Review #993: Straw Dogs (1971)

Title: Straw Dogs
Year: 1971
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Country: US
Language: English

Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs was met with great controversy upon its release, mostly due to its violent and graphic nature. Critics accused the director of glamorizing rape, engaging in misogyny and highlighting male chauvinism. Roger Ebert simply called the film a "disappointment", but Pauline Kael famously identified it as “the first American film that is a fascist work of art.” 

Upon moving to Britain to get away from American violence, astrophysicist David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) and his wife Amy (Susan George) are bullied and taken advantage of by the locals hired to do construction. When David finally takes a stand it escalates quickly into a bloody battle as the locals assault his house. 

Straw Dogs was made when Peckinpah was at the height of his power and popularity as an artist. He had began his career as a production assistant and dialogue director for TV Westerns like Gunsmoke and The Rifleman. In 1961 he made his first feature film The Deadly Companions, but it was 1962's Ride the High Country that solidified his reputation as a great Western director. 

Trouble followed or was invited by Peckinpah at every step of his career.Many of his films (most notably The Wild Bunch) would be re-edited to be less controversial & he would get into shouting matches with his producers.because of his limited freedom. Increased drug use meant that he would frequently push the envelope creatively. To those who knew him, it was no surprise that Straw Dogs would get banned from England for 30 years due to scenes of rape and murder. 

I'd be lying if I said I knew what I thought about this film. It's a rather complex picture that is polarizing to many viewers and has ethics that are many shades of grey, rather than a clear black and white. Maybe Straw Dogs IS a violent hyper-masculine picture with nothing intelligent to say; then again, Straw Dogs gives no easy answers and its themes can prove to be rather complex. 

Regardless of morality, Straw Dogs is a technically well made, deliberately paced picture that proves to have the atmosphere of a horror movie. Peckinpah portrays a decaying relationship well, as every "beneath the surface" tension and frustration slowly builds towards an inescapable climax. Even if this film is purely shock, we must at least give credit where credit is due. 

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