Straw Dogs, one of Sam Peckinpah’s best films, was released in 1971 as American soldiers were fighting in Vietnam and citizens at home were protesting United States involvement in the conflict. Shocking at the time because of its explicit gore, and its analysis of the hidden bestiality of civilized human beings, the film manipulates viewers’ expectations to the point where we don’t know where our sympathies lie.
American mathematician David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman), a man probably best described as a pacifist wimp, moves with his British wife Amy (Susan George) to the Cornish town where she grew up. An intellectual, David is a man who lives primarily in his own head, largely disconnected from everything else around him, including his own wife. For him, escaping the racial, political, and social problems of his native country is not so much a sign of his lack of commitment as it is a symptom of his deep inwardness; so intent is he on his mathematical theorems that he can’t be bothered by student protests and the like. David expects to find a quiet, rural existence waiting for him, but instead he finds that the men of the small English village are far less sophisticated than he expected. Living off the land and using their hands, they see David as an easy target for taunts.
They hire four locals to build a garage and it isn’t long before they start making life unpleasant for David. Led by Charlie Venner (Del Henney), an old lover of Amy’s, who seems intent on rekindling their sexual relationship. The workers, openly hostile toward Americans, ridicule David and ogle Amy, who seems to encourage their attentions.
In an effort to gain acceptance, David takes the men up on an offer to go on a hunting trip. However, two of the men desert him and return to the cottage and rape Amy. She remains ambivalent about the experience and, for a while, chooses not to tell her husband. The film’s most notorious scene, the graphic depiction of Amy’s rape, has been accused of glorifying misogyny, voyeurism, and exploitation. However, when we consider Straw Dogs is a Peckinpah film, this approach fits with his belief that gruesome violence is inevitable. This point was manifest in his 1969 masterpiece, The Wild Bunch.
David, our supposed hero, is actually a melting pot of personalities. When he’s introduced, it’s as someone who shirks away from violence. But on closer inspection, David’s pacifism is a front; he’s consistently cruel and demeaning to his wife and to the local priest as well. His violence is usually verbal, but its part of who he is. Once he engages in the hunt, the violence involved in protecting his wife and home, he can kill. Yet, when he’s made aware of the reality of violence (in handling a dead duck), he’s ashamed. Is it this sliver of self awareness that makes David a hero? Or is he not worthy of our reverence because he respects his wife little more than the other villagers do?
Presented in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio, this 1080p transfer is a delightful surprise. Very clean and detailed, a nice filmic grain is present throughout. The smeared looking colors of past releases have been replaced by a solid palette that effectively shows off the drabness of the environment.
The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track has no major anomalies, and even adds so oomph to the proceedings. Fidelity won’t blow you away (but the film is forty years old), with very flat low end; things maybe don’t sound as full as they could.
English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles are included.
If you have the Criterion standard DVD of Straw Dogs, you probably won’t want to get rid of it. The special features available here can’t begin to compare to that slate: We get on some TV spots and a Trailer.
