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Hardware: A Helpful Guide
This paper is intended to aid a first or second (or third or fourth) time viewer of Hardware through the movie’s complexities, classical references, and overall messages. What follows is a piece by piece analysis of the movie’s contents and the meaning behind them. My suggestion would be to watch the movie before reading this, so that you may enjoy it as a simple ‘slasher flick.’ After watching the movie, upon reading this, you may see that there is far more to the movie than is readily apparent. After reading this, you may wish to watch the movie once more, in order to catch some of the hidden references. Or, if you like, you may disregard what follows, and try and figure it all out on your own (it only took me 40 or more viewings to amass what I have written here).
Scene 1: We have the flashing light, the void (light emanating from a dark centre), followed by a man walking through the sandy, radiation-filled, wastelands. This man, while not a key figure in the movie, is actually the nemesis of Jill and Mo. The man must cross the fence in order to reach his objective, the MARK 13. Though difficult to see in this scene, there is a ring on the drifter’s finger. The symbol is a pentagram (an inverted star in a circle that often denotes the occult or Satan-worship, especially within Christianity). In excavating the ruined robot, he regards the brewing storms (storms that are coming, portentous of cataclysmic events). To uncover the MARK 13, the man draws a circle in the sand around the head. Please note that in many religions (including Paganism), a circle drawn around something is a form of protection.
Scene 2: Scene two begins with Angry Bob (Iggy Pop) giving us a general feel for the environmental conditions of this future world. There are a few sequences in this film dedicated to showing just how depraved, hopeless, and dark the world (or at least this city) has become. Scenes of cold machinery reinforce this theme. We then see Mo and Shades for the first time, speaking of New York and its untold treasures (according to Shades). New York becomes, at least for Shades (and later for both Mo and Jill), a promised land of sorts. “Salvage city” is a screwed up Eden for a screwed up world. Later in this scene we have Mo and Shades talking to Alvie (who is yet another demonstration to the world’s screwed up state of affairs). While Alvie leaves looking for his “glass,” Mo and Shades have a visitor. The tall man with the glowing eyes and synthetic voice’s identity now becomes more obvious to us. He is the devil, come to sell his wares. Moses takes interest in the ruined MARK 13, and pays the devil for it. I always think here “Faust would be proud.” Faust (a book by Goethe), told the tale of a man named Faust, who made a deal with Mestopheles (the devil). Notice how the devil relishes the sale as he tightly grips the money Mo has handed him. After his departure, Shades is completely unsettled. “What the fuck was that?” Shades asks, never having seen evil quite like that before. Mo is not unnerved, and states that he has seen that type before. This is the first appearance of the taint that Mo bares, and how it affects him (and also, the first sign of Shades’ purity). Keep in mind, of course, that neither of the men realize the stranger’s identity or his purpose, nor will they ever. This scene is also where we first learn that this movie takes place on Christmas. Please also note here Alvie’s classical reference to Narcissus (not that it’s particularly relevant or symbolic).
Scene 3: Is the first view we have of the inside of Jill’s apartment. Iggy pop on the radio gives us the ever popular ‘rumors of wars’ that have been so popularized in conjunction with the ‘end times.’ We see Jill meditating, then she receives a knock on her door. Of course, no one is there. Given that Vernon, the guard, did not see anyone knocking, and taking into account what Shades says about Jill’s safety, we can assume that the devil is knocking on her door (though he cannot get in). This is also the first we hear of the emergency population control bill (“a clean break with procreation”). The news also tells us that the 2 creators of the population control bill were found dead in a bizarre suicide pact. Sounds like the devils work again. The cockroach tea only serves to further implicate that the variety of animals and other supplies in the world is scarce.
Scene 4: Incorporates one of my favorite lines in the movie. “Used to be okay down there, you know that? Used to be you could go down there anytime, go out on a Saturday night with just brass knuckles, nothing else. Maybe a piece of wood or something, a piece of pipe. Now a days, you need a gun, all the time. Fucking bunch of shit, what these people are doing to the fucking world.” Obviously, the cabby’s comments are ironic, as by carrying a gun downtown, he is part of what’s wrong with the world. Other comments by Shades give us a further view of the polluted setting for this film. I especially like the line: “...or huddled in a bunker coughing your guts up, or waiting for your first cancer cells to show, or your kids to be born blind and blue ‘cause you spent one too many years in the zone and you’ve come up snake eyes in the genetic craps game.” Obviously this puts forth the idea that having children is a real gamble. Later in this scene we have the lobby to Jill’s apartment complex (if you can call it that). This always makes me think of the part in the bible where Jesus enters the church to find the gamblers inside it and is enraged at the degradation that the holy site has undergone. Mo seems upset in much the same way, especially in retrospect (after we learn how much he loves Jill). Notice please the bleating goats in the background. Classically, goats have been a sign of the devil, as are anything else with cloven hoofs. And if the goats and homeless, hopeless people throughout the lobby (“you just can’t keep ‘em out,” says Shades) aren’t enough, at the conclusion of this scene Mo states it out loud for us: “This place is going to hell.”
Scene 5: On the way up the stairs, while Mo is coughing (due to the pollution in his body), Shades notices, and is visibly disturbed by, the young child tethered to his/her dead mother. Children cannot escape the crimes and legacy of their parents. Shades tells Mo how Jill is “locked in tight. She doesn’t need you or me...she doesn’t stick her little toe out if she doesn’t want to.” We see here that Jill is well protected. Jill is obviously not very happy to see Mo (though she appears friendly enough with Shades), but she comes around eventually. She is artistically appreciative of the MARK 13. The foreshadowing here is wonderful: “It’s like I’m fighting with the metal, and so far, the metal’s winning.” As Mo and Jill embrace, it becomes obvious how Shades feels about Jill. The Public Image Limited song comes up here, intoning over and over: “This is what you want, this is what you get.” The MARK 13s eye opens for the first time, which fades into the picture of the showerhead, and the water cascading down (gorgeous transition).
Scene 6: is a sex scene. It begins in the shower. Classically, water purifies. Notice how scarred and dirty Mo looks next to Jill’s pale and delicate skin. The contrast is striking. We also meet Lincoln Wineburg Jr. here. He is wonderfully disgusting, perfect for his part (down to the mole on his lip). Believe it or not, the tune playing in Lincoln’s apartment is silent night. Listen to the contrast between Lincoln’s declaration of love and Mo’s (which follows directly after, and which Jill snubs).
Scene 7: Shades is meditating here, obviously on some sort of drug. Most horror movies contain a set of basic ‘rules,’ popularized by Scream, that have to be followed to survive. Hardware breaks most of them. In fact, the people who do drugs survive the film, while those who abstain do not. We then cut to Alvie looking up information on the MARK 13. The serial number on the robot is BAAL769751690755000. BAAL, we are told, stands for Biomechanical Autoindipendent Artificially-intelligent Lifeform. BAAL was also a rival god of Jehovah in the Bible. When Moses came down off the mountain with the ten commandments and told the people to stop worshipping the golden calf, it was BAAL they were worshipping. Mo, by the way, is short for Moses.
Next we have Jill walking about her apartment. She stops to regard her reflection in the refrigerator. Then we see Jill watching TV. Notice the way that this is filmed. While the television is on, the background around Jill is completely dark, as if to say that when the television is on, everything around us fades. Jill then goes to work on her sculpture. She paints the MARK 13 head with an American flag (so when the MARK 3 restructures itself, it goes around killing people with an American flag on its head). She also takes a torch to some baby-dolls. Given the tenet that the ‘eyes are the windows to the soul,’ and the theme of this movie and its constant reference to vision and eyes, Jill must protect her eyes while burning the baby dolls. We can see that this is rough on her (soul) because she stops to rub her eyes when she is through. They seem pained.
Scene 8: Mo wakes up, muttering about his dream. “I dreamt it was raining. I could hear the rain... on the glass. And you were lying beside me.” Given the importance placed on water throughout this film, this is obviously relevant. I call this Mo’s perfect world. Jill and him together, and rain outside. Mo then begins a wonderful dialogue. A variety of subjects are covered, including Jill’s income, Mo’s job, the population control bill, and (depressingly), children. Over the course of this conversation, we see Mo try and hold Jill, who is busy working. Jill either ignores him, or does not notice, and Mo finally gives up and walks away to sit down. I don’t know about you, but when Mo says: “I stopped thinking about children along time ago,” my heart breaks. This quickly degenerates into a fight, which is thankfully interrupted by Alvie. After talking to Mo, Alvie continues his research on the MARK 13, which is built by Ferile (Ferral?) Electronics. We find here that the MARK 13 uses a chemical to kill people that smells like apple pie (one of those all-American values). Alvie also compares the MARK 13 to a spider. Having heard Alvie call the robot a MARK 13, Mo reads from the passage Mark 13. The passage is about the end of the world.
Scene 9: Begins with very little dialogue. Mo regards the sleeping Jill, as well as a picture of her when she was very young. It is obvious to us that Mo loves Jill very much. Given the purity and light in which Jill is portrayed, as well as the taint that Mo is portrayed as having (the prosthetic arm, for example. He is tainted by the machine), I believe that Mo knows that Jill is above him, existing on another level. She is purer than him. Mo is a liar (as we find out later), and a warrior. I think he knows he will never really be with her. He never protects his eyes. Jill lights another ‘Major good vibes’ cigarette. A side note: the man who is on the first channel Jill tries appears to be reminiscent of a Nazi. Later in the film, one can barely see a poster on the wall outside of Jill’s apt. There is a picture of the man on what looks like a campaign poster. Further showing how messed up the world is: the man may well be running for office. The next channel we see is an add for Reno’s Radiation free Raindeer steaks. Keeping in mind that it is Christmas time, I always think: “carving up Christmas.”
Scene 10: Has the MARK 13 restructuring itself. Notice the snake imagery here: the cords and wires moving around, as well as the two needles, fanglike, that drop from the MARK 13’s head. It appears there is a snake in the garden. Notice also the way that Jill has fallen asleep (arms outstretched, feet together, head to one side). Even the wounds in the dead Alvie’s neck look like a snake bite (or a vampire’s). We also learn here that the MARK 13 is susceptible to high levels of moisture and humidity. So we see that water, for humans, brings life (sex brings life, literally), but for machines it means death. Shades, unfortunately, is a little too into his escape from this terrible world (that last tub of moonflush) to help Jill.
Scene 11: Jill finds herself trapped in her apt with the MARK 13. Fortunately, Lincoln comes to the rescue. Lincoln continues to be appropriately disgusting and putrid, shamelessly trying to get with Jill. When Lincoln is killed by the MARK 13, the robot first looks him right in the eyes. It then destroys those eyes, going through them to get to his soul. The way in which Lincoln is killed is almost erotic, as the MARK 13 wraps its cords around him and draws him in, then penetrating him with its drill (which is located near it’s crotch area. This is a good time to point out that BAAL was a fertility god). As a side note: I think Stacey Travis (Jill) is as good a screamer as Jaime Lee Curtis ever was.
The chiefs little chess game with Vernon is very important, and can be used to sum up Mo’s part in the movie (as we will see later): “Machines don’t understand sacrifice.” What ensues next is a battle between Jill and the MARK13. Important points are: when Jill stops to regard her reflection again. When the MARK 13 breaks the bottle right in front of Jill face, you have to wonder whether or not it’s just playing with her. When Jill falls on the ground, and the MARK 13 has hold of her ankle, we have a shot of the robot’s drill moving up between her legs (violation on every level). Jill escapes it by covering it’s eyes, then setting her escape ablaze (the marijuana cigarettes).
Scene 12: Just take a moment to enjoy the cinematography that takes place just after the explosion, as Jill walks through the apartment, the gusts of wind blowing her hair. As the door opens, and the men start shooting the MARK 13 (all except for Shades who is hiding in the back, still tripping), you can barely hear Shades yelling: “Light! Light! No, spot! Hold head together! Together!” We will hear this again during Mo’s death scene. Notice that Mo the warrior chases the MARK 13, while Shades runs to Jill’s aid. Jill begins to rant about the government’s involvement in the MARK 13 project: “Our final solution,” (Hitler, 1938). As Jill falls to the apartment below and Mo fights the MARK 13, the robot looks him in the eyes. Again, his eyes are uncovered, so we already know who is going to win. After Mo is stabbed, he holds out his necklace and says: “I’m divinely protected asshole.” The necklace contains both dog tags and a crucifix. One has to wonder which one he is referring to as divine. Mo’s death scene is beyond words. It is beautiful and terrible. A friend of mine said that it was the most accurate representation of a bad trip he has ever seen put to film. Notice the shots of the MARK 13 above the computer console. It looks like some perverted god on a computerized altar. Moses tries to suck the poison out of his blood stream, but it is too late. We see the void again. It is through Mo’s sacrifice that the game is won.
Scene 13: is the final battle between Jill and the MARK 13. First, she accesses it’s brain, through the computer console, to find out its weakness. She yells the question to the robot: “What’s the matter, are you scared?” The answer would seem to be yes. Notice how, while interfacing, we see the lights laid out on Jill’s face. When the ‘wibberly-wobberly walk’ song plays, the MARK 13 moves its finger in sync. This implies some sort of common understanding between evil creatures (Lincoln and the MARK 13). Jill realizes, thanks to Mo, that water is the key, and she picks up her (organic) bat to fight the robot. She is wise enough to cover her eyes. She leads the MARK 13 into the bathroom, but looses her eye protection when she is knocked into the shower (this woman goes through more plate glass windows). Shades, meanwhile has made it through the spasming doors. Just as the MARK 13 is about to finish the mission given to it by the devil (kill Jill), Shades points the pistol in its face. Once again, we see the MARK 13’s view of someone’s eyes. This time, it is Shades, and they are protected, so again, we know who is going to win. As the MARK 13 dies, unable to comprehend the force that is destroying it, Jill beats it repeatedly with the wooden bat. The last swing she takes, which is given emphasis by a sound effect, is the one that counts, as she knocks off the drill (thereby castrating it and taking away it’s power). Once again the song comes up, and we hear Iggy Pop again, telling us we can expect many more of these wonderful machines. The last shot we see is the devil walking away into the desert. His mission has been accomplished to a large degree. Even though Jill lived, her haven has been destroyed, and her protector killed. “This is what you want, this is what you get.” And they are not the same thing.
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