Certification. 12A
Running Time. 2 hours 6 mins
Director. Jane Campion
Cast. Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee.
Rating. 85%
A cinematic masterpiece from Academy Award-winning director, Jane Campion.
Based on the 1967 novel by Thomas Savage, The Power Of The Dog is an examination of the cinematic portrayal of the cowboy and the inherent toxic masculinity associated with them.
Benedict Cumberbatch plays a rancher (Phil Burbank) who inspires fear and awe in equal measure in the cowhands around him. At first glance, the character belongs in a traditional Western. He is dirty, uncouth and uncompromising, with a swagger reminiscent of John Wayne in his prime. Indeed, in his first appearance on screen Campion shows his lone figure framed by a window, evoking the iconic final shot of John Wayne in John Ford's The Searchers (1956). But ultimately, Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal is of a man repressing his true identity and at times consumed by his own self-loathing.
Kirsten Dunst sensitively portrays Rose Gordon, a fragile character relentlessly tormented by Burbank, but it is the relationship between Burbank and her son, Peter Gordon (Kodi Smit-McPhee) that is the cornerstone of the drama.
The film is slow-paced, but never ponderous. The breathtaking cinematography and the nuanced development of the relationship between the cruel Burbank and the teenage boy add to the dramatic conclusion. The dark and menacing climax could have easily been resolved in a number of equally unsettling outcomes, but Campion's ending is her tour de force - a climax where the audience is shown everything without spelling it out.
One of the best films of 2021 and I suspect, one that may result in a second Academy Award for Jane Campion.
Decent start for the new kid on the block
ReplyDeleteI'll take that from a seasoned blogger such as yourself.
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