Straw Dogs (1971)

Let me start off this review by saying that this is the movie I watch every time a relationship I am in ends. Why? I'm not exactly certain but the overbearing amount of nihilism present somehow leaves my mind at peace once it's finished. It's a Sam Peckinpah joint, what more do I need to say here? Oh I know, fuck YOU 2011 Straw Dogs remake! Boooo, hisssss!

Trailer:

Plot summary: David and Amy Sumner are moving to Amy's hometown in rural Britain to escape anti war protests and everyday violence prevalent in the United States. Almost immediately upon arriving David manages to prove to the entire town that he is a complete pushover and an otherwise passive agressive twat. This later proves to have dire consequences for him in this tale of brutality, rape, and ultimate ignorance that is to unfurl before you. That's pretty much the best I can do without tipping my hat too far.

Sam Peckinpah at his best is visceral, brutal, frustrating and beautiful all at the same time. I believe this to be one of his true high points. As anybody who has seen this film knows, it's a pretty heavy view and not for light hearted watching. But what gets me more than the film we see on the surface is all of the subtext. Peckinpah isn't necessarily as well regarded as he should be for his ability to weave messages into his films, and I think this is one of his more successful attempts at making a cinematic layer cake. Mysteries and enigmas indeed! You get them by the bucketload here.

From the outset you are very frustrated by Dustin Hoffman's character David (or extremely sympathetic if you are a fucking xenophobe) due to his complete and utter spinelessness. The same can be said for his wife, who does what she can to flaunt herself about to the men of her old hometown, almost inviting them to cause trouble she knows her husband will do little if anything to stop. The men of the town are bored drunk rural asswipes with nothing better to do than pick on a weakling. You may have noticed by now that I am pointing out the fact that this film has a complete lack of redeemable characters anywhere in sight. No really, EVERYBODY in this movie is a fucking asshole. To be quite honest some of my most favorite films are this way, I find it rather mirrors real life in a way nobody is quite willing to admit to.

Something else I really like about the movie is at the end of it all, only the viewer actually knows what's really going on. Each character or set of characters certainly THINKS they know what's up and what to do about it. They go left when they should go right. This fly on the wall aspect of the film is often overlooked due to the more sensational elements of the plot. The smug self satisfaction David feels at the end of the film leaves the viewer sitting in a cloud of confusion, anger, and uneasiness. Thankfully only the immediate story is resolved, as the larger issues of the film remain up to our imagination which frankly is for the best. In other words, it's pretty well morally ambivalent when you add it all up.

The actual messages conveyed by the film are many, pretty much all of which are highly unpleasant. You may have noticed that the trailer seems to paint this film as a type of "every man has his breaking point" type film where he transcends his hitherto mundane and wussy existence and "becomes a man" through some trial of blood and violence. I guess you could call it that? I see it as a parable of just how fucked life really is and how people willingly blind themselves to the outside world until it is too late. Film marketing is a confusing and well less than exact science, but how many tickets would my idea of the film really sell? There's likely a pretty good reason I don't work for the film industry...

Do yourself a favor and see this film at least once in your life. I've seen it loads and I don't have any complaints.

The Killer Elite

We love us some Sam Peckinpah. Unfortunately this one is from the waning period of his career. It features an unlikely combination of Peckinpah, James Caan, Robert Duvall, and ninjas. Yes, that's right- a Peckinpah movie with ninjas. Many of you no doubt recall ninjas being mentioned on this blog before, but this time these are real Asian ones not muscle bound 80's white guy ones.
See the trailer below:

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((UPDATE July 7th, 2011- Note that at around 00:45 of the trailer as the supporting cast is being announced, the girl kicking ninjas is listed under the name Mako. Mako is in this film but as those of you who know who he is know Mako is a man and also Japanese. The person actually shown is Vietnamese actress Tiana Alexandra.))

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Sure this film has its rough portions, but fuck it- its not terrible like his very last film The Osterman Weekend (gag me with a spoon!). Let's take a break from licking its asshole and talk about the movie and what its about a teensy bit shall we? Basically, its about James Caan and Robert Duvall's work with a company called COMTEG. They are an "independent contractor" who may or may not have a connection to a government organization know as the CIA. Duvall gets bought out by a foreign nation for a better price and not only kills the German national they were to transfer over to the CIA, but also shoots up Caan and cripples him.

Caan vows to return to duty and get revenge against his former partner, rehabilitating himself and learning martial arts. When the opportunity comes to get vengeance and the agency wants him back so he can make good on his promise, he can only say yes. This is all we will tell you about the movie, as we are sure you're familiar with rather cookie cutter espionage plots already. There's some semi interesting element involving Japanese assassins, but this also goes right in with the christmas tree shape that will be left in the dough once you move the form. Much like our review of Steele Justice some weeks back, we can't figure out why on earth we like it. If it weren't a Peckinpah movie full of macho bullshit and misogynist dialogue, we don't think we would.

Espionage movies are BORING. There's usually scenes of old dudes sitting around in offices talking about shit we as an audience don't care about because they aren't delivering information in any semblance of a compelling way and there's low level wheeling, dealing, and scheming in there too somewhere. Old people staring at each other smugly in a wood paneled office because they each know something the other doesn't does very little to catch the collective goat as it were. If it weren't for the AMAZING Peckinpah trademark slow-mo shootout at the end between guns and ninjas we probably wouldn't give a damn at all.

All of this being said, upon viewing it for what is now the fifth time at least, one cannot help but be engrossed beyond reason even though this is definitely one of his weaker efforts overall. How do you do this Sam Peckinpah? You're a real son of a bitch sometimes Sam. I guess his macho film formula is simply too much to resist... That or it was the super dude dialogue dismissing various prides and practices of Asian culture- wait maybe it was Robert Duvall's laugh in this scene:

One thing I honestly did not like was the use here and there of unnecessary voice overs to add comic relief during the first big shootout of the movie and during the climactic end fight sequence. I have quite a bit of difficulty believing this was Peckinpah's doing as it does not add anything to the proceedings and only comes across as stunted, awkward, and ultimately out of place in what is already a rather strange outing. That being said, its really anyone's guess as his alcoholism and rampant cocaine abuse (which landed him in hospital during production) severely limited his once bright genius. Despite all its drawbacks and shortcomings (not many of which are covered, I want you to see for yourself and make your own judgements) I still think its not too shabby and well worth a viewing for the Peckinpah completist.