https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...3hGxg&usqp=CAU
Trailer:
[]
IMDb / wiki / RT / Metacritic
On Netflix
Printable View
Cumberbatch is excellent.
It's a pretty strong movie but I'm not convinced it ends in the most satisfying manner although it's a good ending.
This did not blow my mind like I had hoped. It's automatically one of the better movies of the year due to the exceptional craft, but I wish the story was more satisfying. Maybe a rewatch will help.
A film providing yet another very strong argument in favor of medium's strength lying much more in how than what it's about. In retrospect, the plot's overall shape is rather simple, with constant verbal and visual "clues" signifying its trajectory, and an ending scene snapping all of them into one final revelatory focus that seems to provide definitive closure. But with Campion's foreboding, sinewy direction as our guide (aided by Greenwood's magnificently ominous score), the actual experience feels like the film wrapping itself around you and then tightening its grip slowly but perceptibly during its two-hour runtime, until you're still all tense and bruised past the film's end. The film thrums with dark, unpredictable energy on a scene-by-scene basis about how the volatile relationships of psychological warfare between these characters might turn on a dime. So instead of the final scene coming off as a "twist" to snap the film shut and done snugly, it retains a lingering, shivery power, hard to shake off and still unsettling long afterwards. 9/10
This is good. Likely very good. But I don't think I'm over the moon about it like everyone else. Part of me is just being a contrarian, but I think my issue is that it feels more like a PTA film than a Jane Campion film. The score has a lot to do with that, but I also think the formalism, time period, and odd protagonist reminded me of There Will Be Blood. The structure also made me think of Phantom Thread in that there is a third act pivot or twist that changes the perspective of everything that came before.
As usual, there's always one film everyone rallies around, while I wonder why The Last Duel, The Card Counter, Titane, and The French Dispatch seem to be dissipating from 2021 top ten lists.
I can totally see this. That's why I plan on watching it a second time. So we'll see. But whereas Phantom Thread filled me with a million juicy questions that have been rewarded with many, many viewings, the ending of Power of the Dog feels much more straightforward.
Phantom Thread Half Spoilers
[]
Power of the Dog Full Spoilers
[]
Phantom Thread is an incredibly complex love story, and I often pick up something new when rewatching. Power of the Dog feels more like an open-and-shut case.
I just watched (and greatly enjoyed) this, and one thing I really liked about it is how it was structured by shifting perspectives to Phil and his relationships to the people around him one-by-one, whether it be him and George at first, him and Rose in the middle, or him and Peter towards the end, taking good time to focus on and explore the effects his persona has on them individually (and the effects they have on him) as each act of the film proceeds, rather than choosing to rush that all along like an inferior director may have done; good, good stuff.
There's some good analysis throughout this thread. For myself, I found the first hour and 10 minutes or so the most captivating, as the slow circle of characters and interactions kept revealing new surprises. For the final 45 minutes or so, the film's narrative tightens and begins to feel less "free" but more tightly bound to the overarching plot. Before we get there, though, the film is so carefully adept at small images and moments--conveying the sense that Plemons's character seeks an escape from his brother's manic fixation. And while I don't find Cumberbatch a naturally intuitive performer, his affected style works here. It gives the character more of a performative aspect that's in keeping with the overall character arc.
Slightly unclear how much Dunst's character's decision to sell the cowhide is the only way for the film to reach its turn--was there any other way for the plot device to be introduced?
Count me as another who dug the absolute right moment for the film to end.
As far as I figured it, the hide was there to be used whenever the opportunity arose. The hides were sold and Phil was still a bastard to Rose as a result, and so the decision was made there. I took it for granted that there were many ways for the "exchange" to happen, and this one just proved to be easy and justified. In fact, I was kind of surprised that some viewers thought it was all some carefully sketched out plan that required dominos to fall just right; it really didn't.
I thought Phil could've been a lot meaner. Like what does he really do to Rose here that makes her fall to pieces and start drinking herself to an early grave? He's condescending and he torments her with whistling. That's about it.
I dunno. I was underwhelmed by this.
I took the hide stuff to be Phil hating not having control over everything, plus he was likely saving the hides to make the kid a rope the way his mentor did for him (I presume).
I imagined he was going to burn them in a Bronco Henry ritual.
I liked this but I'll probably forget I watched it by next year.
See, I like that he's just weirdly passive aggressive (and sometimes aggressive aggressive) rather than full on physically abusing her or whatever. Sometimes that can be worse, since these types never cross the line into explicit abuse, like physical abuse. I had a coworker that was kind of an asshole but if you called him out on it, he would turn it around like he was the victim, and you were the asshole for responding to his bullshit. It was all very Trumpian and drove me nuts.
The film is (in part) about a bad roommate situation. Like The Lighthouse.
The banjo flex into the "You didn't play? But you practiced so much!" is downright diabolical.
Sam Elliott's little tantrum over this movie is some of the cringiest shit I've read in a while.
Also, he humiliated her son the first time they met. That goes a long way.
I loved this. Scorsese is right that Campion has been getting better and better at making the same masterful drama for years, and I'm a fan of Westerns that somehow bring a completely new vibe to the genre. Plemons and Dunst are a joy to watch together and the dog shot is amazing.