The Power of the Dog (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
Filmmaker Jane Campion's masterpiece The Piano made waves back in 1993. I loved her '09 offering, Bright Star. And finally, in 2021, she's brought us another great one in her adaptation of gothic western novel, 'The Power of the Dog'. The film is set in rugged 1925 Montana & stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Phil Burbank who, with his brother George (Jesse Plemons), is a prosperous cattle rancher who has driven herds for many years. Stern Phil is content to keep things as they always have been. Mild-mannered George, on the other hand, is lonely. Fate steps in when on their way to market, they stop at the Red Mill Inn & meet melancholy, widowed proprietress Rose (Kirsten Dunst) & her impressionable teen son, Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee).
Phil sniffs an air of weakness about Rose & he cruelly bullies her son for his lisp & effeminate disposition {Peter makes roses out of paper to put in the table vases}. As Rose weeps in the kitchen, George comforts her; leading to a romance & eventual marriage. Seething with rage that Rose & Peter will now live at his foreboding family homestead ... Phil makes it his mission to make life a living Hell for them. He revels in terrorizing the mother-son duo; taunting Rose to the point where her nerves are so frayed that she no longer remembers how to play the piano. To allay her misery, Rose turns to liquor. Phil even rouses his cowhands to join in maliciously humiliating Peter. But there's a change in the wind, as Phil starts taking Peter under his wing. Is this gesture a softening? Is it a game of wits meant to further torture Rose? Or is something more menacing afoot? Peter just might have the answer.
Though the film has a languorous flow, Jane Campion's psychologically complex script is taut, with nary a wasted word. One note of caution: while this is not a violent film, there is one harrowing scene where Phil briefly beats a horse out of frustration {his anxiety & temper always threat explosion}. Benedict Cumberbatch is superb as the serenely vile, ticking time bomb. Though there's an element of beguiling, 'cowboy charisma' about Phil, Cumberbatch grounds him in quiet, sinister tones, as well. He is cold, calculated, and perhaps, damaged. Phil is emotionally trapped in the past {tethered to the memory of his mentor, Bronco Henry} & is as rough-hewn as his raw hides, but there's an element of sadness at his core.
Kirsten Dunst is great, going from grieving innkeeper to lady-of-the-manor to neurotic alcoholic. Each time Phil nears Rose, her panic is palpable. Jesse Plemons impresses in a sweetly romantic scene btwn. he & real-life wife, Dunst. And Kodi Smit-McPhee gives us a quietly cunning Peter; a son who uses his brain & his wiles to protect his vulnerable mother at all costs. The turbulent inner lives of these characters are subtly, expertly rendered. Jane Campion guides her actors well, and also provides a pervasive atmosphere of dread, provocative cinematography {transforming New Zealand into the gorgeous, if brooding landscapes of Montana} & a tension-filled soundtrack; this time by Jonny Greenwood {who lent similar strains to this yr.'s Spencer}.
'The 'Power of the Dog' is an ethereal, edgy, unpredictable film that may not enrapture everyone, but is rewarding nonetheless. Campion's masterfully crafted & beautifully acted drama explores the myth of the American West, the toxic masculinity of that time & place, and how deeply repressed urges can lead to dire consequences. Now, if the plot first appears like little more than a series of seemingly mundane events & images ... tension mounts to the very last scene. When the final subdued, yet revelatory 'a-ha' moment of the film arrives, the purpose of each previous scene snaps into focus, revealing an untapped depth to the proceedings that left me wanting to re-watch it with closer inspection. Every shot has meaning to the story. Great film, this is.
Phil sniffs an air of weakness about Rose & he cruelly bullies her son for his lisp & effeminate disposition {Peter makes roses out of paper to put in the table vases}. As Rose weeps in the kitchen, George comforts her; leading to a romance & eventual marriage. Seething with rage that Rose & Peter will now live at his foreboding family homestead ... Phil makes it his mission to make life a living Hell for them. He revels in terrorizing the mother-son duo; taunting Rose to the point where her nerves are so frayed that she no longer remembers how to play the piano. To allay her misery, Rose turns to liquor. Phil even rouses his cowhands to join in maliciously humiliating Peter. But there's a change in the wind, as Phil starts taking Peter under his wing. Is this gesture a softening? Is it a game of wits meant to further torture Rose? Or is something more menacing afoot? Peter just might have the answer.
Though the film has a languorous flow, Jane Campion's psychologically complex script is taut, with nary a wasted word. One note of caution: while this is not a violent film, there is one harrowing scene where Phil briefly beats a horse out of frustration {his anxiety & temper always threat explosion}. Benedict Cumberbatch is superb as the serenely vile, ticking time bomb. Though there's an element of beguiling, 'cowboy charisma' about Phil, Cumberbatch grounds him in quiet, sinister tones, as well. He is cold, calculated, and perhaps, damaged. Phil is emotionally trapped in the past {tethered to the memory of his mentor, Bronco Henry} & is as rough-hewn as his raw hides, but there's an element of sadness at his core.
Kirsten Dunst is great, going from grieving innkeeper to lady-of-the-manor to neurotic alcoholic. Each time Phil nears Rose, her panic is palpable. Jesse Plemons impresses in a sweetly romantic scene btwn. he & real-life wife, Dunst. And Kodi Smit-McPhee gives us a quietly cunning Peter; a son who uses his brain & his wiles to protect his vulnerable mother at all costs. The turbulent inner lives of these characters are subtly, expertly rendered. Jane Campion guides her actors well, and also provides a pervasive atmosphere of dread, provocative cinematography {transforming New Zealand into the gorgeous, if brooding landscapes of Montana} & a tension-filled soundtrack; this time by Jonny Greenwood {who lent similar strains to this yr.'s Spencer}.
'The 'Power of the Dog' is an ethereal, edgy, unpredictable film that may not enrapture everyone, but is rewarding nonetheless. Campion's masterfully crafted & beautifully acted drama explores the myth of the American West, the toxic masculinity of that time & place, and how deeply repressed urges can lead to dire consequences. Now, if the plot first appears like little more than a series of seemingly mundane events & images ... tension mounts to the very last scene. When the final subdued, yet revelatory 'a-ha' moment of the film arrives, the purpose of each previous scene snaps into focus, revealing an untapped depth to the proceedings that left me wanting to re-watch it with closer inspection. Every shot has meaning to the story. Great film, this is.