The Power of the Dog

Jane Campion shot Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel in New Zealand rather than Montana. The Maniototo district of Central Otago supplies the ranch country; the interiors were built on sound stages in Auckland. The first half accumulates humiliation rather than incident. Phil’s cruelty never needs a fist; it works through the dinner table, the stable, and the banjo he plays over Rose’s piano practice. Benedict Cumberbatch spent three weeks at a camp learning to ride, throw rope and play banjo, and by his own account gave himself nicotine poisoning three times smoking filterless roll ups take after take. Jonny Greenwood could not gather an orchestra under pandemic restrictions. He tuned his own cello to each pitch, recorded the notes one at a time and layered them into an orchestral texture, and in places plucked that cello like a banjo. There are no violins in the score, and a mechanical piano with detuned strings carries Rose’s unravelling. The film took twelve Academy Award nominations and won one prize, Directing. It won Best Film and Best Director at the BAFTAs, and Campion took the Silver Lion for direction at Venice. A good fit if you accept that Peter’s move in the last act is never explained aloud by anyone. Not for viewers who want Phil’s intent delivered in a confession scene.