Straw Dogs
Short description
David Sumner, an American academic, moves with his English wife Amy to the small rural community where she grew up. He hopes to work in peace on his research, but the villagers treat him with contempt, and Amy's former boyfriend is among the men who provoke him. What begins as hostility and mockery builds toward a violent confrontation at the couple's home.
Sam Peckinpah directed and co-wrote the screenplay with David Zelag Goodman, working from Gordon M. Williams's novel about the siege of a farmhouse. The film followed The Wild Bunch and The Ballad of Cable Hogue in Peckinpah's filmography and preceded The Getaway. Dustin Hoffman plays David opposite Susan George as Amy, with Peter Vaughan, T. P. McKenna, Del Henney and Jim Norton in supporting roles. Daniel Melnick produced, and the budget was about three million dollars.
Released in late 1971, the film runs 116 minutes and belongs to the crime, drama and thriller genres, with production split between Britain and the United States. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.4 from roughly 68,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.2 from about 1,100 votes. A critics' rating of 8.5 from 45 reviews places it higher than either audience score.
What's left behind the scenes
- T.P. McKenny's (1929-2011) character keeps his hand on a bandage. This was not in the script. The actor actually broke his hand at a party organized by director Peckinpah.
- In the scene where Dustin Hoffman's character first appears in the local diner, director Sam Peckinpah (1925-1984) disliked the reaction of the other characters to his arrival, which they perceived as an intrusion into their own little world. In one of the takes, he decided to try filming Hoffman's character entering without pants. This time, everyone reacted as he needed them to.
- Coconut shells were used in the scene where Dustin Hoffman's character beats a man to death.
- The film's title was taken by the authors from a well-known saying by the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu: “Heaven and Earth are not merciful – people are to them merely straw dogs.” The saying originates from the ancient Chinese tradition of decorating religious holidays with images of dogs made of straw, which were discarded or burned at the end of the ceremony. Currently, especially in English, the term 'straw dogs' is a euphemism for something unnecessary or created with the sole purpose of being destroyed.
- The full version of the film has a runtime of 118 minutes.
- Filming took place in a village, and local residents who had no idea what the film was about were cast in some minor roles. Upon the film's release, they were shocked to see their participation in a film that so sharply contradicted their own moral principles.
- Ken Hutchinson made his debut in this film.
- Gordon Williams (1934-2017) was so disappointed with this adaptation that he vowed never to sell the film rights to his works to Americans again.
- Henry Niles' limp was not written into the script. Actor David Warner broke his leg shortly before filming began, but was able to move with a cane by the time it started. Due to the fracture, he was refused insurance, and consequently, his name was not included in the credits.
- When Sam Peckinpah was planning the rape scene involving Susan George, he absolutely refused to tell the actress beforehand how he intended to shoot it. The actress insisted that he tell her everything, and Peckinpah explained exactly what was going to happen, informing her that he intended to show her entire naked body on screen. George refused and even threatened to leave the project, after which Peckinpah filmed only her eyes and face in that scene.
- Donald Sutherland, Jack Nicholson, and Sidney Poitier auditioned for the lead male role. Diana Rigg, Charlotte Rampling, and Helen Mirren auditioned for the lead female role. Dustin Hoffman, who was ultimately cast, actually hates violence in films and once admitted that he only agreed to the role because of the money.
- Before filming began, Sam Peckinpah made Dustin Hoffman and Susan George live together for two weeks, and they were joined by the second screenwriter, David Zelag Goodman (1930-2011). Some of their lines from that period were included in the script.
- The completion of filming was jeopardized when one of the scriptwriters and director Sam Peckinpah contracted pneumonia after a night-long drinking bout with Ken Hutchinson. He was treated in London, and only returned to the director's chair after a firm promise not to drink for the remainder of the shoot.
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