Paul Bryant's Reviews > Dirty Weekend

I had not remembered the context at all, but you're right, it was from the time of the Yorkshire Ripper. Did you ever see any of those movies I mentioned?

I don't agree with your comparisons. You cite horror films, but Dirty Weekend doesn't read like a horror story. One could, I suppose, compare it to Death Wish (speaking of Michael Winner), but even there, Bronson went looking for trouble, to avenge his family. Bella never does. Consistently throughout the book, she would be happy to be left alone, but she never is. And being at the end of her tether, she comes to respond violently when men won't leave her alone. She never takes on the aspect of a psycho, just someone who has had enough. I loved the book, came across it originally because my wife had a copy.

In something like I Spit on your Grave the woman does not go looking for trouble, men come a long and rape her. This is shown in gruelling detail. That's the first half of the movie. Then in the second half, she tracks them down and butchers them. The point is that the detailed depictions of rape provide the motivation for the audience's enjoyment of/vicarious participation in the detailed descriptions of physical revenge. (The audience's possible enjoyment of/vicarious participation in the first half of the movie is not admitted). I thought Dirty Weekend did both of these things - first Bella was abused and humiliated, then she dished it out. So I thought that if any feminists liked DW they should like I Spit of Your Grave etc, but in fact they hate those movies.

I guess I'd go back to the matter of tone. (For the record, I've seen Last House on the left, haven't seen I Spit on Your Grave but I am quite familiar with its reputation.) Again, Dirty Weekend doesn't play out like a horror tale. Bella's encounters don't wallow in sadism. Zahavi isn't squeamish, we are told exactly what happens, but nothing on the order of torture porn, nothing like the woman in 'Grave' being gang raped over several days. Also (admittedly going by what I've read about the film over the years) I believe her attackers are rather outsized rednecked sadists. In Zahavi's novel, part of the point is that none of the characters are that remarkable. Bella is described as rather meek and unassuming, the men she encounters are creeps but rather standard-issue creeps (until her last encounter in the last few pages). In this I believe Dirty Weekend is saying something about the day to day plight of women everywhere. Something that can't be said of a low-grade slasher flick populated by demented freaks.

So I didn't find Dirty Weekend to be a cheap wallow, I found it had something to say that needed saying.

I accept your points, it's a long time since I read this and it's very possible that I shouldn't review books based on years-old memories! And the Michael Winner connection put the tin hat on it for me.

I can tolerate a whole lot of violence in a book that I definitely cannot handle on the screen. And knowing what goes on in a character's mind, that isn't always well done on the screen, goes a long way, too.

it's a point, although American Psycho might be where you'd draw the line

Yeah, I only read parts of it.