nan | 楠木

Recently I’ve watched two very violent films, one the aptly titled A History of Violence, and the other one being this film, Straw Dogs.
Through reputation, I’ve come to know Straw Dogs as one of the monumental films about violence, and a controversial one at that. I also knew that it had a very explosive final half hour.
With this much information prehand, perhaps I was somewhat relieved of what could have been a much more intense viewing experience. The film and its setting has an eerie presence, and the small and old English town, which seems a bit medieval, slowly grows into a haunting menace. The townsfolk all seem a bit queer or odd, and perhaps could be described as primitive. Their feelings and conflicts are very explicit.
The film itself is also explicit. The one person that I’ve really come to hate, is the lead actress, Susan George, who plays Amy. Amy seems to be such an annoying character: she’s immature, unfaithful, selfish and cowardly. She initially pushes her equally weak husband (Dustin Hoffman) to warn off some unfriendly townsfolk, and when he lacks the courage, her own courage crumbles. In fact, she becomes so cowardly that her husband has to give her a beating to make her behave in the final showdown. What a frustrating character.
Yet I’m now thinking, the reason I detest her so much, is just because her weakness is so representative of so many of us. It is like a big symbol of our own weakness and cowardice, and the symbol is explicit and un-comfortable. And that’s why we hate it so much. It’s just the brutal fact.
Having watched A History of Violence the day before, I was quite numb to the violence, yet still shocked. This is a brutal film, one that pushes violence to a grotesque and mean degree, and one that it would leave a scar in my memory.
8/10