Hey folks, Harry here... If you've never seen STRAW DOGS, it is an extraordinarily powerful film, one that causes very strong reactions by audiences even today... thus was the power of Peckinpah. Check out Quint's wonderful coverage of this disc and countdown till you can get one of your own...
Ahoy, squirts! The true blue crusty ol' seaman, Quint, here with my look at the newest release from Criterion, Sam Peckinpah's classic STRAW DOGS (1971) starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George... and Jack the Ripper... erm... Evil... uh... decapitated by the devil... David Warner! That's it!
Before I jump into the review, I have a public service warning. If you are a cell phone user and are thinking about joining up with Verizon Wireless... Don't! They're trying to take this seaman for $400 and that's a helluva lot of money to me, especially for a phone I haven't used in more than 3 months. Bad service, snobby employees, mystery roaming charges and hidden fees. Be warned. Verizon Wireless is the devil!
Anyway, speaking of getting raped let's move onto STRAW DOGS. This film, for those who haven't seen it, is about a timid American man (Dustin Hoffman) and his English wife (the yummy Susan George) who are settled down in a small English town. There is a rough crowd in this town and they push around Hoffman, make advances towards his wife and are an all around group of assholes. Movie buff icon and legendary director Sam Peckinpah relishes slowly building the suspense until everything reaches the breaking point.
This film was widely criticized upon release in 1971 for two main reasons: 1, they said it glorified violence and 2, they claim it shows women as wanting to be forcefully raped by men. Both of those criticisms are ridiculous when you actually see the movie. Peckinpah carefully sets us, the viewers, in the middle of the action. There is a rape scene where the girl being raped shares a moment or two of tenderness. What the critics at the time didn't take into consideration is the all important context of the situation. Susan George's marriage to Dustin Hoffman is on the rocks. It's a bad marriage. The rapist is an old lover of hers. She's vulnerable, she gives in at a certain point. Sure, it's uncomfortable, but that's precisely why Peckinpah shot it that way. You aren't supposed to feel in the middle of the road about this scene.
At any rate, I'm sure most of you really want to know what Criterion has done by way of extra features on this release. First off, the sticker on the front of the wrapping said this DVD was only going to be available for a limited time. If this is one of your favorite movies, don't dilly dally. I have a feeling this one'll be Out of Print in the near future and once it goes out of print... well, that's that.
DISC 1
Anyway, it is 2 discs. Disc 1 has the movie and a commentary by Stephen Prince... Yeah, "Who?" was what I thought when I first read the special features list, too. Prince authored the book Savage Cinema: Sam Peckinpah and the Rise of Ultraviolent Movies. Now, I have to take issue with Criterion on this... I'm sure they tried to get Dustin Hoffman and Susan George to do a commentary and for some reason couldn't. At least I hope they did... I just don't see the point of including a commentary track by a guy who wrote a book on Peckinpah on a film with both main stars still alive and kicking. Especially when that film is STRAW DOGS, which centers almost squarely on the two main actors.
Prince's commentary is dry, but very educational. So educational in fact that it felt like sitting through a 2 hour film class. He brings up a lot of the history of the film, including the controversy I mentioned above when the film was release. Prince spends most of the commentary track telling us what Peckinpah thought, what his motives were for certain angles, what various things mean in the film. This part felt a lot like what I was getting fed up with in High School English, that is having the teacher tell me what every single sentence meant and how significant the fourth mailbox on the third street over was.
In other words I'm not a big fan of the commentary, but then again I might have just been spoiled by the amazing commentary tracks Criterion put on their FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS discs. If you want to listen to a lecture on STRAW DOGS, then make this commentary priority one. It's interesting, just not entertaining.
DISC 2
Here's where the cool extras are. The extras list is topped by a feature length documentary called SAM PECKINPAH: MAN OF IRON. What a great documentary! It's up there with STANLEY KUBRICK: A LIFE IN PICTURES that was released with the last Kubrick Box Set DVDs. The Peckinpah doc looks like it was filmed sometime in the '80s... I think the BBC had something to do with it... and includes interviews with Monte Hellman, James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, awesome character actor L.Q. Jones, Ali MacGraw (who's pretty venomous towards Peckinpah), K.G. Armstrong and Jason Robards reading various Peckinpah letters, in essence representing the voice of Peckinpah. Robards damn near had me in tears. He reads this one personal story that Peckinpah put down on paper somewhere from his childhood. It's a hunting story and provides an amazing insight to the soul of a man I'll never know.
The next really good extra feature is the 25 minute BBC filmed On Location: Dustin Hoffman, where Hoffman takes these guys around set for a day. Hoffman is funny and charming throughout the whole feature. It's good to see this side of him because he's always portrayed as being a "serious actor." It's good to see his funny side as well. He talks about one of the earliest roles he was offered, that of a "Hunchbacked German Homosexual with a limp." How serious is he? I don't know, but I'd kill to see footage of that performance!
He also goes through his casting in THE GRADUATE, including a funny story about his screen test, MIDNIGHT COWBOY and LITTLE BIG MAN. We also see Peckinpah in action... literally. When he had down time onset, did he read? Nope. Go over the next scene with the AD or the producer or actors? Nope. Did he throw knives? On the nosey! Knife throwing Peckinpah is awesome to behold. This lost BBC episode is classic and a great addition to the DVD.
There's also a BEHIND THE SCENES extra feature that is 8 minutes and features more behind the scenes film. Peckinpah is interviewed and asked about the author of the source material's complaints on the direction Peckinpah took his book. Susan George is interviewed and asked about her opinion of screen nudity. Dustin Hoffman is interviewed and he talks a lot about being an actor in the early '70s and about his family life. Good companion piece to the BBC doc.
The last big extra feature are interviews taped in 2002 of actress Susan George and producer Daniel Melnick. Each interview runs about 20 minutes. Susan George talks a lot about working with Peckinpah and the mind games he pulled on her to evoke the performance he wanted. The story of her casting is fucking hilarious. So hilarious I can't ruin it for you.
She talks a lot about working with Hoffman and how great he was, even though they were from two completely different schools of acting, Hoffman being a method actor and George being a very natural actor. She also tells a story of her walking off the picture over the infamous rape scene. She didn't think Peckinpah was taking it seriously enough, but they quickly convinced her otherwise and she returned. It's really interesting to see her today, in her 50's. She's still a good lookin' lady.
Daniel Melnick's interview is filled with a lot more behind the scenes information, from the buying of the rights to the book THE SIEGE OF TRENCHER'S FARM to the release of the film. He talks of the production company's struggle to find a different title and how STRAW DOGS was eventually settled upon. He also talks of hiring Peckinpah on the film even though he was blacklisted and severely dependent on alcohol at the time. Melnick also tells us about an early preview of the film. "Half the audience loved us, the other half wanted to lynch us." He finishes up talking about how the film was banned in Britain and how it was just recently released out there.
The rest of the special features are trailers and TV spots that are very repetitive, but interesting additions. "Sam Peckinpah unleashes Dustin Hoffman." hehehe. They also have included a feature called Peckinpah Responds: Select Correspondence to Critics and Viewers. In other words, it's Peckinpah calling out Pauline Kael and other critics on their ignorance regarding his film. He also responds to angry viewers who wrote him personally. Really funny stuff there.
All in all, the movie alone is worth the hefty price tag Criterion has put on the discs. The documentaries on Disc 2 are fantastic as well, though one can't help but miss that Dustin Hoffman, Susan George commentary. Plus the film is the director's cut, not to mention a beautiful transfer. For those that haven't seen the film, you owe it to yourself. Any self respecting film fan would have this in their collection.
Anyway, I think it's about time I shove off, squirts. I'll be back in the very near future with my final reviews from the American Film Market, my late coverage of the SXSW film festival and some other goodies. 'Til that day, this is Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu.
-Quint
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