Hardcore Never Dies is a new narrative movie from the Netherlands about the gabber scene in the 90s.
Read more about it here: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29607491/
Here is a review and opinion piece on this movie, written by Low Entropy.
Note: The review omits most of the plot and story in order to avoid spoilers, and at the same to not repeat something they already know to those who have seen it.
But still - if you don't want to get spoiled, don't read it.
"Hardcore Never Dies"
i read a lot of bad stuff about this movie - even before the actual release! it would not be a real "gabber" movie, it would be fake / sensationalist / whatever. it would be a "crime movie" that just happens to have gabbers in it.
well, now that i watched it, i find these remarks completely unfounded.
yes, of course it's not a "documentary" about gabbers. also it doesn't just show parties and record shops and whatever, but also other aspects of the life of the protagonists - the gabbers.
but seriously, how else would you do such a movie? for example: if you do a biopic about johnny cash, would you just show him playing at concerts and rehearsing, and completely block out the more problematic aspects of his life?
but let's get back to the movie.
the movie managed to do something that all the documentaries and other stuff i watched about gabber failed to do so far: it put across the *mindset*, the feeling, the emotion, the take on life, and the view of life, of the 90s hardcore techno scene.
that whole "yeah, we're intentionally fucking up our life, and yeah, there probably will be no happy ending for us, but we would have never been able to live a normal life, in normal society, anyway" attitude.
some critics said the movie paints a picture of all gabbers being junkies and criminals.
well yes. not all gabbers were. (i was not involved in drugs or being a criminal, and i knew a lot of people who were not involved, either).
but all of us were on a very dark road and indulging in pretty nihilistic behavior. we were actively walking towards our own end, because we thought we would never have a chance in life or society, and decided to spent the few year remaining years of our lives in fun and parties and escstasy and energetic music.
this is of course not a sentiment that was exclusive to "90s gabber".
punks screamed "no future" 20 years before us. almost all post-war youth cultures, starting with rock'n'roll, and going on with punk (as mentioned), heavy metal, goth, grunge, rap etc., were extremely bleak, pessimist and nihilistic. (maybe some hippies in the 60s were the exception to the rule).
for example, i remember reading an ex German new wave music star exclaiming: "oh we didn't really make much plans and strategies for future recordings, careers, gigs, and so on, because no one of our generation thought they would get older than 21 anyway".
or to quote some sources closer to - hardcore:
"I felt nothing, but I felt fine. I'm alive and I'm passing the time
Who needs to care? Who needs to work? I'm just a fucking fucked up jerk
[...]
What it all comes down to is this: It's just a bunch of piss. So go and fuck you!
And I'll go fuck myself. And I'll go help myself. And I'll do what I want
Whenever I want, however I want, wherever I want" [1]
or to quote the person who invented Hardcore Techno:
"I can’t possibly justify seeing a happy end to this stupid human drama. Darkness is not mystical, it’s your everyday reality." [2]
that's what we felt in the 90s. and that's what, in my opinion, the movie puts across. and it does it nicely.
it was just a generation that lived in pretty dark times with pretty dark lives that still managed to have fun and meaning and happiness - actually a lot of fun and happiness!
that's it and that's the bottom line here.
yeah maybe some stuff is cliched, maybe the drug deal plot is exaggerated or overly complex, and you don't hear much gabber music in the second half of the movie.
but i feel that the sentiment of 90s hardcore gets expressed well in this movie.
one of the only complaints is that the main protagonist is portrayed as having, and making, a choice: between a modest but boring and meaningless "bourgeois" type of life (even though he is working class) or the dangerous "hardcore rebel route".
because hardly any of us had that choice.
to quote another hardcore track:
"You have come here from all over the world because society has no further use for you".[3]
i can understand that, nowadays, some of the older hardcore heads who managed to survive in some way, and have real jobs now, and live a quite normal life, like to portray the scene different. "gabber was about having fun, and enjoying yourself, and having a good time with all your friends".
yes, correct. hardcore was about such things as well. that's very true. but don't deny the negative aspect of things.
to give a final quote, this time from a post-punk band, that would have fit well to the 90s gabber scene, too:
"Cause this is no playground for jet set boys. You'll be lucky if you get out alive." [4]
amen to that.
so, here ends my movie review. see for yourself, and judge for yourself. but let me tell you, there's a lot of truth in that movie. it shows some of the light *and* dark aspects of hardcore music.
now, to not let end this text on a completely bleak note, here is a little post scriptum that is not really part of the movie review:
of course you don't have to be self-destructive or negative or apocalyptic, whatever, if you listen to, and enjoy, hardcore.
it was the 90s. it was how kids felt back then. no judgement on them, or rather, on us.
it was probably the best we could do.
now, the 90s are far away, and we are "masters of our own destiny", I assume. [5]
and we can look at the world - and at us - in a more positive light. and actually be hopeful and constructive about things.
after all, there is no pre-programmed sentiment you need to have when listening to this music.
but most importantly - enjoy the hardcore beats!
References:
1: The Horrorist - It Goes Like This https://genius.com/The-horrorist-it-goes-like-this-lyrics
2: The Mover - Alien Underground interview http://planet-core.com/index.php/topic,322.msg4213.html#msg4213
3: Myrmidon - Condemned (Prisoner 2675) https://www.lololyrics.com/lyrics/18076.html
4: Rational Youth - Holiday In Bangkok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHDFx2wNhIY
5: Low Entropy - Your Destiny https://gabbaretrecords.bandcamp.com/album/gbbr037-low-entropy-your-destiny or Winston Churchill - 'Masters of Our Fate' speech https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/winstonchurchillmastersofourfate.htm
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