Watching new Jeff Nichols release The Bikeriders, starring Austin Butler and Tom Hardy as 60s Chicago greasers, I was reminded of two other movies: László Benedek’s 1953 Marlon Brando vehicle The Wild One, explicitly cited as an inspiration, and The Loveless, the 1981 feature debut of Kathryn Bigelow, the American film-maker (b.1951) who would go on to become the first woman to win a best director Oscar with her 2008 war drama The Hurt Locker.
A symphony of leather-clad posing (with just a touch of Kenneth Anger), The Loveless was a staple of the late-night circuit in the 80s, often on a double bill with David Lynch’s Eraserhead. Sharing directing credits with Monty Montgomery, Bigelow playfully deconstructed masculinity and machismo in a manner that was one part wry to two parts relish. I remember seeing The Loveless at the Phoenix in East Finchley, north London, on a Friday night, and next day heading down to Camden Market to buy a cheap leather jacket. The next time I saw The Loveless (this time at the Scala), I wore the jacket and greased my hair – as did almost everyone else in the audience.
