Straw Dogs

by Simkin, Stevie

• ISBN13: 9780230296701
• ISBN10: 023029670X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-09-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogsignited fierce debate amongst censorship bodies, critics and audiences on both sides of the Atlantic in 1971. When Amy (Susan George) returns to her home territory with her American peacenik husband David (Dustin Hoffman), the residents of this tight-knit Cornish community slowly turn on them. The sexual tension and latent violence finally erupt, culminating in a farmhouse siege and, along the way, leading to a rape scene that has remained controversial to this day. The film was heavily cut for theatrical release in the US, and the press-inspired furore in the UK led to a number of local councils cutting or banning it outright. Later, caught in the wake of the so-called 'video nasties' panic of the 1980s, Straw Dogswas refused a home video certificate in the UK for nearly 20 years. Stevie Simkin's study sheds light on the film's (mis)fortunes at the BBFC in 1971 and tracks its subsequent tortuous journey towards home video release, buffeted by various shifts in the Board's policy on representations of rape, and of sexual violence in general. But, equally importantly, Simkin provides a highly original account of the making of the film, which draws on extensive research into Peckinpah's archive, including analysis of draft scripts, notes, memos and contemporary press items. The book also benefits greatly from recent correspondence between the author and a number of Peckinpah's associates, as well as key figures at the BBFC. This first ever single volume study of Straw Dogsraises new questions about the director's much debated misogyny; it also re-evaluates the movie in relation to the social unrest of the period, in particular protests against the Vietnam War. Finally, it considers the enduring significance of Peckinpah's depiction of sexual violence, providing a comprehensive reading of the cultural resonances of the movie both at the time of its first release, and in the forty years since.

Author Biography

DR. STEVIE SIMKIN is Reader in Drama and Film, Faculty of Arts, at the University of Winchester, UK. His publications include work on cult television, popular music, and Renaissance drama. He is the author of, amongst other works, A Preface to Marlowe (1999), Revenge Tragedy: A New Casebook (2001), Early Modern Tragedy and the Cinema of Violence (2005), and, also in the Controversies series, a volume on Basic Instinct (forthcoming, 2013).

Table of Contents

Contents
Acknowledgements
A Note on References
Introduction
Synopsis
PART I: STRAW DOGS THEN
Production History
Genesis and Pre-Production
Shooting and the Problem of Susan George
The Editing Process: Shaping an Ending
Original Release and Reception
England Swings, America Rocks: Straw Dogs in its Cultural Context
Feminism and the Sexual Revolution
Backlash: Morality, Censorship and the MPAA
Straw Dogs and the American Censors
Straw Dogs, American Audiences and American Critics
Sixties Britain: a Quieter Revolution
Straw Dogs and the UK Critics
PART II: STRAW DOGS NOW
Home Video Release: the Video Nasties Debate
Eighteen Years in the Wilderness
Moving with the Times: the BBFC and sexual violence
Straw Dogs Unbound
PART III: KEY THEMES AND IDEAS
Introduction
Straw Dogs, Masculinity and Violence
Straw Dogs and Vietnam
A Man's House Is
The Problem of Amy 
PART IV: KEY SCENE ANALYSIS
The Rape Scene: Introduction
Venner's Arrival
The First Rape
The Second Rape
Script Development
Eroticising, Endorsing
PART V: THE LEGACY OF STRAW DOGS
Straw Dogs, Survival Horror and Rape Revenge
Remake/Remodel
Closing Thoughts
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Key Details
Appendix B: List of References
Endnotes