Inside the Masculine World of the Ranch: Jane Campion’s ‘The Power of the Dog’ (2021)
Film Analysis in 10 Slides
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First woman director to receive Palme d’Or
Jane Campion is the first woman director to receive the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1993 for The Piano. Her film The Power of the Dog has been winning laurels too. Campion was awarded Silver Lion for the Best Director at Venice Film Festival. At the Golden Globe Awards The Power of the Dog won Best Motion Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Smit-McPhee and Best Director for Campion. It’ll be interesting to see whether the film will repeat its Golden Globe performance at the Academy awards 2022.
Synopsis
Adapted from a very good novel — first published in 1967 by Thomas Savage — from which it takes the title, the film is a psychological study that deals with an unusual topic in the macho world of the ranch: “repressed homosexuality displayed as homophobia” in the words of Annie Proulx.
Structure
Phil (Benedict Cumberbatch), the vicious ranch man, virtually occupies the film. His reminiscences of his long dead mentor Bronco Henry form a recurring theme. The present is played against this by showing Phil’s relationship with his brother George (Jesse Plemons), Rose (Kirsten Dunst) whom Phil looks upon as a schemer who marries George, and Rose’s son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee) whom he ridicules as a sissy.
The Meaning of the Power of the Dog
The title The Power of the Dog comes from Psalm 22:20, which reads as follows: “Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.” One interpretation could be that Peter takes it as his prayer to have his darling mother freed from the torture by Phil. But Peter carries out the deliverance himself. Having invoked the Psalm, both the novel and the film don’t take into account the implication of Peter’s action.
A Shrine for Bronco Henry
As Campion has mentioned in a podcast, Bronco Henry’s saddle kept in his memory in the barn with his name plate is like a shrine for Phil’s idol whom he keeps mourning. This shrine is not in the novel. Peter has discovered that Phil is a homosexual. Now he understands Phil’s interest in him. This is made clear in a deft touch by Campion to have Phil seat Peter on Bronco Henry’s saddle. Peter makes his discovery explicit to Phil here when Phil narrates the story of being saved by Henry. In a moment, the power equation changes and Peter starts appearing stronger. He gets the confidence to make his final move.
Johnny Greenwood’s score
The haunting banjo music that opens the film is supposed to have been created using a cello by keeping it horizontal and plucking the strings. The piece titled “West” evokes the sadness which is at the heart of the film.
Shot in New Zealand
In Montana, USA, where the novel is set, Campion found the landscape scrappy and the hills faraway. On top of it, it would have cost a lot to shoot the film there. So, it was shot mostly in the Maniototo in Central Otago, New Zealand. The sweeping landscape with the hills behind has been captured well by cinematographer Ari Wegner. It is pleasing to watch the tracking shot showing the view of the landscape framed by one large window after the other. There is a view of the outside from the barn door too. It’s a tribute to John Ford’s The Searchers (1956) which came up with that legendary shot of the landscape framed by the door.
Ending
Spoiler Alert
It is understated in the film that it is Peter who puts an end to Phil’s life to save his mother from his torture. Peter’s opening voice-over in the film mentions his mother’s happiness as his wish after his father’s death and he has to save her. It makes meaning in the end. The fact that Phil ignores the wound in his hand and doesn’t wear gloves helps Peter. Phil is careful to avoid diseased cattle but he doesn’t suspect Peter who gives Phil the hide that he removed from an animal which died of anthrax.
Closing Thoughts
The acting is good all around in the film. Kodi Smit-McPhee deserves the Golden Globe Award. Benedict Cumberbatch carries the film on his shoulders. Kirsten Dunst brings out very well the transformation of the character driven to alcohol. It is not a simple-minded film of the oppressor and the oppressed. For, the oppressor is in fact a victim of society’s norm to conform to its code. The Power of the Dog gives an insightful look at a disturbing aspect of the ranch world.
