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Straw Dogs - Criterion Collection
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: 117 minutes
Extras:
Audio Commentary By Film Scholar Stephen Prince, Isolated Music And Effects
Track, Sam Peckinpah: Man Of Iron Documentary, On Location: Dustin Hoffman,
Behind-The-Scenes Footage, Video Interviews With Actress Susan George and
Producer Daniel Melnick Select Correspondence Between Peckinpah and Critics and
Viewers, Theatrical Trailer, and TV Spots
Languages:
English Monaural Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 24
Sound:
Monaural Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1971/DVD Release: 2003
Theatrical
Distributor: ABC Pictures Corporation
Home
Video Distributor: Home Vision 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 leaves 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
the 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 and listening to the commentary and viewing the extra
value features, 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 experience a moment 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.
Film
Scholar Stephen Prince sounds like he is reading from a book, but does deliver
an interesting and at times screen specific dissertation on “Straw Dogs.” I
am not sure I agree with everything Prince says, but he does make a lot of valid
points worth consideration. This is supported by 20-page insert containing an
essay by Author and Poet Joshua Clover and a reprinted interview with Peckinpah
by Critic Andre Leroux as well as chapter stop information, credits for both the
film and disc, and notes on the DVD’s production itself. “Straw Dogs” is
presented in its original aspect ratio of (1.78:1). This new high-definition
transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm interpositive. The
Soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from a 25mm magnetic audio track; audio
restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss, and crackle. To
further enhance the image, the MTI Digital Restoration System was used to remove
thousands of instances of dirt, debris, and scratches. The (1.78:1) 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 from the center channel of one’s home theater sound system.
Optional English Captions for the hearing impaired are encoded onto the first
DVD as well.
The
second disc contains the balance of the features that begin with several BBC
documentaries and featurettes that includes the documentary “Moving Pictures:
Sam Peckinpah: Man Of Iron” (82:26), “On Location: Dustin Hoffman”
(25:46), and some behind-the-scenes footage (7:40). Newly videotaped interviews
with Actress Susan George (20:51) and Producer Daniel Melnick (18:59) are
included too. The theatrical trailer (1:43) as well as a one-minute, 31-second,
and 12-second TV spots and a selection of correspondence between Peckinpah with
critics and viewers wraps up the extra features included within this DVD set.
Well
worth viewing, “Straw Dogs: The Criterion Collection #182”is available on
DVD-Video now from Home Vision Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2003 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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Straw Dogs - Criterion Collection