The Loveless – Bigelow’s Debut
Katheryn Bigelow’s directorial debut (which also happens to be Willem Dafoe’s acting debut) was high on style, but low on substance. Not much happened over the sub-90 minute runtime.
The story was light. Willem Dafoe is a biker who drifts town to town with his buddies, occasionally committing some light crimes as they go. One of his friend’s bikes breaks down, so they are stuck in a small town without anything to do. That’s about as far as we go story-wise.
The film is shot using mostly long uninterrupted takes, evocative of the long days on the road for the bikers.
You never really connect to any of the characters, as they are all terrible people who do bad things and laugh about them. Even Willem Dafoe, the protagonist, is irredeemable as he robs a woman and forces a kiss from her in the opening of the film.
I did not enjoy this film very much. Apart from the strong visuals, there wasn’t much on display here. I wanted to enjoy this a lot more than I did, and I wish I had a lot more to say about it. Just wasn’t my cup of tea.
Bigelow co-directed this with Monty Montgomery, who never directed anything else before or after this. I do wonder why.
Bigelow Rankings
I can’t imagine it’ll stick.
- The Loveless
Join me next Friday for Katheryn Bigelow’s next film, Near Dark
