The Bikeriders: Were motorcycle clubs of yesteryear ‘just like’ today’s motorcycle gangs?

Motorcycle clubs don’t really have a nice name in our country and elsewhere. Because of all the crime that happened in the past, you could better call them motorcycle gangs (not that they agree with that name themselves…). What were motorcycle clubs like in the past, say half a century ago? The film The Bikeriders tries to show that – with Austin Butler.

Mainly tough guys, leather jackets all with the same club emblem, big roaring monsters under their asses; one more beautiful than the other. Really nice, such a men’s association for fun rides and outings. Motorcycle clubs were probably once meant to be like that, but the reality became different. From hassle (and violence) between motorcycle gangs to outright organized crime: there was always something around motorcycle clubs.

Starting tomorrow, The Bikeriders will take moviegoers back to the America of the late sixties and seventies for two hours. Motorcycle clubs were springing up like mushrooms at that time, like the fictional The Vandals in this film. Was that a case of ‘everything used to be better?’ and would the moviegoer rather join such a tough boys’ club then than now? Metro formed its opinion for the Film Review of the Week.

The Bikeriders follows the rise of a Midwestern motorcycle club, The Vandals. Seen through the eyes of its members, the club changes over the course of a decade from a gathering place for outsiders to a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s “unique way of life” (cough). Director and screenwriter Jeff Nichols based his story on a 1968 photo book by Danny Lyon about motorcycle clubs, also called The Bikeriders.

As viewers, we mainly follow ‘gang member’ Benny and his girlfriend/wife/ex Kathy. Benny is a tough guy with an inevitable cigarette in the corner of his mouth and without a shred of expression in his dry-ass head. Austin Butler – he was so good in Elvis two years ago – knows what to do with this Benny as an actor. His club mates call him ‘the driving disaster’. Metro’s favourite, however, is Kathy, a role played by the British Jodie Comer (Killing Eve). She plays a sympathetic lady, a huge chatterbox and that without stumbling a word. Great. In many scenes, Kathy tells her experiences about The Bikeriders in conversations with the journalist of that photo book. That is pleasant to watch, where you sometimes get the idea that this is a real documentary.

A third important character in this story about motorcycle clubs is chairman Johnny (Tom Hardy) with his delightfully rotten face. He is exactly the type you would expect with protective words like “don’t worry, the boys just want to have a good time.” But meanwhile. Johnny’s inspiration for The Vandals is The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club in the film The Wild One (1953) with Marlon Brando. The trigger is Brando’s answer to the question of what his roaring group is actually rebelling against: “What not?”

Kathy doesn’t really like those Vandals, but yes, Benny does. She even marries the chain smoker within five months. This creates a story about love for each other and about love for motorcycles and the mates of motorcycle clubs. By the way, mates who once got off their vehicle all have the same walk, a ‘look at me walk’ walk (recognizable!). Revenge ‘where necessary’ because of those friends is apparently something inevitable and that does not go gently.

Sometimes and despite this, there is some sympathy to be had for his club as these bike riders. But more often not. Drinking and still riding – without a helmet – is not cool. In the end, you also see a bunch of poor people together who do not shy away from (serious) crime at all. The return of veterans from the war in Vietnam and the rise of hard drugs instead of weed do not help.

The question that remains and that you can ask yourself after seeing The Bikeriders: are those common gangs of the past very different from those motorcycle clubs with organized crime of recent years? Apart from thinking about that question, this is also ‘just’ a nice film.

Metro’s Film Review of the Week can be read on Wednesday evening. New titles usually appear in Dutch cinemas on Thursday (such as The Bikeriders), sometimes on Wednesday. Reporter Erik Jonk selects the films. Next week is completely different, a very nice recommendation for families who stay home during the summer holidays or who are still looking for an outing: Superpowers for your Head by Dylan Haegens. The YouTuber got a top cast together with Elise Schaap, Jeroen Spitzenberger and Bas ‘Ik ga zo lekker spelen op m’n fluit’ Hoeflaak.