A motorcycle gang stops at a small town in the South, on their way to Daytona in Kathryn Bigelow's directorial debut (co-directed with Monty Montgomery). It's also Willem Dafoe's credited screen debut, and he plays the lead.
At first I was annoyed by the perfection of hair, costumes and sets: all the hair perfectly set, all the leathers looking like their just came from the showroom, all the motorcycles just off the factory floor. Then, as the movie advanced and the imperfection of the characters were revealed, I realized it was an indictment of 1950s Amerika, with a perfect surface covering up social and psychological rot. It was an amazing insight, or would be if William Dieterle had never existed, but he did. Still, it points to a demand for such movies, and who can blame a first-time film maker for treading safe ground?
At first I was annoyed by the perfection of hair, costumes and sets: all the hair perfectly set, all the leathers looking like their just came from the showroom, all the motorcycles just off the factory floor. Then, as the movie advanced and the imperfection of the characters were revealed, I realized it was an indictment of 1950s Amerika, with a perfect surface covering up social and psychological rot. It was an amazing insight, or would be if William Dieterle had never existed, but he did. Still, it points to a demand for such movies, and who can blame a first-time film maker for treading safe ground?