- Hardcore (film)
Infobox Film
name = Hardcore
|director =Paul Schrader
producer = Buzz FeitshansJohn Milius
writer =Paul Schrader
starring =George C. Scott Peter Boyle
Ilah DavisSeason Hubley Dick Sargent
music =Jack Nitzsche
distributor =Columbia Pictures
released =9 February 1979 (USA)Berlin International Film Festival
runtime = 109 Minutes
language = English
imdb_id = 0079271"Hardcore" is a
1979 film written and directed byPaul Schrader and starringGeorge C. Scott .Plot
Jake Van Dorn (Scott) is a prosperous local businessman in
Grand Rapids ,Michigan . A single parent, Van Dorn is the father of a seemingly quiet, conservative teenage girl, Kristen, who inexplicably disappears when she goes on a church-sponsored trip to California.Eventually, Van Dorn learns that his daughter has run away and entered the world of
pornography inLos Angeles . The story is an odyssey of the upright and uptight Van Dorn as he journeys through the seedy world of California's pornography underground. Having no luck with the authorities, Van Dorn retains the services of a strangeprivate detective , played byPeter Boyle , to locate his daughter.Fed up with no results from the PI or the police, a desperate Van Dorn ends up posing as a porno movie producer in the hopes that he will unearth information about his daughter. Along the way, he enlists the aid of a sometime porno actress/hooker named Niki, played by
Season Hubley . They form an uneasy alliance as Nikki helps Van Dorn navigate his way through the maze of smut fromLos Angeles and ending inSan Francisco , eventually discovering that his daughter may be in the hands of a very dangerous porn player who deals in the world of "snuff movie s."The film takes its time in setting up the universe that Van Dorn populates, so the contrast and juxtaposition of his entry into the world of porn in California is justifiably shocking. The film thrives on the edge of a dark humor, taking its subject matter neither too lightly nor too seriously. The supporting cast is often regarded as excellent, including both Boyle and Hubley.
Writer-director Schrader had previously written the screenplay for
Martin Scorsese 's "Taxi Driver ", and the films share a theme of exploring an unseen subculture. One major criticism of the film at the time was that it utilizes the same sensationalistic elements of sleaze that it is attempting to criticize and comment upon.Awards
*
Berlin International Film Festival Nominated Golden Berlin Bear
Paul Schrader *** New awards ****
In Popular Culture
Scott's dramatic screams of "Turn it off!" have become a popular sound drop on the
Opie & Anthony radio show and a recurringriff on "Mystery Science Theater 3000 ".External links
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Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
