Straw Dogs

**_How far can a civilized man be pushed?_** A well-to-do couple from America (Dustin Hoffman and Susan George) move back to the wife's hometown near Land’s End in western Cornwall, England, and settle into the vacant homestead. They enlist some roofers whom she knows from her school days, one of them being a former boyfriend (Del Henney). Rivalry is in the air as the laborers try to emasculate Amy’s brainy husband and she questions his manhood. Havoc ensues. Based on Gordon M. Williams’s novel and helmed by Peckinpah, "Straw Dogs" (1971) is a psychological thriller and so there's a lot of drama and subtle suspense build-up; things don't blow-up until the final act, so to speak. Consequently, anyone looking for mindless action should stay away. There are bits reminiscent of "Of Mice and Men," like the mentally challenged guy (David Warner) who doesn't know his own strength. The conflict here is basically brawn vs. brain or Lynyrd Skynyrd vs. Bach. David (Hoffman) is a meek, civilized man of below average stature (almost 5’6”) with an intellectual occupation who is forced to shed all his cultured conditioning and revert back to the barbarism of his ancestors. The story spurs some questions: Why does a rape-victim keep silent? Why is the local teen hottie interested in the mentally-challenged hunk? But a little reflection will answer these and other questions. I like it when films don't spell everything out and make you think. Certain added bits are interesting, like the subtle rivalry between gang members Charlie (Henney) and Norman (Ken Hutchison). The flick is sophisticated and sneers at binary good/bad characterizations, rubbing the viewer’s face in humanity’s animalistic (or fallen) nature, which lies just beneath the veneer of civilized proprieties. There’s an effective 2011 remake, which switches the setting to the modern day of the Deep South, America. Anyone who appreciates Rural Gothic or Southern Gothic will likely appreciate either. I should add that there's an unpleasant rape sequence à la “The Wild Angels” and “Last Summer,” not to mention the mayhem of the climax, but it's mostly an intelligent drama that slowly builds tension, obviously influenced by “The Shuttered Room” from four years prior. It runs 1 hour, 58 minutes, and was shot in southwest England at St Buryan, near Penzance, with studio stuff done at Twickenham Studios in London. GRADE: B