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Pif Magazine
ISSN: 1094-2726
Published by:
Pif, LLC
PMB 248
4820 Yelm Hwy SE
Suite B
Lacey, WA 98503-4903
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Man’s Castle
What better rite of passage for a man than being forced to defend his home? That defense may be against forces seemingly beyond his control, as in "Bloody" Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs and Roman Polanksi’s great Cul-De-Sac, or, in the case of Joseph Losey and Harold Pinter’s The Servant, against forces within the home itself. Interestingly enough, these three films take place in that jolly old seat of class consciousness itself, complete with an uncomfortable undercurrent of tightly repressed homosexuality.
A quick word about Polanski’s Cul-De-Sac: I usually don’t like to write about films that are not readily available on tape or disc, but this is such a remarkable film that I thought it deserved inclusion here. How did I see it if it’s not on tape? I nabbed it many years ago from Los Angeles’ late great Z Channel, who showed a good print of the film regularly. Unfortunately, I can find no evidence of its release on tape or disc, but with DVD seeing the re-release of tons of old movies, I’m sure it will eventually become available in some form or another.
The Servant (1963)
Cul-de-sac (1966)"Set in London, The Servant is ultimately a class struggle played out as a power shift between a young Brit twit and his seemingly faithful manservant as they jockey for control over a London townhouse. Alternately chilling and darkly funny, the film has a dark, sometimes surreal edge that in many respects prefigures the suburban nightmares found in films by directors like David Lynch..."
Straw Dogs (1971)"What gives the film its kick is watching Pleasance - just a guy who wants to be left alone to paint naked pictures of his sexy young and bored wife - react to the situations that test everything within him..."
"While some films now seem tame with the passage of time, Straw Dogs is every bit as fierce as when it was when first released. It stands as a not-to-be missed major work from a major American director..."
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Nick Burton lives in Newport Beach, California. His fiction has appeared in many small press and web publications, including: Chronicles Of Fiction, Pauper, and of course Pif.