Hardcore, directed by Paul Schrader, follows a father, who is very religious individual and businessman, named Jake VanDorn (George C. Scott) who discovers his daughter, Kristen (Ilah Davis), has gone missing. While he initially hires detective Andy (Peter Boyle), he decides that he'll be the one to find her, with the help of a prostitute named Niki (Season Hubley), upon discovering that she is partaking in adult films. As Michael Bliss states in "Affliction and Forgiveness: An Interview with Paul Shrader" this film pays a "homage to John Ford's The Searchers but also an incisive questioning of Schrader's own background." In order to understand what Bliss means, let's take a look at the comparisons between the two films. Right away, the plot of Hardcore is quite similar to that of The Searchers. A male family member discovers their relative (daughter/niece) has gone missing and takes on the responsibility or role to find them. While Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) is indeed on the search for Debbie (Natalie Wood), he is also fueled by his hatred for Indians. In a similar way, Jake Van Dorn, who is shown to be a very religious man, can be said to be fueled by wanting his daughter to stop being in sinful movies- that he himself has admitted to not watching any- and be the faithful, innocent religious daughter once again. Other similarities between the two films is that Schrader mimics the same framing that John Ford is known for, being a frame within a frame. It's seen in the throughout the Western film as Ford uses doorways and the canyons that gives focus to what is in the center. As for Schrader, this technique can be seen when he walks into a bondage house to look for a man named Tod (Gary Graham) and demand that Tod tells him where Ratan (Mark Alaimo) - a player/pimp- is so that he can get his daughter back, after Niki has told him where Tod could possibly be. While we are on the topic of this particular scene, let's move on to how color is involved. Not only does this scene help with the flow/transition from the previous scene, but the fact that this starts with him only lit up as everything else around him is darkness (black) gives off intensity, curiosity, and evilness that has taken over Jake as his patience is thinning out to find his daughter. As the scene continues, viewers see the colors red, blue, and green. Respectively the color red can signify energy, war, and danger, which helps people understand that Jake is enraged himself and is walking into a situation where he and viewers are aware that it could very much lead to a dangerous confrontation with Tod. The color blue signifies power, consciousness, and seriousness. This is also fitting since a bondage house and the women are in the position of power over the client that has paid, just as both parties involved are both conscious of what they agreed to do. As for the room that is green, the color can represent greed (money) and jealously that fits the location is for bondage that revolves around women making money from what they do. There possibly is the chance that Schrader did not think too much into what colors were in this scene, but regardless the colors helped elevate what was going on and created an understandable setting for this part of the film. As Jim Hemphill puts it in his article "Why Paul Schrader Is Wrong and Hardcore Is, in Fact, a Major Movie," "Hardcore is about so many things, from the role of religion in daily life (several main characters, not just Jake, have almost comically specific beliefs), to the ways in which love and control are mistaken for one another, to the relationship between sex and commerce." While this is a film that I would not typically gravitate towards, I still think this movie was intriguing to watch. For someone who wants to watch films that shows someone's wiliness and determination to find somebody they care about, regardless of what they have to endure and change views to understand some things, then this is the film to watch. I also particularly liked- to which others can enjoy knowing about- is seeing how Schrader was able to show his admiration and appreciation that he has for John Ford's works. As for a question to leave readers of this blog to think about, perhaps answer: how far would you go (physically, mentally, and spiritually) to find someone that you care about? This is Victoria and thank you for coming to read my FILM talk!
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