Review of Day of the Woman (1978) by Tay2 — 23 Jul 2021

This film has been around for a few decades but it has not become a classic, perhaps, because it's as shocking as it is. In fact, the film is quite difficult to watch and totally inadvisable for children, young teenagers or even more impressionable adults!

The film's theme is the rape of a young woman on vacation in a rural place, as well as her revenge on whoever raped her. It seems to me to be very much in line with the thinking and fashions of the Seventies, fertile in films with nudity and sexuality related themes. But this nudity wasn't meant to excite or look sexy: is brutal. The film has a long (the longest ever in a regular movie) rape sequence in which four men, one after the other, rape, insult and brutalize that young girl until she is unable to walk or to stand. Finally, they have the idea of killing her, but the guy who should have done it was not able to actually do it, and pretended to commit the crime.

Controversial, the film was so harsh that even when it went to the theaters it received harsh criticism and some boycotts, even being withdrawn from theaters. However, it worked out in its purpose: it shows in a harsh way the effects of a rape from the victim's perspective, and we can feel sorry for her and pity for the situation she is in. The worst, however, is the way these guys died in the film: their deaths never sound credible and it is perfectly clear that it is all pretending.

From the cast, I don't think it's worth talking. Being a brutal film and made on a very low budget, it used unknown actors. But I liked the performance of Camille Keaton, I think she was very faithful to the character and gives her a very pleasant dose of verisimilitude and realism. I also liked the work of Richard Pace, who gave life to the most human of aggressors, a mentally retarded person influenced by all the others.

Technically, its a film that does not stand out nor has much to present. Not having a high budget, it used what it had. There is a lot of fake blood, vivid and so bright that you can tell from the distance that its fake. The makeup work was very well done, with a very well-designed scar on the actress's face and all the dirt and blood on the bodies to be very realistic. The film intentionally chooses not to use a soundtrack with the exception of some opera notes. Cinematography does not stand out, nor do the sets and costumes, where the cast's frontal nudity is recurrent and ordinary. I liked, however, the way the lead actress changes her clothing after being attacked: if she used to like wearing few light clothes, there is much more fabric after the rape, with the church scenes standing out, portraying her almost totally covered in what would have been, according to the story, a very hot Summer.