Directed by:
Sam PeckinpahCinematography:
John CoquillonComposer:
Jerry FieldingCast:
Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Peter Vaughan, T.P. McKenna, David Warner, Ken Hutchison, Del Henney, Jim Norton, Donald Webster, Len Jones, Sally Thomsett (more)Plots(1)
In this thriller, perhaps Sam Peckinpah’s most controversial film, David (Dustin Hoffman), a young American mathematician, moves with his English wife, Amy (Susan George), to the village where she grew up. Their sense of safety unravels as the local men David has hired to repair their house prove more interested in leering at Amy and intimidating David, beginning an agonizing initiation into the iron laws of violent masculinity that govern Peckinpah’s world. Working outside the U.S. for the first time, the filmmaker airlifts the ruthlessness of the western frontier into Cornwall in Straw Dogs, pushing his characters to their breaking points as the men brutalize Amy and David discovers how far he’ll go to protect his home - culminating in a harrowing climax that lays out this cinematic mastermind’s eloquent and bloody vision of humanity. (Criterion)
(more)Reviews (9)
A clear example that even someone who seems harmless can become a threat to their oppressors under oppressive circumstances. Dustin Hoffman as a mathematics teacher convincingly portrayed the transformation from a pushover to an individual fighting for survival, and Susan George in the role of his wife matched him in acting skill perfectly. This finely crafted suspenseful film, with a touch of exaggeration, could be considered a small showcase of repulsive bully characters. Watching the film caused very depressing feelings in me, which I am not going to torture myself with again. (75%)
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The seventies in full glory and just the way we like it in the film industry. An intimate tale of cruel psychological harm and its consequences, delivered without unnecessary clichés and with a searing intensity that lies not so much in the final bloody scene as in the way Peckinpah conveys the plot. Repulsive villagers at every turn, a suffocating atmosphere permeating even between the central married couple, all with excellent editing and music, through which Peckinpah lets the viewer experience the story of the main characters far more intensely than just by sight and sound. Also, Hoffman, as a very atypical film hero, confirmed his enormous acting talent and a large part of the film belongs to him. Ironically, my complete satisfaction is prevented by the final thrilling carnage, which, despite all the precision, seemed somewhat unbelievable, and also by the unclear and strange attitude of the female protagonist (whose side was she on in the end?). Otherwise, however, this is an excellent spectacle in all respects, the quality of which is not matched only by the Oscar nomination for music.
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A year before Boorman’s Deliverance, Peckinpah came along with an almost identical idea. The only difference is the setting in the Highlands of Scotland. That’s where American physicist David moves with his English wife with slightly loose morals. The excellent steady rise in tension and perfect actors are the main pluses. Straw Dogs will no longer provoke such controversy as when it was released, but even so, it has much to offer even to today’s viewer.
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The slow beginning is a shame, this film would deserve the highest score otherwise. The final half hour is brilliant and the depressive aftermaths are really impressive. Straw Dogs is one of the most representative yokels-in-action type of films and, together with Deliverance, is one of the cornerstones of the hixploitation horror subgenre – and that is enough for me to like it.
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Toying with the viewers and their mind is the best that a movie can offer. Alfred Hitchcock already knew that, just like a number of directors who follow his example and try to base their movies off it. Straw Dogs is a pretty rough movie. The main plus is the young Dustin Hoffmann, who transforms from a scaredy young man into a right butcher throughout the movie; aka basic human instincts win over reason. And that’s what the entire movie unfolds from. It has its charm, it’s worth watching, but in my opinion, the three stars are just enough for it.
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