I realized I wrote this review a while ago and never posted it…so here it is…
One of the gems of the holiday season is Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog.” Another great movie from a great director and actor Benedict Cumberbatch. I was expecting this to be one of those movies where the gay boy, named Peter, and his tormentor overcome their misunderstandings of each other and somehow, as always and nevertheless, the gay boy dies in the end blah blah blah…
It’s definitely not one of those movies.
Soon you start to realize why Phil, is the way he is. You see a broken love story framing the background and woven into every part of the narrative. Here is a man who is intelligent and educated who gives up the life of the mind to be a dirty cowhand, he chooses to stink instead of take a bath, so the outside is as rotten as the inside. And all through everything, he tells the story of the man that taught him everything he knew about ‘ranchin’: a mysterious legend of a man they call Bronco.
Bronco used to do this. Bronco used to do that. Hmm…you sure do talk a lot about this man called Bronco, Phil…
And yet you find every opportunity to ridicule and abuse quiet shy closeted Peter in front of everyone. Interesting.
No spoilers here, but I love what Campion does as tension builds towards the conclusion. It’s not a huge stand off, or an in-your-face physical altercation that leads to the climax. Instead, it’s the quiet moment in a barn where Phil and Peter share a cigarette. The viewer slowly starts to understand the implications of what is happening, and it unfolds like a horrific blanket, a tidal wave and it wraps everything together in a way that knocks you off your feet.
Now playing on Netflix…