Outside of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, we haven’t gotten many concert films on the commercial and visual scale of James Cameron and Billie Eilish’s co-directed Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour in quite a while. The challenge for most artists’ concert films is to be enjoyable for the most hardcore fans and the totally uninitiated alike. Not being terribly familiar with Eilish’s entire discography, I’d consider myself one of the uninitiated, and this film definitely succeeds as an initiation.
While R.J. Cutler’s 2021 documentary The World’s a Little Blurry appears to have achieved a much more emotionally intimate portrait of the artist, Cameron and his crew interweave a lighter portrait with their trademark proficiency in sweeping camerawork and excellent 3D. In documentary segments between songs performed in Manchester, England, Eilish talks about her need for authenticity and adherence to her tomboy style and image. In snippets outside the venue, her most dedicated fans speak to how her music and style helped them feel less alone in the world. Most pop concert films promote a similar message, but especially considering Eilish’s lack of backup dancers and true desire to be as connected with her fans as prudently possible, it all comes off as unquestionably authentic.
Then there’s the concert footage itself, which is truly spectacular. The camera feels like it’s controlled by Eilish’s every move in the best way. The 3D is truly transportive; we feel like we’re actually there on stage with her because of the layers in the image. Even the light show is made infinitely more impressive by the incredible camerawork. One thing which particularly impressed me was how many times Eilish picked up a handheld version of this high-quality camera and took us with her around the massive stage. The combination of these moments with more standard shots and the smooth-as-silk 3D in every moment wowed me more and more as the concert went on.
Because I’m still fairly uninitiated to Eilish’s catalog, I wouldn’t be able to say which eras she’s dipping into more than others in her setlist here. However, I really appreciated the balance between her bolder, more EDM-influenced tracks like “Bad Guy” and her subtler, more emotional songs, such as the Oscar-winning “What Was I Made For?” from Barbie. It’s proof positive that her artistry can connect across broad genre categories. She says in one of the interview segments that many of her favorite artists growing up were rappers, and that kind of energy in terms of stage performance really shines through here. The fact that she can flit seamlessly between something closer to that style and classically singer-songwriter songs which are led by guitar and/or piano really blew me away. Additionally, the fact that she can command that stage all on her own is very impressive. Her theory that the quality and honesty of her music can carry her much more than backup dancers and glammed-up production ever could is absolutely correct.
As with almost any movie these days, it’s hard to tell how Hard and Soft will fare at the box office, seeming on the surface like part of a niche, fairly unproven genre in modern times. The death of the monoculture has broadly brought about the death of the concert film, because there are so few artists that everyone loves and can agree on. If you’re in the mood for a concert film, however, and even regardless of your level of familiarity with Eilish’s work, Hard and Soft hits all the sweet spots. | George Napper
