Hardcore
Director: Paul Schrader
Year Released: 1979
Rating: 2.0
Strict Calvinist George C. Scott sees the world the way (presumably) a good deal of ultraconservatives do: there are your devout religious types and then there are the perverts (anyone in the middle? what about the half-slimy, half-professional?). It gives a warning about strict parenting turning a child away from the parents' belief system to something more insidious (Scott's daughter goes straight from Church Camp to orgies just like that), but the portrait of the denizens of California and the 'porn' industry itself (the one producer advises Scott to start in kiddie smut) is too sensational and reactionary to find much merit in. The ending, as you've no doubt read, is also improbable - although like American Gigolo, Schrader's obsession with 'redemption' is quite clear, showing both Scott and his daughter (after going through hell itself, with its bright red lighting and S&M parlors) as being 'saved' after their journey through hell.
