Once a Jolly Swagman

Tonight was another installment of "shitty biker movie night" at my crib. The FSMC represented and we got down with a flick from 1939 about speedway racing in jolly ol' England.

This is a departure from the normal biker flicks we eat up from the 60's in many ways. But it's also similar  on a thematic level. Bikers have been fighting the establishment for 100 years. Whether they're flying round a dirt track with a fucking ascot on or terrorizing the squares with their swastikas and Mongol attitude, rebellion is a continuous thread that unites them all. When Marlon Brando was famously asked in the Wild One, "what are you rebelling against?," he calmly said, "whaddya got?"

And then kicked ass.

Anyway, Once a Jolly Swagman was limey as fuck. Definitely not a flick that I think would get much traction in the states. Thick Welsh and English accents throughout the whole cast. A couple of us made up our own interpretations of what was being said at times.

I think everyone really dug it. The cinematography was really quite outstanding for the period. The D.P. did a fantastic job with framing, lighting, and blocking. Some of the camera angles really impressed the gang, for whatever that's worth. You could pause the film at any moment and pull out a frame and it would make a perfectly composed photo. (My all time favorite film like that is the Joy Division biopic, Control. That film is so well framed and composed I can't even explain. It was no shock to me at all when I found out the director was a photographer before he got into directing. That keen eye was evident in every frame.)

Back to the film at hand; I think this definitely transcends a film for bikers. This was a good film regardless of your preferred mode of transportation and I wouldn't have an issue recommending it to anyone who likes stylish, classic cinema.

It was funny at times (more so when you watch it with my good friend, the Magician, making comments), very well shot, exciting, and had a coherent story.

It's streaming on Netflix. If you want something a little different from what you normally watch, then check this out.