Clip description
Stone (Ken Shorter) asks the GraveDiggers how they found each other. As they smoke dope, Dr Death (Vincent Gil), Captain Midnight (Bindi Williams), Vanessa (Rebecca Gilling) and Toad (Hugh Keays-Byrne) tell their stories. The Undertaker (Sandy Harbutt) celebrates the group’s unity.
Curator’s notes
Without condoning or condemning the violence in bikie society, Stone offers a sympathetic portrayal of the characters drawn to it. Stone has been living with the GraveDiggers for some time and wants to know more about them. With a little help from the marijuana they constantly smoke, members open up and reveal details of their lives before joining the gang. They are misfits and outsiders from the mainstream of society who have formed an alternative community with its own set of rules. The driving force is the sense of freedom and power that riding motorcycles gives them. As Toad says: ‘Once you’ve really ridden a big bike fast and hard, who wants to do anything else?’. The use of dislocated sound and distorted imagery was popular in counterculture movies of the 1960s and 70s and works very effectively here. There is a dreamy and peaceful mood that is far removed from the violence Stone has seen since he started riding with the club. This scene plays a crucial role in establishing the bond between Stone and the GraveDiggers that will be tested at the film’s climax.
