“The Power of the Dog” Jane Campion and a new Western movie unique to the 2020s

Great performances from Benedict Cumberbatch and his co-stars

Still, it was a bold casting move to cast the quintessential British actor Benedict Cumberbatch in the role of a western cowboy. Plans to turn this novel into a film have been floating around for a long time, with Paul Newman and Gerard Depardieu reportedly coveting the role of Phil.

Campion had long admired Cumberbatch's acting ability and selected him for the role of Phil. In the aforementioned article in The Guardian, Cumberbatch said, "Jane (Campion) was a really generous person. She thought of everything to help me get the role. It was so far removed from my own experience."

In the movie, Phil never takes a bath at home, but Cumberbatch himself didn't wash for a week and wore the clothes Phil wears in the movie. He also learned a western American accent. He went to Montana and trained with a real cowboy father and son, learning how to ride a horse, make Rope, carve wood with a knife, castrate a cow, and even how to play the banjo.

"Jane gave me a lot of time, which seemed like a very luxurious time for an actor," Cumberbatch said of his role. He said he had many discussions with the director, including about homoeroticism, before taking on the role.

Netflix movie “The Power of the Dog” now available exclusively

Cumberbatch is good at playing arrogant characters, perhaps because of his facial features, and this side of him was also utilized in the Marvel Comics film Doctor Strange (2016). He also played the villain of Shakespeare's play, Richard III, in the TV drama The Hollow Crown (Season 2) (2016), and demonstrated his go-manism to the max. One of his strengths is being able to show sensitivity and loneliness within that arrogance. He also played a gay role similar to the one in this film in The Imitation The Game (2014), which was his first Oscar nomination. While incorporating elements of his previous roles, he also takes on the challenge of playing an American cowboy, and delivers an overwhelming performance.

There is a very striking angle in the film. At the beginning, Phil, played by Cumberbatch, is seen through a window in the ranch house, dressed as a cowboy and full of confidence, reigning as the boss of the ranch. However, towards the end of the film, in a similar shot through the window, Phil looks so weak that it is hard to believe he is the same person. For the first time, he takes off his cowboy shirt and jeans and puts on a plain suit, and he looks nothing more than a pathetic man, holding the Rope he has woven for Peter and looking flustered. His face is full of sadness, 180 degrees different from the arrogant one he had in the first half. However, the director probably chose him because he can play such a side of the character.

His brother George is played by Jesse Plemons, and his wife Rose is played by Kirsten Dunst (they are married in real life). Rose, who falls victim to Phil's clutches and loses her emotional balance, is a role that Dunst has not played in a long time. After losing the battle with Phil, she drinks a cocktail called "Orange Blossom" at a dinner party, which triggers her to become a regular drinker (this cocktail was apparently known as a drink that women could drink in the 1920s). By expressing the complex conflict of a remarried widow, Dunst, who started out as a child actor, shows her spirit as an adult actress.

The biggest surprise actor is Kodi Smitty-McPhee, who plays Rose's son Peter. At first, he appears to be a thin young man, but in the second half, his presence grows stronger and stronger, and at the end, he goes head to head with Cumberbatch.

Smitty-McPhee is an Australian actor who started out as a child actor, and showed impressive acting as a child actor in "The Road " (2009) in which he played Viggo Mortensen's young son, and " Morse " (2010) in which he played a lonely boy who connects with a vampire girl. After growing up considerably, he also appeared in the western " Slow West " (2015), in which he played a boy who goes on a harsh journey on horseback with a bounty hunter played by Michael Fassbender. The relationship between Fassbender, a grown man who knows the world, and the immature boy is reminiscent of the relationship between Phil and Peter in this film.

He has pale skin and a frail appearance, but his eyes are sharp and he has a hidden strength. Peter is an actor who excels at playing such roles, and he will definitely be remembered as a character who is perfect for him, as he has a pale face and sometimes looks like the Grim Reaper. When Peter feels stressed, he flicks a comb with his fingertips, making a strange sound. He also gently strokes a wild rabbit, killing it. In the second half of the film, he devises a bold plan.

Campion said that when she met this actor, she was excited because she thought, "I've found a Peter who is better than the original." She is good at portraying characters who have a sense of strangeness, but the character who has the most strangeness in this movie is actually the role of Peter. That may be why he is particularly memorable in the second half of the movie.

Also appearing in supporting roles are powerful actors, including Keith Carradine (as the Governor), the eccentric actor from " Nashville " (1975) and "Choose Me" (1984), and Thomasin McKenzie (as the maid), who gained attention for her role in " Last Night in Soho " (21).

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