Hardcore (1979)

Director:

Paul Schrader

Writer:

Paul Schrader (written by)

Release Date:

27 April 1979 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

"Oh my God, that's my daughter."

Plot:

A conservative Midwest businessman ventures into the sordid underworld of pornography in California to look for his runaway teenage daughter whom is making porno films in the porno pits of Los Angeles.

Plot Keywords:

Runaway | Racial Slur | Assault | Christmas | Underage Sex

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

George C. Scott	...	Jake VanDorn
Peter Boyle	...	Andy Mast
Season Hubley	...	Niki
Dick Sargent	...	Wes DeJong
Leonard Gaines	...	Ramada
Dave Nichols	...	Kurt (as David Nichols)
Gary Graham	...	Tod (as Gary Rand Graham)
Larry Block	...	Detective Burrows
Marc Alaimo	...	Ratan
Leslie Ackerman	...	Felice
Charlotte McGinnis	...	Beatrice (as Charlotte McGinnes)
Ilah Davis	...	Kristen VanDorn
Paul Marin	...	Joe VanDorn
Will Walker	...	Jism Jim
Hal Williams	...	Big Dick Blaque

Also Known As:

The Hardcore Life (UK)

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:R | Finland:K-18 | Norway:18 | UK:18 | USA:R | Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Burbank, California, USA

Company:

A-Team

Trivia:

Paul Schrader originally had Scott's character discover that his daughter was been killed in a totally unrelated car crash, at which point he simply goes back home. He changed it to Scott finding her against his better judgment.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jake has returned to LA and fires his detective, he creates a list of establishments to do his own research and that evening and drives around visiting places on his list. The first place he visits has a street number of 739 (visible in frame) but in looking at address detail in the long shot of the list itself, there are no references to a street number of 739 anywhere.

Quotes:

Big Dick Blaque: [introducing himself during the audition] I'm Big Dick Blaque.

Movie Connections:

References The Violation of Claudia (1977)

Soundtrack:

MAN'S DEPRAVITY

Dated but still effectively powerful film

****SPOILERS**** George C. Scott, Jake Van Dorn, gives one of his best acting performances in "Hardcore". It's every bit as good as his role in "Patton" in this modern day version of the great John Ford Western "The Searchers" as the distraught and angry father searching for his missing and runaway daughter Kristen, Llah Davis.

Powerful and riveting film builds up to a fever pitch as Jake goes into the bowels of hell in his desperate and emotional quest for his daughter in the dangerous and sleazily world of the legal as well as illegal porn industry. The scene, in an empty and darkened porno theater, where Jake was shown by private investigator Andy Mast, Peter Boyle, a clip of his daughter preforming sex acts on the screen was so powerful that it made you forget that you were actually watching a movie, not the real thing. An unsuspecting Jake, who had never seen a porno film before, went from bewilderment shock outrage and then became sickened and nauseated by what he saw, all this in just under two minutes of screen time, ranks right up there with the greatest and most unforgettable moments in motion picture history!

Jake ends up finding his daughter but she was emotionally destroyed not only by the porno world that she was living in and was part off but also by her detachment and alienation from her very religious father's feelings for her. Jake is also faced with the fact that the world outside of his small and cloistered community in Grand Rapids Michigan is as different as the Earth is from the planet Pluto.

After Jake's daughter Kristen disappeared from a trip with her classmates and members of the local Dutch Reformation Church Jake with the help of private investigator Andy Mast and local L.A hooker and part time porno actress Niki, Season Hubley, track her down in the red-light district of San Francisco. Jake is then shocked to find out that she left him because of his possessiveness and restrictions that he had on her and the friends that she choose.

Even though the movie "Hardcore" is now a bit dated and the ending is a bit too pat and contrived in order for it to pull all the loose ends in the movie together and give the film a happy ending George C. Scott's Academy Award caliber acting in the film is good enough to make you overlook the movies many faults.

Both Peter Boyle and Llah Davis are also very effective as the hired PI and Jake's missing daughter. I feel that the most sensitive as well as tragic acting in the film, on par with Mr. Scott, was that of Season Hubley, Niki, as the hooker who lead Jake to, in the end, find his daughter. Feeling that she had a chance of, with the help of Jake, leaving the life that she had in the porno world Niki sadly learned in the end of the movie that hope was nothing but a pipe dream. Knowing her helpless situation Niki sadly accepted the reality of her life in it. I feel that Jake's very emotional and truly touching final scene with Niki was far more gripping and heart-wrenching then the final scene that Jake had with his daughter Kristen and almost as good as the scene of Jake in the theater when he broke down from watching Kristen in a porno movie.