![]() ![]() Phil has all but deified the man, and frequently takes time to praise him, even 20 years after his death. Phil and George’s relationship once thrived on those topics, especially when their good buddy Bronco Henry was alive. All that counts out here are the long hours men work, the homosocial bonds they share, and what they can teach each other about life, women, and cattle. Cars are widespread in the cities, but not here. The events take place in an isolated portion of Montana, where the West is still a robust mythology. And Jonny Greenwood’s enrapturing score is downright sinister. Cinematographer Ari Wegner ( Lady Macbeth, Zola) relies on long lenses to capture the rolling hills in as much detail as the foregrounded characters for awe-inspiring, philosophical compositions. It’s an immense portrait of psychological torture and toxic masculinity, nestled on an imposing mountain landscape that entraps its characters. But the deliberately paced film aims beyond its familiar setup to reach a far more affecting, complex destination. On its face, the haunting Western concerns Phil and George, radically disparate brothers living on a ranch that aesthetically feels indebted to Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven, and the ways Rose comes between them. His clean-shaven, quiet brother and business partner, George (Jesse Plemons), looks on in dismay as Phil chides a sensitive waiter, Rose’s son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee), for the hand-crafted paper flowers he made as table settings.Īdapted by Campion from Thomas Savage’s novel of the same name, The Power of the Dog takes place in 1925 Montana. The hard-driving rancher Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) sits at the head of a long table, surrounded by his fellow cowboys, in the quaint surroundings of a rooming house run by Rose Gordon (Kirsten Dunst). There’s a scene in Jane Campion’s evocative, arresting Western The Power of the Dog - her first film in 12 years after turning to TV with Top of the Lake - that tantalizes viewers like the teasing tips of prairie grass. It has been updated for the film’s November theatrical release and its release to Netflix on Dec. ![]() This review of The Power of the Dog was originally posted in conjunction with the film’s premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. ![]()
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