It came as no surprise to anyone when Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog received 12 Oscar nominations (including the major categories): the film has already won three Golden Globes, won three British Academy Awards, “Silver for Best Director” The Lion won the Venice Film Festival and the Sebastian Award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, all thanks to the warm welcome from the audience and critics, directors Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Cody Smith-McPhee and Best Original Screenplay ( Piano) coupled with an impressive cast of Oscar winner Jane Campion, the film was awarded only one award for best director at the ceremony, although “The Power of the Dog” was one of the main favorites of the Oscar race.
1925, Montana, two diametrically opposed brothers who own the state’s largest ranch: the kind and considerate George (Jesse Plemons), who brings home an inconspicuous innkeeper, his new wife, and his fragile son inside and out, and the rude and ruthless lives of their new family members. bossy Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch), who will do anything to ruin it.
Dog Power is primarily a western, but Jane Campion (his last film, Bright Star, released in 2009), who takes on this feature-length story after a 13-year hiatus, is rethinking the genre, so there are no classic chases. here or conflicts, but the characteristic plots, landscapes and characters themselves remain. Thus, against the backdrop of the vast expanses of western America and the incredible music of Johnny Greenwood, another contender for this year’s Oscars, a real human drama unfolds, verified down to the smallest detail. For the latter, special acknowledgment should be given to Eri Wegner’s camerawork, which highlights the close-ups: here is Phil’s hands rubbing the saddle with the greatest possible precision for him, or castrating a bull without gloves, or carefully knitting a lasso, but here is a comb that Peter fingers when he’s nervous, and the paper flowers he made for his father’s grave. Overall, there is a special emphasis on visual in The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion and herself an artist through education), so the mountain with which the characters distinguish a dog’s outline, and the color scheme itself is limited. dry colors and almost Martian hills and wastelands.
Contrary to large-scale views, petty human destinies seem to be stuck in the distant past – where Phil and George have a now-deceased mentor, Bronco Henry, and Rose has a drinking husband. In the world of Jane Campion, literally everyone suffers and mostly because of each other, but it’s impossible to take sides in this endless on-screen struggle – the characters’ impressions and decisions change in proportion to their speed. of horses galloping on the farm. It is worth saying that the casting for such a story was impeccably chosen: Benedict Cumberbatch here finally gets rid of the role of a brilliant intellectual and appears in the image of a vulgar, vulgar, negligent, basic hygiene cowboy in a stark contrast. past heroes Jesse Plemons does an excellent job as the sometimes humble, sometimes very calm co-owner of the farm (which, by the way, doesn’t suit him at all, unlike his brother). Kirsten Dunst’s face reads all the shocks of her character, but one of the film’s main discoveries is Cody Smith-McPhee.
Quiet, feminine, and not a typical western hero, he doesn’t reveal himself right away, but actually becomes the most obscure character to get the whole plot moving. In her own words, “I wanted nothing more than to make my mother happy. What a man I would have been if I hadn’t saved him”. the power of the dog.”
Despite the outward asceticism and restraint, the two-hour “Power of the Dog” flies almost unnoticed: Jane Campion deftly keeps the line, does not linger on the unimportant, and shows the viewer what really matters. Whether it’s the Bronco Henry handkerchief in Phil’s hand or the rabbit Peter brings home, even animal skins play their part sooner or later. The self-sufficiency and accuracy of each frame is a huge directorial achievement, already marked by five grand prizes and now claiming the sixth, main prize for Jane Campion’s every chance. The Power of the Dog turned out to be almost flawless – both as a western and a powerful drama that portrays both the original cowboy masculinity and the deep psychological trappings of the characters. Jane Campion hits the target without firing a single shot.
Source: People Talk
