Hit So Hard

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Hit So Hard
Hitsohardposter.jpg
Festival poster
Directed by P. David Ebersole
Produced by Todd Hughes
Christina Soletti
CinematographyJohn Tanzer
Larra Anderson
Mark Putnam
Edited by P. David Ebersole
Music by Roddy Bottum
Production
companies
The Ebersole Hughes Company
Tight Ship Productions
Distributed by Well Go USA
Variance Films
Release dates
  • March 15, 2011 (2011-03-15)(SXSW)
  • April 13, 2012 (2012-04-13)(United States)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Hit So Hard is a 2011 American documentary film directed by P. David Ebersole. The film details the life and near death story of Patty Schemel, drummer of the seminal '90s alternative rock band Hole, and charts her early life, music career, and spiral into crack cocaine addiction. [1] The film weaves together Hi8 video footage Schemel recorded while on Hole's 1994-95 world tour with contemporary interviews with her, bandmates Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, and Melissa Auf der Maur, as well as her family members. The film also features interviews with other female drummers and musicians, including Nina Gordon, Kate Schellenbach, Gina Schock, Debbi Peterson, and Phranc.

Contents

The film's score is written by Roddy Bottum of Faith No More. It was produced by Todd Hughes and Christina Soletti and was released theatrically in North America in 2012 by Well Go USA via Variance Films. [2] It also screened a series of film festivals, including South by Southwest, the Marché du Film at Cannes, the Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, The Portland Queer Documentary Film Festival, and Outfest. The title is a reference to a song on Hole's 1998 album Celebrity Skin .

Background

Hit So Hard was conceived after Schemel discovered a cache of Hi8 video footage which she had recorded herself during her world tour with Hole promoting their second album, Live Through This (1994). In the process of digitizing the footage to preserve it from deterioration, Schemel and Ebersole sought to utilize the footage in order to tell Schemel's story. [3]

Plot

The film begins with discussion amidst Hole's 1994 and 1995 world tour, then works backwards to Schemel's childhood growing up in Marysville, Washington, and details her coming out to her family as a lesbian, as well as her immersion in Seattle's music scenes, where she would eventually cross paths with Kurt Cobain. Through contemporary interviews with Schemel's bandmates Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, and Melissa Auf der Maur, her beginnings in Hole are detailed, including her audition with Love and Erlandson in Los Angeles amidst the Rodney King riots, as well as her time living with Love and husband Kurt Cobain, and the songwriting process between Love, Schemel, and Erlandson. Additional commentary from fellow female drummers, musicians, peers, and friends of Schemel's are provided throughout. After the death of Hole's bassist Kristen Pfaff in 1994 (only two months after the death of Kurt Cobain), the band embarked on a world tour with Auf der Maur as Pfaff's replacement, and Schemel, along with Love, began heavily using heroin. Schemel's drug use leads to a breakup with her girlfriend, who acted as Love's personal assistant on the tour, and Schemel reflects on her time in a rehabilitation facility she checked into with Love after the conclusion of the tour in 1995.

In 1998, the band enters the studio to record their third album, Celebrity Skin , where Schemel is eventually replaced by a session drummer at the suggestion of the record's producer, Michael Beinhorn, who had been given authorization by the rest of the band after providing them with studio loops of Schemel's weaker drum tracks. This leads to a rift between Schemel and the band, and her eventual resignation. After leaving Hole, Schemel becomes addicted to crack-cocaine and ends up living on the streets in Los Angeles for two years, only occasionally maintaining contact with Love. The film then charts Schemel's recovery from her addiction, mending with the band, her marriage to wife Christina Soletti, and her newfound passion for animals, opening her own animal boarding and dog walking business. The film concludes with Schemel teaching drum lessons in her spare time.

Cast

Release

Hit So Hard opened at New York City's Cinema Village on April 13, 2012 before playing in theaters in a limited release around the United States and Canada, via WellGo USA and Variance Films. The film was released theatrically in Japan via King Records and in the UK via Peccadillo Pictures; it opened in Tokyo at Theater N on April 28, 2012 and in London at ICA London on November 16, 2012.

Reception

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 66% based on 38 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. [4] On Metacritic, Hit So Hard holds a rank of 52 out of a 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [5]

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called the film a "touching story", [6] while Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said that "[when it comes to] read[ing] between the lines of the empowering story of Hole's drug-addicted drummer Patty Schemel, [the feeling of] uncompromising picture of Courtney Love is also there". [7]

According to Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter , the "emotions run raw in this behind-the-scenes look at drummer Patty Schemel and her drug-fueled run with the 90s grunge rock band, Hole". [8]

Variety 's Ronnie Scheib cautioned that Hit So Hard is "stylistically incoherent at times", adding that "[the] picture benefits from the percussionist's plainspokenness". [9]

Accolades

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hole (band)</span> American grunge band

Hole was an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1989. It was founded by singer and guitarist Courtney Love and guitarist Eric Erlandson. It had several different bassists and drummers, the most prolific being drummer Patty Schemel, and bassists Kristen Pfaff and Melissa Auf der Maur. Hole released a total of four studio albums between two incarnations spanning the 1990s and early-2010s and became one of the most commercially successful rock bands in history fronted by a woman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Auf der Maur</span> Canadian rock musician

Melissa Gaboriau Auf der Maur is a Canadian musician.

<i>Celebrity Skin</i> 1998 studio album by Hole

Celebrity Skin is the third studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1998, in the United States on DGC Records and internationally on Geffen Records. It was the last album released by the band before their dissolution in 2002. Hole intended for the record to diverge significantly from their previous noise and grunge-influenced sound as featured on Pretty on the Inside (1991) and Live Through This (1994). The band hired producer Michael Beinhorn to record Celebrity Skin over a nine-month period that included sessions in Los Angeles, New York City, and London. It was the band's only studio release to feature bassist Melissa Auf der Maur. Drummer Patty Schemel played on the demos for the album but was replaced by session drummer Deen Castronovo at the suggestion of Beinhorn. This issue created a rift between Schemel and the band, resulting in her dropping out of the tour and parting ways with the group, though she was still credited.

<i>Live Through This</i> 1994 studio album by Hole

Live Through This is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Hole, released on April 12, 1994, by DGC Records. Recorded in late 1993, it departed from the band's unpolished hardcore aesthetics to more refined melodies and song structure. Frontwoman Courtney Love said that she wanted the record to be "shocking to the people who think that we don't have a soft edge", but maintain a harsh sensibility. The album was produced by Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie and mixed by Scott Litt and J Mascis. The lyrics and packaging reflect Love's thematic preoccupations with beauty, and motifs of milk, motherhood, anti-elitism, and violence against women, while Love derived the album title from a quote in Gone with the Wind (1939).

<i>Pretty on the Inside</i> 1991 studio album by Hole

Pretty on the Inside is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 17, 1991, in the United States on Caroline Records. Produced by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon, and Gumball frontman Don Fleming, the album was Hole's first major label release after the band's formation in 1989 by vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist Courtney Love and lead guitarist Eric Erlandson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristen Pfaff</span> American musician

Kristen Marie Pfaff was an American musician, best known as the bassist for alternative rock band Hole from 1993 to 1994. Prior to Hole, Pfaff was the bassist and backing vocalist for Minneapolis-based band Janitor Joe. Pfaff returned to Janitor Joe for a short tour in the weeks before her death in June 1994 of a heroin overdose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patty Schemel</span> American drummer and musician (born 1967)

Patricia Theresa Schemel is an American drummer and musician who rose to prominence as the drummer of alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998. Born in Los Angeles, Schemel was raised in rural Marysville, Washington, where she developed an interest in punk rock music as a teenager. She began drumming at age eleven, and while in high school, formed several bands with her brother, Larry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Erlandson</span> American musician, guitarist, and writer

Eric Theodore Erlandson is an American musician, guitarist, and writer, primarily known as founding member, songwriter and lead guitarist of alternative rock band Hole from 1989 to 2002. He has also had several musical side projects, including Rodney & the Tube Tops, which he formed with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and RRIICCEE with Vincent Gallo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celebrity Skin (song)</span> 1998 single by Hole

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beautiful Son</span> 1993 single by Hole

"Beautiful Son" is a song by American alternative rock band Hole, co-written by frontwoman Courtney Love, lead guitarist Eric Erlandson, and drummer Patty Schemel. The song was released as the band's fourth single in April 1993 on the European label City Slang. To coincide with the song's lyrics, Love used a photograph of her husband, Kurt Cobain, at age 7 as the single's artwork.

<i>My Body, the Hand Grenade</i> 1997 compilation album by Hole

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malibu (Hole song)</span> 1998 single by Hole

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Violet (Hole song)</span> 1995 single by Hole

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miss World (song)</span> 1994 single by Hole

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Softer, Softest</span> 1995 single by Hole

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Awful (song)</span> 1999 single by Hole

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courtney Love filmography</span>

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References

  1. ↑ Lina Lecaro (July 25, 2011). "Death, Drugs and Rock n' Roll- "Don't Knock The Rock's" Timely Glimpse into Musicians' Triumphs and Tragedies". LA Weekly. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  2. ↑ Gregg Kilday (July 13, 2011). "Rights to the Patty Schemel Doc 'Hit So Hard' Go to Well Go USA". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  3. ↑ Jennifer Vineyard (March 29, 2011). "Hole's Classic Lineup Reconnects at Documentary Premiere". Rolling Stone .
  4. ↑ "Hit So Hard (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Hit So Hard (2012)". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  6. ↑ Dargis, Manohla (April 12, 2012). "In Hole, Then Scrambling Out of One". The New York Times . Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  7. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (November 15, 2012). "Hit So Hard – review". The Guardian . Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  8. ↑ Rechtshaffen, Michael (April 12, 2012). "Hit So Hard: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  9. ↑ Scheib, Ronnie (March 31, 2011). "Hit So Hard: The Life and Near-Death Story of Drummer Patty Schemel". Variety .
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