“THE BIKERIDERS”, AN AMERICAN OLD-FASHIONED DRAMA FILM
Cinema Writer/Film Critic Efe TEKSOY; wrote the comedy, drama, and crime film “THE BIKERIDERS”, for America’s Los Angeles-based Internet Newspaper @alaturkanews.
THE GOLDEN AGE OF BIKERIDERS
Writer and director Jeff Nichols’ latest film, The Bikeriders, tells a fictional story about the lives of the Outlaws MC, a motorcycle club founded in McCook, Illinois, inspired by the photo book of the same name written by American author Danny Lyon in 1967. It also covers a period of turbulent political, economic and social change in America. Director Jeff Nichols, who searches for a universal theme in his films and generally characterizes the background and ambience of South America, this time presents us with a production that fits the American masculine gaze model and presents a dramatized story of identity search. Director Jeff Nichols, who searches for a universal theme in his films and generally characterizes the background and ambience of South America, this time presents us with a production that fits the American masculine gaze model and presents a dramatized story of identity search.
Jeff Nichols; “The point that The Bikeriders directly addresses is that in our search for a unique identity, we often turn to groups to help us define ourselves. It’s human nature to want to belong, but this feeling is amplified when the group we choose to belong to is more unique. The more specific the group, the clearer the identity. In some cases this can be a wonderful and powerful thing in our lives. In others, it can be extremely destructive. The Bikeriders represent both. “When you combine it with a subculture as complex, colorful, dangerous and appealing as American motorcycle culture, I think you have the recipe for a movie that will appeal to a lot of people.”, said the director, stating that he aimed to make a highly personal, site-specific film that would resonate with a wide and diverse audience and feel completely specific to a particular time and place.
TOPIC OF THE FILM
After a chance encounter, Kathy falls for Benny, a member of the Vandals, a Midwestern motorcycle club. Over time, the Vandals club turns into a dangerous underworld of violence. Thus, Benny now has to choose between Kathy and his club. The film, which premiered at the 50th Telluride Film Festival on August 31, 2023, stars in; Star actors such as Jodie Comer, Austin Butler and Tom Hardy share it.
LIQUID MODERNITY
The Bikeriders shows us that the director examines the search for social identity and cultural gaps arising from changes in societies by tracing a lost generation. This brings us to Polish sociologist and philosopher Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of Liquid Modernity. In his book Liquid Modernity, Bauman offers a brilliant analysis of the changing conditions of social and political life. Bauman; “The phenomenon called postmodernism, which I prefer to call more aptly ‘Liquid Modernity’, is increasingly clear evidence that the only constant changes and the only certainty is uncertainty.” He says that being “post-” of something is an integral part of modernity. Also in addition Bauman states in his book that what the Age of Enlightenment dreamed of and what Marx promised was freedom. In the movie, we see that the thing that motivates the characters and enables them to go on adventures is freedom.
RECREATING A LOST ERA
Set primarily in Chicago, The Bikeriders was filmed in and around Cincinnati, Ohio. Cincinnati, a medium-sized Midwestern city, offered both urban and rural settings for the film, as well as neighborhoods that could stand in for 1960s Chicago. According to Jeff Nichols, a meticulous recreation of the city, its inhabitants, and surrounding areas was created by camera, production design, It relied on close collaboration between the costume, hair and make-up departments. The director gave each department manager a single image: a color photograph of Cal, one of the real-life bikers, sitting at a gas station, holding a soda bottle. Her clothing, her stance, the colors around her would affect every visual element in the film. According to Nichols, he and set decorator Adam Willis followed their research to the end. The walls of the production design offices are lined with hundreds of inspiration photographs. The commitment to originality also extends to the interior. Keith found an old linoleum pattern that was perfect but was no longer produced.
BEHIND THE SCENES
The film is in color rather than the black and white of the original photographs, but retains the vintage patina of the photographs. The film was shot on 35mm film in anamorphic format, with G Series Panasonic lenses and Kodak film stock; Stone states that the film references the 60s and 70s era. Although there isn’t much motorcycle riding in the movie, Nichols says he wanted the audience to feel like they were on the motorcycle with the drivers in the scenes.
EFE TEKSOY
REFERENCES AND SOURCES
BAUMAN. Zygmunt, Liquid Modernity (Akışkan Modernite), Sinan Okan Çavuş, translate, Istanbul: Tellekt Yayınları press, 2023
BAUMAN. Zygmunt, Liquid Modernity, Polity Press, 2000
