Film Review: The Power of the Dog (2021) Dir. Jane Campion
THE POWER OF THE DOG (L to R): KODI SMIT-McPHEE as PETER, BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH as PHIL BURBANK in THE POWER OF THE DOG. Cr. KIRS
Jane Campion is a master of expressing repressed emotions and complex characters. She does not over-explain background details, relationships or motivations, leaving plenty of lacunae for the viewer to fill in for themselves thereby encouraging engagement. Based on a novel by Thomas Savage, we are dropped into a cattle ranch in Montana in 1925 owned by the Burbank brothers Phil and George. They are polar opposite middle-aged men. Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch), though Yale-educated, is every inch the Western cowboy in style and behavior, exhibiting alpha male characteristics, crude in manner and speech, loutish and rude, generally looking unwashed. George (Jesse Plemons) is soft, pudgy, (Phil calls him Fatso), quiet and polite, he dresses in suits and hats. Although they share a bedroom in their family home there seems to be a simmering resentment between them.
THE POWER OF THE DOG : KIRSTEN DUNST as ROSE GORDON in THE POWER OF THE DOG. Cr. KIRSTY GRIFFIN/NETFLIX © 2021
THE POWER OF THE DOG (L to R): JESSE PLEMONS as GEORGE BURBANK, KIRSTEN DUNST as ROSE GORDON in THE POWER OF THE DOG. Cr. KIRSTY
When George decides to marry the widow, Rose (Kirsten Dunst), who comes with a teenage son, Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and moves them into the house things get really tense all around. Peter is tall, skinny, sensitive and effeminate. Phil goes out of his way to offend Rose with undisguised disdain and intimidate Peter with toxic masculinity. Things only worsen when Peter goes off to medical school which leaves Rose unprotected by her best ally. Lonely and insecure, she begins to drink, a fact that Phil is onto, but George is not. In fact, George seems to fade into the background aided by his cluelessness. At the same time, Phil behaves like a stalker, stealthily spying on her, making disparaging remarks to her, or rudely ignoring her. As her drinking escalates she begins to crack.
THE POWER OF THE DOG (L to R):BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH as PHIL BURBANK, GEORGE MASON as CRICKET in THE POWER OF THE DOG. Cr. KIRSTY
When Peter comes home from school, he has a new-found confidence, wearing western clothes and an enormous cowboy hat. Phil develops a new attitude toward him and teaches him how to ride, mentoring him in the ways of cowboys of that era. His intention, initially designed to break Peter, shifts as it becomes clear that Peter is more of a man than Phil had imagined. This does not go down well with Rose, who does not trust Phil or his motivations. Also she resents the time that Peter spends with Phil away from her.
Phil is constantly referring to his former mentor, Bronco Harry, whom he idolized in an almost reverent way. There is definitely something intensely odd about the relationship between the two men. Bronco Harry is never seen, having died some years ago. There are many intimations of repressed homosexuality which Peter discovers which adds to the tension between the two men and creates an ominous sense of future transgression. What does transpire is subtle and unexpected and takes a while to register what it all means. But it answers many of the earlier questions. It is quite a brilliantly twisted tour de force played out against the monumental landscapes of New Zealand depicted with ravishing cinematography. This is a film that will haunt you with its intensity.
