Retro Film Review: Hardcore (1979)

(source:tmdb.org)

Some of my friends who went to live in the USA complain about one thing – that country is very different from the one depicted in Hollywood movies. That is especially true for those who end up somewhere in that unexplored land between Los Angeles and New York, where they find, to their great surprise, that the majority of people vote Republican, go to church every Sunday and usually don't tolerate liberal attitudes that are taken for granted in an average American film. Such a rude awakening, however, can happen in the other direction – conservative people are sometimes forced to discover unpleasant truths about the world they live in. Something like that happens to Jake Van Dorn (played by George C. Scott), a successful Grand Rapids businessman who shares strong Calvinist convictions with the rest of his community. One day, his daughter Kristen (played by Ilah Davis) disappears from a Calvinist Youth convention in California. Van Dorn is worried because he doesn't believe that his daughter would run away from home. However, the truth delivered by private investigator Andy Mast (played by Peter Boyle) is even harder – Kristen is spotted in a cheap pornographic film. Infuriated, Van Dorn is unsatisfied with the way Mast's investigation is going, so he goes to Los Angeles to search for Kristen himself. Unfortunately, he lacks experience, and the quest that has brought him to the depths of the sex underworld is fruitless. Things change when he devises a cunning plan and, while doing so, stumbles upon a sympathetic prostitute and part-time porn actress, Nicky (played by Season Hubley).

Almost two decades after its release, Hardcore is mostly forgotten by critics and film scholars. It is a real shame, because very few movies in today's Hollywood would dare to tackle the controversial issues that writer and director Paul Schrader explored in his second directorial attempt. In the late 1970s, it was a totally different situation – films were expected to have mature, serious themes for a mature audience. For Schrader, this film was a nice opportunity to expand the subplot of his previous work, Taxi Driver – one that deals with the great generational divide that tormented American society in the 1970s. On one side, we have an old America that sticks to the puritan ideals of hard work and strict morals that made that country great. But that America is obviously unable to cope with the new challenges brought by the social turmoil in the 1960s and, instead of facing them, prefers to live in rural, conservative cocoons. The new America, on the other hand, fares no better – the ideals of the so-called "sexual revolution", same as all other "revolutions" of the Swinging Sixties, degraded into exploitation and depravity. Instead of being "liberated", Baby Boomers are stuck with their own inability to cope with their newly discovered freedoms. Schrader very cleverly brings the idea that those two Americas, actually, aren't so far away – a nice example is a brilliant scene in which Van Dorn, already described as an authoritarian and paternalistic capitalist, meets a sleazy porno producer; the latter also turns out to be authoritarian, paternalistic, and very dedicated to his job. The difference between the two is simply in the line of work.

Many contemporary critics actually accused Schrader of promoting a conservative agenda. On the surface, it may look that way – the audience is forced to sympathise with Van Dorn and his quest. In the first scenes, he is portrayed as a nice family man who actually doesn't deserve to experience a parent's worst nightmare. The scene in the porno cinema that reveals Kristen's fate is extremely cruel; the pain and humiliation, brought by Oscar-winning actor George C. Scott, are of such intensity that the audience feels sorry for him and simply must support his agenda. Van Dorn is perhaps flawed, and the subtle hints lead to an unflattering truth at the end; but the viewers simply know that his cause is just, and that the prodigal daughter must be better off with her loving father than with the sleazy pornographers who only want to exploit her body. On the other hand, Schrader, who grew up in an environment very much like Van Dorn's (his own parents wouldn't allow him to watch movies until he was 18), knows better and tries to bring the other side of the coin. Even the people connected with the sex underworld can show redeeming qualities – like Nicky, who actually tries to improve her life, and the sleazy detective who develops something like a conscience at the end. Unfortunately, Schrader fails to erase the impact of the shocking scene at the beginning, and his attempt to reconcile the opposing sides of America seems lost in a somewhat clichéd finale.

The script is slightly flawed, and Schrader as director doesn't show too much originality – his style seems too influenced by techniques that Scorsese used in Taxi Driver. Apart from the scenes in Grand Rapids, those two films even look alike. But the content might be more than interesting for today's viewers, especially those inspired by the current 1970s revival. Until Boogie Nights, no Hollywood mainstream movie ever dared to explore the phenomenon of 1970s pornography. Hardcore, on the other hand, might serve as a precious document, because it depicts the sex film industry in the period often regarded as the Golden Age by connoisseurs – before the advent of video, when many of the porno filmmakers could afford to think of themselves as artists. The view of such an age and the industry is very unflattering, though, but for a film whose main character takes time to explain Calvinist doctrines to the audience, that shouldn't be too surprising. Anyway, despite some flaws, Hardcore remains a very interesting and powerful piece of cinema.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on December 16th 1998)