There's violent cinema, and then there's a Peckinpah movie. You see, the difference between today's violent cinema and Sam Peckipah is all in the mind, where most violent movies just splatter red dye mixed with corn syrup across everything for two hours, Peckinpah takes a different road... a full frontal assault of your mind, one of his most famous cases of this is the 1969 western classic The Wild Bunch, a movie that took westerns, and all cinema for that matter, to a whole new level. But it wasn't until 2 years later that Peckinpah really upped the anti, taking a step beyond blood squibs on Ernest Brognine's chest to show a rape of a woman, that turns mid way into consensual sex, in one of the most controversial movies of recent decades: Straw Dogs (1971).
The plot starts out in a pretty mundane way, newly wed couple moves to a small town, shenanigans ensue, not sounding like a real groundbreaking movie, does it? WRONG! The way the story unfolds shows a tortured underbelly to small towns not seen in any other movie (well, maybe Hot Fuzz). But as a microcosm of the whole town there is an even more central conflict, that of David and Amy (Susan George). Amy and David clash pretty much from the opening credits. And the camera work reflects that, Peckinpah shoots even the most mundane marital conversations like the filmed the train robbery of The Wild Bunch, quick shots and cuts, wide trailing shots, muted colors, all leading to the growing struggles around David, segueing into the themes of masculinity later covered.
And here I shall run my train of thought down the rails laid down by Joshua Clover in the booklet inside the DVD case I rented, Peckinpah makes his first trip away from westerns, but this movie is really not a western in setting only. The character types are all there David Sumner, Played by the ever great Dustin Hoffman, fulfills the classic western role of new guy forced to the gun. Consider Ransom Stoddard in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence. A presumably weak man arrives in town in harassed by the local toughs, long story short he turns to a gun and defeats them, after unlocking a previously unseen facet of his personality, in the case of Stoddard it's courage, in the case of Sumner it's rage and brutality. Next is the cause of all woe, as told from the Western genre's perspective: The woman, who entices both sides into violence, culminating in the hero having to rescue her. Then there a the thugs who are desperately clinging to the old violent days before the hero rode to town and "corrupted" it.
But of course Peckinpah can't leave these motifs alone. In his own genius way, Peckinpah twists and corrupts the Western Hero into a bitter man who has hints of pedophilia tendencies, the woman becomes not a dame in distress but a villain in her own right, and the thugs are more brutal than anything Leone or Ford could have dreamed of. And that is where the movie gains it's strength: subliminally telling the audience their heroes are flawed, criticizing and satirizing a different genre with out even uttering the word "Partner."
As I touched on earlier, Hoffman is amazing, blending the personality of Ratso Rizzo with the demeanor of Benjamin Braddock, but worse than either of them. Boiling beneath his sweater is a killer, a subtle comment on the violent nature of man, and Hoffman is able to portray this better than just about anyone.
Also of note is Hoffman's opposite, Susan George. It's not an easy task to go two hours with Hoffman and hold your own. But George, succeeds, providing a balance of equal unlike ability to Hoffman's amoral mathematician. neither character is really like able, but when compared with the rest of the cities rogues gallery Hoffman and George instantly gain like ability points. George is stunning, subtle, passionate, but simple: Truly a great performance.
All in all this is one of the most violent and (dare I say) disturbing movies I've seen. It's not disturbing like the "torture porn" horror genre, but it's believability makes it terrifying. The acting is all top notch, the directing superb, and the script assaults your mind and leaves you hanging like a cat in a closet.
Dr. Brooklyn says: LIKE this movie (10/10)
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