On The Brink

Sam Peckinpah's hard life caught up with him.

Those who worked with the filmmaker would attest there were two sides of him, one romantic about his interests and the other belligerent towards his colleagues. This would affect his legacy, only to be redeemed by his loyalty to a number of actors and members of the production crew.

Peckinpah, who was born in Fresno, California, could be considered a prolific filmmaker if his works in television would be included. But those who were familiar with his body of work were jolted by the handful of films he made. A few became notable due to the controversy it generated. "The Wild Bunch", for instance, showed what a Western film was really all about. It was no fun, it wasn't heroic either. For the first time, blood was all over after a gunfight.

"Straw Dogs" was his other works that garnered lots of buzz. The movie, which was adaptated from Gordon M. Williams's "The Siege of Trencher's Farm", would still be talked about four decades after its release. What was it about the novel that made it a head turner?

What the professor didn't learn in the classroom

George Magruder, an American professor in English, chose to live in Trencher's Farm in Cornwall, England to finish a book he was writing. He was expecting long walks and little sleep, but something happened while driving his way back to the farm one afternoon. He accidentally hit a child killer. He had no idea who he was. When the locals find out, they formed a mob and tried to break into George's house.

Many chapters of the novel were devoted to George's fighting with the mob. Williams, who worked as a journalist, depicted the professor's transformation during the siege. He also showed the characters' reaction to the situation, which some readers would perceive as instinct. Here was a man of learning who was a pacifist. He felt he was bullied by the locals. His family was threatened, so he resorted to killing.

George's action would be different if he had known the identity of the man he hit and injured. He could've asked the locals. He could've used reason. Williams didn't reveal the professor's background, but it didn't matter. Action would speak louder than words.

It wasn't surprising that Peckinpah chose to adapt the novel to the big screen. He could relate to George. The violent situation fascinated him. (Take note that this was the era of the counterculture and Vietnam War.) As a matter of fact, he made his version more controversial by adding something that Williams never thought of. The rape scene would be talked about by those who have seen the film. It could've been the intriguing premise. It could've been Peckinpah's direction. It was the violence instead. It lingered, long after his death. (Peckinpah passed away on December 28, 1984.)