Review of Day of the Woman (1978) by Gregory L — 27 Jul 2007

All I can find on the net are reviews saying how realistic the infamous rape scenes are in this film. They are indeed graphic, unrelenting and repulsive. Whether it is the fact that I have little knowledge of how different women react to such a situation, or whether it is the film itself - I cannot be certain; however I can't help feeling that the woman's initial response at the start of the rape sequence isn't quite right. It conforms to the style of horror movies of the same era and is a bit awkward. She doesn't speak much at all - doesn't really try to reason with her attackers at first and makes a very feeble attempt at escape despite being apparently fully lucid after the first rape. One could put this down to shock, or because the attitudes towards rape were apparently different at the time. I thought the woman's response during recovery and the brutality / animal behaviour of the males was better handled and well portrayed - if the film was done today, I think these aspects would be very similar, just the woman's initial response then which doesn't seem right.

The different attitudes of the time are also evident during her second revenge - when she calls at the gas station and the guy thinks she's come back for more because she liked it - he considers rape as just rough sex by a macho male - a laughable viewpoint and I wonder if a director would even try to get away with it these days?

The revenge is very sweet though.