Straw Dogs (1971)

D. Sam Peckinpah



This disturbing film further ignited controversy over screen violence and misogynistic sexual abuse of women in the early 70s. The unflinching film from Sam Peckinpah (following his equally divisive film The Wild Bunch (1969)) starred Dustin Hoffman as David Sumner, a bookish, mild-mannered American mathematician on sabbatical living in a rural England town - the childhood village of his teasingly-seductive young bride Amy (Susan George). After she flaunted herself flirtatiously in view of the local townsfolk, one of the local thugs (one of whom was an ex-boyfriend) assaulted the provocative wife in a graphic double rape scene, which led to a cathartic eruption and escalation of violence.

The film was accused of implying that she brought on the assault (possibly as a means to insult her impassive husband) and actually might have enjoyed the first rape (a glamorization of rape). The climactic, stunning and barbaric ending also appeared to morally endorse vigilante violence, especially because of the main character's redemptive yet unsatisfying homicidal rampage. It was re-edited for an R-rating and faced censorship bans in England for 30 years.