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The Power of the Dog
UK / Canada / Australia / New Zealand 2021
produced by Jane Campion, Iain Canning, Roger Frappier, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Rose Garnett (executive), Simon Gillis (executive), John Woodward (executive) for See-Saw Films, Bad Girl Creek, Brightstar, Max Films International, BBC, Cross City Films, New Zealand Film Commission/Netflix
directed by Jane Campion
starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jesse Plemons, Geneviève Lemon, Kenneth Radley, Sean Keenan, George Mason, Ramontay McConnell, David Denis, Cohen Holloway, Max Mata, Josh Owen, Alistair Sewell, Eddie Campbell, Alice Englert, Bryony Skillington, Jacque Drew, Yvette Parsons, Aislinn Furlong, Daniel Cleary, Richard Falkner, Tatum Warren-Ngata, Yvette Reid, Alice May Connolly, Stephen Lovatt, Stephen Bain, Ella Hope-Higginson, Piimio Mei, Edith Poor, Vadim Ledogorov, Thomasin McKenzie, Julie Forsyth, Peter Carroll, Frances Conroy, Alison Bruce, Keith Carradine, Karl Willetts, David T. Lim, Adam Beach, Maeson Stone Skuggedal, Ian Harcourt
screenplay by Jane Campion, based on the novel by Thomas Savage, music by Jonny Greenwood
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Montana 1925: When driving their cattle to the market, rancher brothers
Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George (Jesse Plemons) regularly stop at
Rose's (Kirsten Dunst) roadhouse, where Rose's somewhat effeminate,
teenaged son Peter (Kodi Smith-McPhee) regularly becomes the butt of
Phil's jokes, as the boy's attitude doesn't fit Phil's very old-fashioned
picture of masculinity, something he oozes from every pore of his body.
Phil's jokes are so cruel at times that they make Rose cry. Phil's brother
George on the other hand has taken to Rose, and eventually asks for her
hand in marriage, which she gladly accepts. This means though for Rose and
Peter to Phil and George's ranch - the biggest in the area for sure, and a
place equipped with all the modern amenities. Thing is, Phil has never
approved of George's marriage, and now that he's forced to accept it, he
does his best to make Rose and Peter's life hell. Rose soon takes to
drinking, so much so that she becomes a full-blown alcoholic. Peter on the
other hand eventually finds Phil's secret place, somewhere deep in the
woods, somewhere where he lives out his homoerotic fantasies that are in
harsh contrast to his public image. When Phil notices Peter has found him
out, he drastically changes his attitude towards the boy and tries the
hardest to become his friend - and after a time it seems he's even drawn
to him. But is Peter's response in kind really honest, or is he planning
something more sinister? In regards to imagery, The Power of
the Dog sure is reminiscent to epic westerns of old, but when it comes
to storyline, the film's anything but epic, a rather intimate and slowburn
character study with elements of culture clash and tradition vs progress
elegantly woven into the script, something that's also reflected in the
direction that has its epic imagery every now and again juxtaposed with
pictures you'd not expect to find in westerns, often with overt homoerotic
subtexts. And thanks to an uniformly strong cast, the story really comes
to life. That said, true, it's slowburn and often not all that much seems
to happen, but it's worth one's patience.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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