Straw Dogs

Sam Peckinpah’s most controversial project makes Funny Games by Michael Haneke look like a bedtime story. In fact, it’s hard not to compare the two directors – just like the creator of The White Ribbon, the Straw Dogs auteur delivers a clinical dissection of the origins of violence. Where does evil come from? Does it lie dormant within each of us, waiting to be triggered? “Bloody Sam” frames these moral dilemmas within a stark thriller set in the British countryside. American mathematician David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) and his wife, Amy, move to Cornwall in search of peace. But peace never arrives – instead, hell breaks loose when a gang of brutes, seemingly straight out of A Clockwork Orange, shatters their idyllic retreat and forces David to confront his attackers. Peckinpah crafts a piercing drama about toxic masculinity while simultaneously delivering a shocking commentary on the ongoing Vietnam War.

Marcin Pieńkowski

Sam Peckinpah (1925–1984) was an American director and screenwriter known for his revolutionary approach to violence in cinema. His career gained momentum in the 1960s, as evidenced by films such as Ride the High Country (1962) and The Wild Bunch (1969). Peckinpah earned critical acclaim for his realistic depiction of violence and complex character portrayals, although his work often sparked controversy.

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