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32 out of 36 people found the following review useful: This is the "hardcore" fact of life., 29 April 2004 Author: Panagiotis Halatsakos from Athens, Greece
Seeing Hardcore, many would mistake it for a somewhat ripoff (or homeage) of Quentin Tarantino's films. But it's not. Based on a Greek book, Hardcore brings the life and times of two girls, which adventures start from the gutter and move through a journey to success, with a price.Dennis Iliadis succeeds into what other directors couldn't do in the so called "new Greek cinema" wave.His film captivates the attention of the audience, along with the two actresses who can really act, given the fact that the film does contain nude sequences.It's a perfect mixture of guns, drugs, sex and violence, a trip through corruption and redemption. The film is a little more lengthy though, and it seems that there are two films combined.
19 out of 20 people found the following review useful: Strong Film About Greek Prostitutes..., 28 May 2006 Author: EVOL666 from St. John's Abortion Clinic
HARDCORE is a very decent film about the lives of two young girls caught up in prostitution and drugs. Whoever likens this to a Tarantino film obviously didn't see the same film I did. HARDCORE is more comparable to something like KIDS than any of Tarantino's films. Good story-line and very strong performances make this one add up to a very good film overall...Nadia and Martha are two young Greek hookers who begin a strange and tumultuous lesbian relationship. Quickly working their way up the "ranks" - the girls are offered better and higher-paying tricks based on their past "performance". Nadia is a level-headed and ambitious young girl, while Martha is more needy and reliant on Nadia's guidance. When the two girls beat a potential murder-rap after the killing of their pimp - Nadia falls into a modeling career and becomes successful very quickly. Although Nadia takes care of Martha and allows her to live with her - Martha becomes more needy as she see's Nadia use and being used by shady agents and magazine publishers. This all ends in a strong climax, where Martha realizes that she will never be truly happy while living in Nadia's shadow...HARDCORE is an all-around strong film that deals with subject matter and content that may bother some. The girls are 16 and 17 respectively when they begin their prostitution career, and the audience is shown some strong scenes of their sexual liaisons with clients and others. Fans of films like KIDS, and BULLY (and numerous other late-teen angst films) will definitely be into this one. The performances by the two female leads are dead-on, and the way the story-line progresses is interesting and original. Definitely worth a look...8.5/10
15 out of 16 people found the following review useful: Down and dirty modern Greek gem, comes on like the Prodigys 'Smack my bitch up' video extended to a feature., 30 January 2007 Author: theNomad from Manchester, UK
Wow spell binding is all I can say, Greek cinema doesn't break out to international crowds often, so when it does you can damned bet its special.Plot is pretty bleak to say the least, revolving around two young 16-17 year old female prostitutes and their day to day struggle, and their dreams to get out of the grim life they've been living in not helped by their pimp. Along for part the ride they are joined by 2 fellow male prostitutes, then a client who falls for the youngest of the two girls.Its not so much the plot that wins you over in this film, but the grand manner its filmed in. The film spins from darker music video gloss in the mould of Chris Cunningham or Gaspar Noe to comical Dennis Potter dream style montages.The two central female leads do a stunning job in what must surely have been hard to film scenes. Slight warning is it won't be suitable for everyone has it has strong sexual content throughout. But then what do you expect from a film about this subject and with a title like Hardcore. [7.5 out of 10 would be my rating.]
12 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Athen's dark underworld, 24 November 2005 Author: William Hunt from Antwerp, Belgium
Saw this movie at the int. film-festival of Gent. First of all : this movie is not for people who are easily chocked.Through the eyes of two young prostitutes named Nadia & Martha (who start a lesbian relationship) we are sucked into a dark world of sex, drugs and violence... but not without content ! The film is about jealousy, the need for a home and family (especially in Martha's case) but above all how hard it is to get out this kind of underground scene. During their relationship Nadia turns out more and more ambitious and manipulative what finally lead to manipulation and even murder. The story started rather slow but the ended very strong.The movie is best described as an urban fairytale of love and betrayal.
8 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Fun and games it's not, a great movie it is., 30 July 2004 Author: pasakor
Fun and games it's not, a great movie it is. It's masterfully directed it oozes creativity, it's touching and hard at the same time, it hasn't got a boring moment, it was snubbed by critics, it's in one word brilliant. Dennis Iliadis paints a picture of wasted youth but the movie is much more than a cautionary tale. It is a film about longing, about the need to feel at home, the need of a family. The movie's young protagonists may seem as lost cases to some, but they are no different than you and me. They may sell their bodies they may kill for fun and money, but, hey, we all do what we have to do... Try to see this movie. it's worth your admission money(and then some)!
5 out of 10 people found the following review useful: great film, 25 April 2004 Author: ladystardust847 from london
i saw hardcore yesterday,and i think it was great.the acting was very good even though most of the actors are still in drama schools and they havent been in a film before , they acted like professionals.particularly danae skiadi got perfectly in the skin of her part,her facial expressions,her movements and her "evil"smile worked very well.katerina tsavalou was also good,although sometimes the flat tone of her voice was kind of irritating but then i realised that it had to be like that since she was 17 and a half and already tired of her life,tired of being a teenage whore and not having anyone to love her and not just take advantage of her and also because she wasnt as tough as nadia was.i dont know if i would have liked hardcore that much if it was a hollywood film.i'm sure that it would have been completely different.they would have given more importance to martha's "need love and family" and it would be full of hugging,touching scenes with lines like:i'm sick of this life i want to be loved ,i want a family "and it would probably show why they left their houses in the fist place,probably because their parents were divorced and dad didnt pay enough attention to them...the classical hollywood themes and it would end up being boring.
1 out of 3 people found the following review useful: Hardcore it is...., 12 October 2005 Author: Nepenth3 from Heraklion, Crete, Greece
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Realism at all costs..straight to your face, issues that usually cause revolt to lots of us, displayed in the most realistic way it could be..without being too provocative although that some scenes are way to the edge for commercial purposes (accordin' to my opinion of course).Suitable soundtrack , good photography , Excellent performance by those two young actresses and finally a magnificent directing by Dennis Iliades...in other words a really good movie,However with a really "sad or even disturbing" concept. Blood? sex? violence? or just the way that things work?? All those compose a film drowned in "decadance" but honest and true at the same time... Anyway i would recommend this "new era of Greek cinema" film to those who could use a bit of a shock..or even a 90 minute lasting stimulation of the brain.. Love it or hate it!
8 out of 25 people found the following review useful: A crazy crazy greek movie, 2 April 2004 Author: jmtms51 from Kalamata
The craziest new greek movie I have ever seen. At last a greek film maker "tried" to be ispired by the great Quentin Tarantino. It was about time. Nice scenario, no deep thinking purpose for everything is happening but still so good and fast rolling in the film. The plot doesn't stuck nowhere. Very good filming but very bad sound. The actors are all young and very beautiful (nessesary for the roles they are playing)which means that the casting was very good. The real reason I liked it is that I 've seen from inside this game of hookers and drugs because of my birthplace in Athens. Generally, although I laught very very much but I won't see it again.
1 out of 27 people found the following review useful: So violence, very much nude for what one more time Greek cinema saw his bad character, 2 May 2006 Author: sonacosanostra from Greece
As good as it what?So violence very much nude for what one more time Greek cinema saw his bad character with a movie that have nothing interesting to give.We will see if Greek movie makers have something fresh to give because "HARDCORE" is not something new!But?also,Greek movie makers trying hard to give something new without a good effort at the moment but the hope for something good in Greek cinema it is dieing last.But the problem is not the the Greek movie makers and neither the Greek actor or Greek actresses.Here in Greece we have the talent ,we have the skill but there is not the big "producer".if you understand what i mean it.So keep trying and keep on Greece.
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