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Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Peter Vaughan, T.P. McKenna, Del Henney, Ken Hutchison, Colin Welland, Jim Norton, Sally Thomsett, Donald Webster, Len Jones, Michael Mundell, Peter Arne, Robert Keegan, June Brown, Chloe Brown, Cherina Mann, and David Warner
Writers: Sam Peckinpah and David Z. Goodman
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Feature length: 118 minutes
Languages: English Monaural Sound
Subtitles: English Captions and Closed Captions and French and Spanish Language Subtitles
Packaging: Amaray Keep Case
Chapter Stops: 20
Sound: Monaural Sound
Year of Theatrical Release: 1971/DVD Release: 2004
Theatrical Distributor: ABC Pictures Corporation
Home Video Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
What a great movie. Yes “Straw Dogs” is appalling and can even be accused of misogyny and it is very violent, but no more so than films such as “Taxi Driver” or “A Clockwork Orange.” Deceptively simple and taking it’s time to develop, I’m sure there may be people who see this and think it is too slow in developing, but personally I find it refreshing. Dustin Hoffman plays David, an American Mathematician on sabbatical with a grant and who has accompanied his wife Amy (Susan George) to her ancestral home near a quaint Cornish village. Though never outright said, when can presume that they have had a troubled marriage and there is an unsaid resentment between them that traveling to her hometown has not improved. As their distance slowly begins to permeate their new environment so do the local folk begin to focus in onto their distance, which subsequently leads to the rape and sodomy of his wife at the hands of locals she grew up with who have mistaken her acts of defiance against her husband as an invite to promiscuous sex.
This culminates in a bloody confrontation that escalates as boundaries are invaded and ultimately forces David to realize his own capability for violence that is hinted at through his subtle sadistic behavior toward his wife. In my opinion after watching the film I think David unconsciously brings upon the events so that he can bring on the confrontation and experience his masculine dominance over his wife and all of the people in the town thus making him as much as an antagonist as the men who siege the isolated home and raped his wife and collectively I think the true victim of the film, besides the cat, is Susan George’s character of David’s wife Amy. This life and death confrontation for David could be what Joseph Campbell described as a sublime moment that being that David experiences a instant where he is truly living in the moment and not focusing on the past and theorizing with his intellectualization defense mechanism against any true intimacy with anyone through his all important grant funded mathematics research.
“Straw Dogs” is presented in its original aspect ratio of (1.85:1). The (1.85:1) image is presented with anamorphic enhancement and is an uncut presentation not seen in American theaters during the original 1971 theatrical release. The film has a monotone quality with a bleak landscape filled with desaturated greens, grays, and browns. The image contains very nice textures and details that the DVD replicates quite well. The English Monaural Soundtrack is clear and as full as one can expect. Optional English Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired are encoded onto the first DVD as well French and Spanish Language Subtitles.
“Star Dogs: Unrated Extended Edition” will debut on DVD-Video at retailers on and offline on Tuesday, October 19, 2004 from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2004 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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