Ray Pride

Criterion's limited-time reissue of Sam Peckinpah's most controversial film, 1971's "Straw Dogs," happens to hit the streets at the same time as the theatrical release of "Irreversible," which writer-director Gaspar Noe has cited as a key influence on his story of rape and revenge. In "Straw Dogs," Dustin Hoffman plays David Sumner, a young American mathematician who moves with his English wife, Amy (Susan George) to a small Cornish village to experience a quiet and idyllic life together. He's a complete milquetoast, taking the insults to him and his wife in stride until she is attacked. The double-disc set offers Peckinpah's original cut of the movie, about five minutes longer than released. It offers more of the footage that has caused commentators over the years to argue that the character is shown to enjoy the act; it's definitely a disturbing possibility in Peckinpah's unsentimental, violent view of the world. Brutal revenge follows: how much or how little does it take any of us to turn? As LA Weekly's John Powers said of "Irreversible," "If you've seen `Straw Dogs,' you're not surprised to find proto-fascist blood lust lurking inside an overintellectualizing Parisian limp-dick." Along with a feature-length documentary, "Sam Peckinpah: Man of Iron," there's a terrific, context-placing essay in the program booklet by the poet Joshua Clover. An interview with Peckinpah, however, is one of the worst features ever in a Criterion edition, drawn from a Quebecois paper, and translated back into English with galling literalism that makes hash of Peckinpah's steely obstinacy.

"Straw Dogs" is available for a limited time as a Criterion DVD.

(2003-03-12)

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