Direction: Jane Campion
Country: New Zealand / Australia / other
Immaculately crafted by New Zealander director Jane Campion (The Piano, 1993; Sweetie, 1989; An Angel at My Table, 1990), The Power of the Dog, a distinctive anti-western with an incredible cinematography and thoughtful moral considerations, is set with the perfect tone and towering performances. The film, based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Savage, stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst and Kodi Smit-McPhee, but if the three former actors had previously demonstrated their acting qualities, the latter becomes the great revelation here, carrying the physical fragility and that strange, confident look that brings the necessary ambiguity to the picture.
Two brothers, Phil (Cumberbatch) and George Burbank (Plemons), run an ample Montana ranch with different visions and ambitions. Phil is harsh and does all the hard work, while George is more considerate of others, likes to dress well and live the good life. Little signs of tension exist between the brothers, but when Rose Gordon (Dunst), a widow who ends up drowning in booze, marries George and moves into the house with her sensitive son, Peter (Smit-McPhee), their peace is severely disturbed.
Campion is absolutely masterful in dissecting these characters subtlety, presenting their complex personalities, volatile relationships and personal struggles with an optimum mix of intensity and restraint. She fills this elegiac period piece with sensitive experiences to be lived in, rather than simply watched.
It took me some time to conclude, especially due to the film’s deliberate pacing, that this is a nuanced, visceral epic tale more than just a relationship drama of striking specificity. One can only confirm that after watching one of the coldest film finales in recent times.
