It’s been over a decade since Jane Campion’s last movie. It’s hard to imagine a better way to herald her return than this, one of the best – perhaps the best – film of her career. She makes films that draw you in with quiet mystery, steeping you in her world and its characters at her own pace, then devastatingly shatters it all when she’s ready. The Power Of The Dog is Campion at her finest.
The story takes place in 1920s Montana, in a miniscule town surrounded by dust and mountains. In this tiny world, of one ranch, one restaurant and a whole lot of cows, outsized drama brews. The ranch is owned by brothers Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch) and George (Jesse Plemons). George has gentlemanly ambitions, dressing neatly and hobnobbing with big-city dignitaries. Phil is a rough-hewn cowboy who bullies, brawls and never cracks a smile. The only thing he gives any care is the saddle of his late mentor, Bronco Henry. Work is the only thing worthy of attention.
George does not share Phil’s commitment to solitude. He marries Rose (Kirsten Dunst), the owner of that restaurant. She and her son, Peter (X-Men’s Kodi Smit-McPhee), move into the huge house George and Phil share. Phil petulantly bullies both Rose, baselessly accusing her of being a gold-digger, and Peter, mocking him for behaviour he considers unmanly.
There’s towering, quiet confidence in Campion’s storytelling. Her stories usually centre on women in a patriarchal environment. Here the world is still patriarchal but Campion is interested in how it crushes Rose, Phil and Peter in different ways. She tells each of their stories with devastating care. She trusts her cast fully to convey their characters’ depths with minimal dialogue. None of them lets her down.
Campion reveals her characters slowly, drawing out crucial details that we should have seen all along with a subtly that will make repeat watches richly rewarding. It’s a triumph. A ten-year wait for her next film would be too much.
WHAT IS IT…
Perhaps the best film yet by a superstar director
WHY GO…
To see a modern classic
DIRECTOR
Jane Campion
RELEASE DATE
Out now on Netflix
