BLOODY SAM: THE FILMS OF SAM PECKINPAH

German Poster

Sam tells it like he sees it. You may not agree with his point of view, but Sam does not pull punches. In "Straw Dogs" Sam examines the emasculated male. The man who has become a creature of intellect at the expense of losing touch with his primal nature. Dustin Hoffman is David Sumner, a math professor who has moved to his wife Amy's (Susan George) home town in England to work on his latest theory. David is a pacifist and more than a bit of a wimp. His lusty wife is the total opposite of him. She is very in touch with her primal side, but is nowhere near his intellectual equal. Don't take the fact that Amy has a lust for life to mean that she is a slut, on the contrary she is devoted to her man.

      David hires several of the town's deadbeats to do some renovation work on the farm. David doesn't know one end of a hammer from the other. Tom Heden (Peter Vaughn) the leader of the workmen was an old flame of Amy's. After a bit of menacing flirtation, Tom rapes Amy in a very disturbing scene. Like the rape of Nicole Kidman in "Dead Calm" this scene is disturbing because of the fact that Amy moans, grunts and pants as if she is enjoying herself. I was uncomfortable with the way she reaches around and grabbed Tom's ass as if to pull him deeper inside. Rather than propounding the gross theory that women enjoy rape, Peckinpah is showing Amy's true strength. She knows that this could end up in death as Tom is brandishing a knife. She does her best to placate the situation and control her attacker the best she can. The fact that she is emotionally scarred and outraged once she has reached a safe place reveals the truth of this. I think the same thing is true of Nicole Kidman's character in "Dead Calm." These are strong women who will do what they have to survive. Critics and detractors who miss this point do Peckinpah, and more importantly real women who have survived rape a disservice. No rape is enjoyable.

      Amy doesn't tell her husband about the attack. She tries to persuade him to hire others to finish the job. She also begins to resent the fact that her wimp of a husband is becoming the butt of several jokes by Tom and the townspeople. David is oblivious to all of this because he lives in the self contained world of his own intellect. The only person David seems to connect with is Henry Niles (David Warner) a gentle giant with the mind of a child. Both David and Henry are put upon by the townspeople, so David takes this to be a bond between them. The story reaches its climax when Henry is seduced by the town teen tramp. Being a simpleton who doesn't know his own strength, Henry accidentally kills the girl. As he flees into the foggy night, Henry is hit by the car of David and Amy. David takes Henry back to the farm and calls the doctor. By this time, Amy has revealed the rape to her husband. As they deal with that issue and the injured Henry, Tom and his thug cronies surround their farm to lynch Henry. Finally David must decide to make a stand. He refuses to give Henry over to the thugs and thus begins the harrowing climax of "Straw Dogs."

Japanese poster for 'Straw Dogs'

      Dustin Hoffman is perfect in this film. He embues David with so much smarmy, condescending pomp that his return to the world of the living is a wonder to watch. While he redeems himself, and becomes a man, he also is to be scorned for the downfall of his woman. David and Amy were definitely not made for each other, but his condemnation of Amy at the end when she pleads with him to turn Henry over to the thugs is arrogant and cruel. He has given his wife no reason to believe that he can do battle with the forces laying siege to their farm. Amy is only trying to survive. She is an expert at that. It doesn't make her cruel, only a bit cowardly. I think she was smart, because, up to this point Barney Fife has shown more backbone than David. The most damning thing (in his wife's eyes) about his stand is that David didn't do this to defend the attack on Amy, but to protect a simple-minded killer. David trusts Henry but not his wife. A part of him believes that she probably was asking for what happened to her. David is not a man’s man. The ending is ambiguous in that you are glad that David has finally begun to return to harmony with his natural self, but he is still an arrogant prick. A note to the extremist reader who may think that I am saying the use of violence makes a man a man, you are missing the point. Sam's movies dealt with people thrown into extraordinary circumstances. David's change at the end of the film had more to do with inner change than his use of violence.

Susan George and Dustin Hoffman in Straw Dogs

      The sexy Susan George turned in the best performance of her career. She was one of the most sultry British actresses of the 60s and 70s. Mostly relegated to parts in B-movies (most notably "Crazy Mary, Dirty Larry"), she rose to the occasion and held her own against the heavyweight Hoffman. Long time Peckinpah collaborator David Warner also turns in one of his controlled and creepy performances.

      Sam's next two movies starred Steve McQueen. The first was a gentle story of an aging rodeo cowboy called "Junior Bonner." Despite a great script and wonderful performances by Steve McQueen, Ida Lupino and Robert Preston, the film was a commercial failure. Audiences wanted more of "Bloody" Sam. He would give them what they wanted in his second film with Steve McQueen.

» CHAPTER 3: THE GETAWAY (1972)

Rusty White