Product: Day of the Woman (1978)
Rating: 4.0
Day of the Woman indeed
One of the most controversial and notorious movies to come out from the 1970's was Meir Zarchi's I Spit On Your Grave. Jennifer Hill, a New York writer, decides to go to a cabin in the country to finish her novel. Much of the plot is already given out on the back of the video box. She is sunbathing in her boat out in the lake when two locals in a motorboat, the blond Andy and dark-haired Stanley, lasso her boat to the shore and chase her through the woods. They are joined by two of their friends, Johnny, the local gas station attendant, and Matthew, the nerdy-looking half-retarded grocery delivery man who has a crush on her. She is stripped, raped and beaten bloody three times, twice in the woods, once in her cabin. Having survived this traumatic ordeal, she gets a well-deserved revenge on all four of them.The way Jennifer is attacked and chased is the way one would treat a hunted animal, especially as Andy and Stanley yell like rednecks in heat, adding to the fear she felt. Hunting is probably one of the pastimes country hicks like them enjoy, and to them, she is no different from any deer.There are some issues still relevant today. One is the motivation of the men who attacked Jennifer. Johnny thinks she was asking for it, as she showed up at the gas station walking back and forth in her summer dress, showing off her legs, and later, when she was in her bathing suit. This is the "she's asking for it" defense. In fact when he and his friends are out fishing at night, he says that women from the city come to the country for one thing...sex. While I far from condone rape, there is something to be said for Jennifer's cut-offs and other revealing clothes. Perhaps the men felt exploited, being turned on like that. It's the same argument used in selling adult magazines and videos: doesn't it exploit men as well, since they are the target market and they have to pay for it? Similarly, I'm not advocating that women wear chadors as in Iran or burqas in Afghanistan, but something more middle-of-the-road.This was also the time that most women did not report rape because of the ensuing humiliation of a police investigation and the myth that it was her fault--hence her taking the law into her own hands. The attacks on Jennifer are unflinchingly graphic and unsettling, which may lead many to believe that the film glorified rape, but in fact, the brutality of it serves to justify her revenge.Camille Keaton pulls in an ace performance as Jennifer in an agonizing role. Her slight resemblance to Tori Amos reminded me of how the latter was assaulted as well.Apart from the ordeal and the revenge, much of the remainder are lulls in the drama, such as the scene at the camp sight and diner. The only other thing I quibble is the title. Surely, the original Day Of The Woman would have been better?