Product: Day of the Woman (1978)
Rating: 5.0
Why most people who hate this movie just don't get it...
I am so tired of reading posts about how somebody "can't believe that anyone would watch this trash," "this movie is a waste of time," etc. I am equally tired of reading the obligatory disclaimers that every supporter of this movie seems to include in posts about how watching a rape scene is so difficult, and implying that a rape scene is the most horrible thing that can possibly be filmed.I think it's interesting that rape is so taboo, but just about any other form of violence is not at all. Look at Silence of the Lambs, for instance. That is a critically acclaimed movie that is aired on network TV at least twice a year, and it seems to be the sort of gruesome torture movie that the whole family can love! How is Buffalo Bill's serial-killing of women, and torturing of women by keeping them in a well in his basement, less disturbing than a woman being raped?That movie not graphic enough for the argument to be valid? How about the new (and thoroughly crappy) movie, Hostel. Aside from the fact that the movie is just not a good film in the genre, look at its content: in one scene, a young girl is tortured so that her eye is removed from its socket and her face is severely burned. Now I have to ask... how is ISOYG's Jennifer's ordeal even remotely comparable to that girl's? At least Jennifer has a full physical recovery and even gets to exact revenge on all of her perpetrators!And yet ISOYG exists only in a sort of underground world where most people who watch it and find it to be a satisfying film would be quite hesitant to admit so in mixed company. All because of the rape.Personally, I thought this movie was fantastic because I am driven toward and satisfied by movies that strike me as being very real and generate a strong emotional response from me. I found the characters and plot to be quite believable, and the film aesthetic to be thoroughly creepy. Like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the documentary feel and the horror-juxtaposed-with-beautiful-scenery was very effective, and it reminds me of how often, in real life, there is crazy stuff going on beneath a picturesque veneer. There were so many intelligent, small details in this movie that contribute to its realness. Most Steven Spielberg flicks do not achieve that.ISOYG has to be one of my favorite films of all time because I was utterly transfixed throughout the entire viewing, emotionally connected to it. I will never forget several of the scenes. How many films do that? I can count those that I've seen on two hands, and I have seen a LOT of movies. Further, I can't help but feel like I learned something by watching this film and all of the thinking that it stimulates about our world. These kinds of scenes play out in life every day (just watch the news) and perhaps you ignore them at your peril.The world I live in is mostly civilized and happy. I watch a lot of movies, and few of them are horror. I would never in a million years intentionally hurt another person except in defense (or maybe in revenge, in the moment, who knows). So I don't feel guilty about watching this or enjoying it. I'm glad I can watch it from the comfort and safety of my sofa, and I hope that's the only place I'll ever see it. But if I should ever find myself the victim of something like this, perhaps I will handle it a little better without having the naivete of those who would refuse to watch such "garbage."