafoe), an enigmatic nihilist with an intoxicating allure. A quiet biker wearing black leather and equally as dark Brylcreem’d back hair, he oozes an indifferent quality of danger and sexuality. Living on the edge of life (or perhaps more accurately, a knife), he’s the type of conundrum that stops to help a lady with a flat tire, only to nab a controversial kiss and then take the money from her wallet for payment as he departs. . . leaving her all shook up in more ways than one.
Meeting the rest of his gang in a small southern town before they head off to Daytona, he is the first to arrive – deciding to wait in a back-roadside diner. . . just his presence stirs up the rural community. The waitresses, one younger (Elizabeth Gans), the other middle aged (Margaret Jo Lee), show the divide – the former drawn to his not-seen-in-that-area bad boy demeanor, the latter with an otherworldly force field of disdain protecting her. Most of the community dart dirty looks his way, especially wealthy local oil man Tarver (J. Don Ferguson) – who seems to be filled with a hatred as thick as the substance that has made him his money. Yet his daughter, Telena (Marin Kanter), a red, open-topped Corvette driving disturbed flirt, definitely doesn’t feel the same way as her papa. Emblematic of the duality of the time, clashes come from conservative and liberal, young and old, religion and nihilism, the free and the confined, envy and distrust. . . the lack of a melting pot in this unknown backwoods town creating a powder keg just waiting to explode – very different from many of the more glossy, peaceful 1950s retrospectives seen in theatres around this time.
Soon, Vance’s buddies show up, including confident Davis (neo-rockabilly singer Robert Gordon – who also did the score), his blonde gal Sportster Debbie (Tina L’Hotsky), baby-faced La Ville (Lawrence Matarese), reserved Ricky (Danny Rosen), and mutton-chopped Hurley (Phillip Kimbrough), the gang stranded in the locale as they have to repair one of their faltering motorcycles. To the excitement of a few local townsfolk, and much to the displeasure of the rest, this will force the gang to spend the rest of the day and night hanging around their conservative neck of the woods.
With the story meandering at the same pace as its small town setting, Gordon’s tunes add a perfect touch, while the title theme, which actually comes from Eddy Dixon, is a slinky, deliberate gallop (with lilting lyrics) that is just as dichotomous as the picture – sexy slow but somehow dangerous (the type of song that I could definitely add to a playlist). It fits the piece – a steamy slow burn for an equally as lethargic location. It is this relaxed setting – uninterested workers playing cards at a liquor store, a sole diner that brings everyone in, a lowly motel bar the only nightspot to hit – this lack of any real excitement itself building up this unrelenting tension of racism, bigotry, and unquantifiable hatred.
Centred on a mesmeric performance by Willem Dafoe, confident visuals from Bigelow and Montgomery, as well as a subtle Indie story that makes you consider some intriguing possibilities, The Loveless is a quality effort from many a first timer. It is also a picture to visit for anyone enamored with 1950s collectibles, for the Georgia setting (off of the bypassed highway U.S. 17) is replete with coke machines, jukeboxes, a bowling arcade game, neon signs, vintage magazines, cars and bikes, costumes, as well as so much more. It really is amazing how time accurate everything looks. So, fire up your motorbike and take a shot with this career starter, that way you’ll see how everything’s going to ‘breakdown’.