Straw Dogs

Straw Dogs is a 1971 film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. A dark, domestic psychological thriller, the screenplay by Peckinpah and David Zelag Goodman is based on the novel, The Siege of Trencher's Farm by Gordon Williams. The film's title derives from a discussion in the Tao Te Ching which likens the human condition to that of an ancient Chinese ceremonial straw dog. Controversial to this day, the film is ... more

Straw Dogs is a 1971 film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. A dark, domestic psychological thriller, the screenplay by Peckinpah and David Zelag Goodman is based on the novel, The Siege of Trencher's Farm by Gordon Williams. The film's title derives from a discussion in the Tao Te Ching which likens the human condition to that of an ancient Chinese ceremonial straw dog. Controversial to this day, the film is noted for its violent concluding sequences and a complicated rape scene that critics point to as an example of Peckinpah's (and Hollywood's) debasement of women. Released theatrically the same year as A Clockwork Orange, The French Connection, and Dirty Harry, the film sparked heated controversy over the perceived escalation of violence in cinema. Nevertheless, it is considered one of Peckinpah's greatest films. The film premiered in US cinemas on December 29, 1971. David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman), a timid American mathematician, leaves the... less