Docmentary Notes: Hit So Hard

Synopsis (Wikipedia)
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.

Notes:

This is a fantastic documentary that follows drummer Patty Schemel through personal videos, and interviews (both past and future) with people who have been connected to her throughout her life. Patty was the drummer for the 90s band, Hole and also someone who has struggled with drug addiction.

The film gives a behind-the-scenes look at what the music scene was like in the early 90s. Schemel was obviously close with Courtney Love, but she was also close to her late husband, Kurt Cobain. The film provides viewers with extremely intimate videos of Kurt and Courtney when their daughter was first born. I was shocked by the video, because this was unlike any footage I had ever seen before. They seemed "normal" (or as normal as you can be). Patty was determined to get through life, but drug addiction kept her spiraling for many years.

While I was very interested in the documentary because of the fact I was a big fan of those bands in the early 90's, I wonder if this would be interesting to others who aren't fans of Hole or Nirvana. It was a "who's who" of interviews in terms of the alternative music scene. I enjoyed it for the intimate interviews, but it did feel at times like a VH1 special.

I feel that this film could have felt even more personal if Patty was behind the scenes more. It felt like someone was doing "This is Your Life" with her own personal affects. It was Patty who shot most of the broll that shows Hole on the road, etc. I felt that if the director worked closer with her they could have built a different, more intimate piece.