Customer Reviews

Hardcore Collection

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

For those of you joining the party late, Richard Kern is a New York City based filmmaker/photographer who during the 1980's created a slew of short films that highbrow critics call "cinema of transgression" and everybody else calls "some sick and twisted s***." By fusing the arthouse aesthetic of Godard with grindhouse horror meets porn, Kern created a look and language for the post-punk subculture that grew (festered?) in the Lower East Side at the time. Appropriately, the soundtracks to his depraved fever dreams were often supplied by local underground acts such as Sonic Youth, Cop Shoot Cop, and especially Jim Thirlwell, a.k.a. Foetus. His performers likewise were local art scenesters such as Lydia Lunch, Karen Finley and the late David Wojnarowicz (forgive my spelling if it's off). For my money, though, his greatest star/diva/muse was the inimitable Lung Leg, whose drugged-out, nervous anti-acting virtually invented the "waif look" that models like Kate Moss would later water down for the mainstream.

The films in this collection assault the viewer with sex, violence, sex, and a general atmosphere of scuzz. Did I mention sex? Kern reveled in undressing his punk princesses and putting them in situations guaranteed to make doctinaire feminists howl in protest. In "The Evil Cameraman" a very skinny young adult woman (who nevertheless looks about 13) is bound naked with ropes and tortured by Kern in the title roll. It seems completely awful until you consider that the film depicts Kern as well, evil, a real scumbag. You instead identify with the women and laugh when Kern gets his comeuppance. Likewise, the phone-sex worker portrayed by Lydia Lunch in Kern's masterpiece "Fingered" is completely in control of the pathetic, depraved psychos who call her. She even manages to menace poor hitchiker Lung Leg later on, and the latter's performance is something to behold. Lung doesn't act so much as drift into her "character" like some incredibly strange ghost. By any normal standards she's awful, but as you may guess these aren't exactly normal films. Some, like "Death Valley '69," are music videos that MTV wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole and a hazmat suit. "The Right Side of My Brain" is a psychosexual monologue/rant starring Lydia Lunch during which we get to see way too much of Thirlwell and Black Flag's Henry Rollins. The teeny-tiny "Nazi" is just a striptease by a woman who starts out dressed as a you-know-what. It's contrived and brilliant at the same time. "You Killed Me First," starring Lung Leg as the rebellious teen from hell, with Finley and Wojnarowicz as equally hellish parents, doesn't hold up so well, despite Ms. Leg's weirdly atavistic "performance." Here, contrivance overtakes brilliance by a mile; it's practically unwatchable.

Of course, 90% of human beings will find this entire package unwatchable. These are extreme visions for extreme sensibilities; only hardened shock-hounds need sniff this out (and what a smell! Did something die in here or something?). I assume if you've read this far, you're one of those freaks. So what are you waiting for? Amazon is a store, y'know.

Side note: because of these films, Kern was hired by Marilyn Manson to direct his "Lunchbox" video, and Kern made it to MTV at last. More recently, a friend tells me he spotted Kern's name in the photo credits of an issue of "Barely Legal." (That's right, a FRIEND. I swear I don't read that rag. I mean it. Stop Laughing!) It doesn't seem likely that Kern will ever conquer Hollywood, although that would be a wonderfully sick and twisted idea worthy of one of Kern's films.

Remember the scenes in movies like "Less Than Zero" when the characters go to one of those avant-garde bars where all the "cool" people hang out, bars where they always have those severely warped art films playing on giant television screens? I'm willing to bet those films came from the mind of someone like Richard Kern, if not Richard Kern himself. "Hardcore" is a collection of Kern atrocities packaged together for discerning viewers who care not a whit for such banalities as plot, acting, pacing, or editing. When I came across this DVD on yet another one of my infamous rental excursions, I figured I would give it a shot. Oops. While a few of the "films" on the disc inspire some interest, most of the material included in this collection went way over my head. Maybe it's because I don't live in New York City, usually can't stomach obscure, offensive art house cinema (I do love obscure, offensive cinema however--just not art house), and generally appreciate it when the director at least acknowledges the centrality of plot, acting, and pacing. Since many of the films on the disc clock in at just a few minutes, including a couple of music videos, I'm going to try something different with this review. I'm going to reproduce the notes I took when I watched the disc; I wish I could do so word for word but I can't because of the subject matter. Here goes:

Death Valley 69: gory Sonic Youth music video with murdered family and cruise missile imagery. The first of many pieces featuring Lydia Lunch.

The Right Side of My Brain: Love/hate relationship with pornographic sex and atonal sound effects. Female lead engages in internal monologue (nihilistic, of course). Again, with Lydia Lunch and also starring Henry Rollins.

You Killed Me First: Typical story of anarchist kid (Elizabeth) rebelling against family's consumerist and religious values. Ends when the disturbed kid guns her family down.

The B******: I'm censoring this one. Too far over the top to explain what it is. I'm not even going to risk spelling out the title!

The Sewing Circle: Again, I can't say what happens, but this is one intense piece. Nauseating, but interesting if you can stand body mutilation. The girl on the sewing end of the circle is wearing a "Young Republicans" T-shirt, too! They all flash identification at the end of the film, probably in an effort to head off an obscenity prosecution.

X is Y: People playing with firearms with telephone sound effects in the background. Music by Cop Shoot Cop.

Fingered: Lydia Lunch mans the phones in this obscene, profanity-laced ode to murder and misogyny.

Horoscope: Woman dreams of dancing with men after reading horoscope and watching "Studs."

Submit to Me Now: Oddballs dancing, leering at camera--lots of nonsense--guy shaving a nontraditional part of his body (!) and man ripping his own throat out, woman stabbing herself to death.

My Nightmare: Decidedly unsavory dream sequence.

The Manhattan Love Suicides: First film, Stray Dogs, about artist and persistent fan. Second film, Woman at the Wheel, about woman fighting with men in order to drive her own car (An aside here: I liked this film more than any other in the collection. It is actually quite amusing!) Third film, Thrust in Me, about necrophilia, suicide, and bathtubs. Fourth film, I Hate You Now, about deformed guy and his girlfriend.

Submit to Me: Rehash of Submit to Me Now.

The Evil Cameraman: Another misogynistic piece involving women of all races caught up in rather violent situations. The members of NOW would have a collective heart attack watching this stuff.

Get the idea? That's the best I can do considering the limitations of a public forum. All of these films together run for nearly three hours. Several of them are quite short, at four or five minutes, but The Manhattan Love Suicides consists of four films that run for nearly an hour. Kern's music videos, I must say, aren't that bad. He's obviously not directing videos for Yanni or Kenny G, though. Kern shot most of the films in black and white, probably because of the lower cost of the film stock. The stuff he did in color only serves to bring home in a more forceful way the abject depravity of the subject matter. "Hardcore" is definitely not for the kiddies. In fact, if you pop this one in the DVD player when the youngsters are in the room, you might hear social services knocking at your door.

It's difficult to imagine these films have a loyal following. I could see film students studying them since learning how to shoot in any cinematic format is a definite plus when gaining knowledge about the ins and outs of the profession, but just watching this to watch it? Get outta here. Only art house snobs would consider watching "Hardcore" a second time, probably in order to identify some deep philosophical meaning that makes them feel superior to the mindless, television watching rabble. I'll buy the notion that much of Kern's work is experimental in nature, and as such does have a certain daring in some of the pieces, but to call it high art is an insult to high art.

This is what some of us have been waiting for. Richard has been an inspiration to me since I was in high school. His crazy experimental shorts are so raw, z-grade, super 8 & analog video, microbudget/nobudget gems of punk rock rebellion, nihilism, thinking, romance, and sexy degredation. Plus where else are you gonna see this, and watch people like the lovely (and brilliantly talented) Lydia Lunch doher thing. eXCELLeNTe!

This DVD is the collection of Kern's previous two videos with 3 additional shorts which weren't included on Hardcore Vol. 1 or 2. also there is a photo gallery which doesn't include any new photos, only some from N.Y. girls. any Kern fan should get this only for the 3 bonus films, nothing else. the transfer is weak and the sound quality isn't that great but considering that these shorts were shot on Super8 nothing could've been done really. the films are still great and if you are not really familiar with Kern's work they could be shocking. Lydia Lunch is in most of the films and performs quite well. Henry Rollins in his Black Flag days makes an appearance in Right Side of my Brain, which in my opinion is the best film in this collection. Lydia's narration fits perfect with J.G. Thirwell's music. Foetus, Coop Shot Cop, and Sonic Youth provide most of the music. l'm surprised that M.Manson's "Get your Gun" video wasn't included. one of his pictures is though in the gallery. overall this is a dissent DVD. it might make some uncomfortable at times and l had some of those moments myself. feminists should stay away from this one at any cost.

Here is a wonderful example of No Wave Cinema brought to you by Richard Kern, that features a lot of popular music groups of the 80's and 90's applied to super 8 film images of sexual fantasies or other bizaar fetishes. Very well done. Guarenteed to offend the week of heart! The strongest material is the Lydia Lunch stuff. Richard Kern also has a photo book available called "NY Girls" and he also directed Marilyn Manson's "Lunch Box" video. Enjoy.

If you're reading this review you probably already know what to expect from Kern - to be shocked. "Hardcore Collection" is a must have for anyone passionate about transgressive cinema.

Overall, it's fun stuff! Some of these films are so over the top and absurd that one cannot help but laugh. My personal favorite is "Fingered," specifically the scene where Lydia Lunch fires the gun into the air while laying across the hood of the car.

Not a DVD the whole family can enjoy, but if you're open minded and intelligent you're in for a treat.

I'll give Kern an A for effort, but anyone with the technical know how and a few friends could've created this junk.

It's a sad truism that those who have the know-how are usually the least suited to expressing themselves adequately or meaningfully.

That makes this pornography pure and simple - sewage covered eye candy.

If that is taken as a compliment (and it could be if Kern is honest with himself) it is one more sorry nail in the coffin of this struggling world.

Hardcore Collection
Yup, the seedy dank underbelly of life and the bits of it that fascinate us are showcased in grainy black & white, sort of like a deviant art school assignment meant to stir emotion, maybe even disturb you on purpose. Kern is genius in his expose of vignettes & documented visions we've all thought about & secretly wanted to see, but never had the guts to speak up about or for that matter ever knew existed in quite this manner. Kern brings a true NYC flare to his media visions & a hardcore punk/deviantly defiant edge to the already edgy-er side of alternative lifestyles. These short stories are fun too in a dark way and if you be a true voyeur, you'll be sucked in by his simplistic, yet stylized way of making films. This one has been in my personal collection since the 1990's when I first discovered it. I don't show it to anyone as I am certain common-folk won't appreciate it. I grew up on this scene though. If you love the music & feeling conveyed by such artists as Lydia Lunch, Pussygalore & Sonic Youth, this is right up your alley. Highly recommended for Charles Bukowski & William S. Burroughs fans too. Happy viewing!

Some of the negative reviews of this DVD have stated that the porn and sleaze outweighs the other experimental and artistic value of the clips. This seems to be true; most of the films seem like punk trash porn with not enough substance. However, there are about 3-5 shorts including the Death Valley '69 and You Killed Me First that are actually somewhat good. For the rest it was just a headache to sit through. I was also expecting something more from Lydia Lunch, rather than playing the cliché punk rock slut over and over again.

There's one shot in the film "Fingered" which, for me, sums up my feelings about this whole collection. Here it is: a car drives down some winding road outside of Los Angeles, along or near the coast. The road is on the side of a steep mountain with dense vegetation growing through the cracks and on the outcroppings. In real life, it must have been an arresting scene, but the way it's shot, it comes across as gray, lifeless and undersaturated.

Looking at that shot, you realize how many people live their whole lives in that headspace, without a moment of reprieve. It conveys, without using sex or violence or music or even people, a species of endless bleakness.

Is this hardcore? Is this transgressive? I don't know or care. Beyond that one shot, I really didn't find anything else in this collection that gave me food for thought. Maybe this is some weakness inherent in me. Maybe this is the wrong era for these films, because there's probably not any possible fictional film you could make that is as shocking and horrifying as the nightly news. (Think about it!) But I couldn't help feeling like all the "obscenity" was designed to cover over their essential emptiness.

I realize that Kern was operating on a budget, and "perfection" was probably not an option. But even with a gargantuan budget, I'm not sure he'd have much to say, or if he would say it well. There's no way to know.