The Power of the Dog (2021) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

When you look closer, there is no guarantee of satisfaction to what you find. 


PLOT


Based on the novel by Thomas Savage, The Power of the Dog takes place in 1925 Burbank, following ranch owning brothers Phil & George Burbank. Both brothers are polar opposites because while Phil remains grubby with his chaps, George acts in a respectful, white collar manner. One day, they keep their distance from a dead steer to avoid getting exposed to anthrax. Afterwards, both brothers and their cowboy team dine at an inn owned by former pianist turned widow Rose Gordon. She has a pianola in the saloon/diner, where guests are allowed to play it, but Phil demands others to refrain in his presence. George is quickly taken with Rose, eventually marrying her and allowing her to move into his ranch house. Phil does not like her as he believes she is only with his brother for the money. He also dislikes her teenage son who he identifies as weak. Rose does try to get along with Phil, but the cowboy makes clear that he won’t budge with her. George tries to surprise her by buying her a grand piano, but she becomes overwhelmed and can barely play ‘Radetzky March’. When Phil overhears her struggle, he mocks her by playing the same song on a banjo expertly. This act of belittlement rattles her because during a dinner party organized by George, she finds herself incapable of playing. When her son Peter returns from medical school, Rose has begun a turn into alcoholism. He takes his passion to be a doctor serious as he even dissects a rabbit he caught, which isolates him from Phil and his team. One afternoon, he finds a bivouac in a glade away from the house, and finds a stash of homoerotic magazines that belonged to Phil’s mentor Bronco Henry. Peter even watches him bathe in a pond with the same handkerchief that belonged to Henry as well. When he notices his nephew watching him, he chases him off. Some time after this, he chooses to make amends with him by offering to make him a lasso from rawhide and teach him to ride a horse. When Peter rides on his own one time, he finds a dead cow and takes pieces of its own hide. Later on, Phil gets his hand gashed when fixing a fence, refusing to get it treated. Later on, Peter shares with him how he found his father had hanged himself and had to cut the corpse down on his own. Rose’s alcoholism worsens as the two continue to bond and when she overhears how Phil was going to burn the remaining hides he didn’t need, she defiantly gave them away to Native American traders, who thank her with a pair of soft calfskin gloves. George gets rid of a bottle of bourbon he found in her bedsheets when he tends to her passing out drunk, whereas Phil is livid of losing the hides because he still needed to finish the lasso for Peter. Peter does give him his own hide, but doesn’t tell him that it came from an already deceased animal. Touched from this, Phil shares his relationship with Bronco Henry as they spend the night in the barn while he finishes the rope. He admits that Henry saved his life by lying body to body with him in a bedroll during freezing weather. Due to what was found at the bivouac, Peter deduces that they were naked that night. The next morning, Phil is found sickened in bed due to his wound’s infection worsening. Offscreen, he would die from his illness due to the exposure the wound had with the rawhide. During his funeral, the doctor tells George that his death is likely a case of anthrax, which surprises him because he knew his brother was always careful to avoid diseased cattle. The film ends with Peter watching George and a now sober Rose embrace with a kiss as they return from the funeral, smiling as he turns away. 


THOUGHTS

I had no expectations going into having not seen past work of Jane Campion, so needless to say I was quite impressed with what was shown. Being the third woman to score the Best Director Oscar, she succeeds in making something that is more than a western based movie. I say this because this was more like a perspective of constant tension that quietly explodes in the blink of an eye. Apart from Kristy Cameron making impressive costumes that match said period, an intimidating score by Jonny Greenwood and imposing cinematography by Ari Wegner that establishes how wide open animosity effects one another, I think the reason this one stands out due to Campion’s script saying there will always be repercussions when repressing your emotions. The less you do so, then the last trouble will come your way. In his second Oscar nominated performance, Benedict Cumberbatch is so raw as Phil because he is one whose repression comes from a taboo past that he has to be the most masculine figure around to survive. As time goes by, he’s genuine when speaking highly of Bronco Henry not just for their relationship but also for how his teachings had helped him survive for so long. The big takeaway of his approach is that he still pushes people away more than letting him in. Jesse Plemons is appropriately the polar opposite as George because he’s more of a people person in comparison due to not having such a secret. Is he oblivious to his surroundings? Yes, but I wouldn’t hold it against him since he doesn’t intend to hurt anyone. He becomes so attached to  Rose at first glance because he sees her as an equal, sees her vulnerability and is able to give solace he’s always wanted to share. Even when knowing how much of a setback she’d have, he chose to stand by her because it’d be wrong to not bother helping her. Portrayed by Plemons’ real life wife, Kirsten Dunst leaves a big impression in playing someone who lost her spirit and hits rock bottom so hard that she doesn’t know how to recover. Her animosity towards Phil is valid because she did nothing to him and he chose to instigate with her rather than accept her the way George did. Her phase of alcoholism would be severe that’d she spite him in getting rid of the hides he worked so hard to collect. Knowing how much pain she was in, it was easy for her to not expect anyone to help her more than what one would wish for. Kodi Smit McPhee earns his first Oscar nomination alongside Dunst & Plemons because he was able to portray Peter as a quiet enigma who has his curiosity and is observant enough to do exactly what he wants. Add this with the fact he had to find his dad’s body, it sure unlocked his interest with death. It’s also safe to say Phil’s mentorship towards him has its own complication compared to what he had with Bronco Henry because he ain’t gonna admit he sees himself in him, hence coming around in putting him under his wing without even being sure if he’s attracted to the boy or not. Noting that he didn’t tell Phil the hide was dirty, had gloves on when holding the finished rope and was smiling once he sees his mom regain his happiness, the signs are align he orchestrated his murder. A part of you might say this is a boy looking out for his mom and the opening narration implied how much he cared for her, but this over the top decision does display a calculated persona he simultaneously chooses to hide because this ain’t the way to deal with a bully no matter the era. Add the fact he majors to be a doctor, there’s no telling how dark of a future he’ll proceed with after doing something he’ll never come back from. In short, The Power of the Dog is a bold Best Picture nominee due to being a western that tests whole new surprises that deliver. If you got Netflix and want to be unconventionally surprised, check this out.

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