The Power of the Dog
Short description
Set in 1920s Montana, the film centres on brothers Phil and George Burbank, who own a large ranch together. The two are very different: Phil is sharp, clever and harsh, while George is steadier and more easygoing, and increasingly wants a life beyond the cattle and fieldwork. When George marries Rose, a local widow, and brings her and her teenage son Peter to live on the ranch, Phil reacts with contempt and sets out to make their lives difficult, targeting Rose in particular and using Peter in his campaign against her. A long-hidden secret eventually surfaces.
Jane Campion directed and wrote the screenplay, and produced alongside Emile Sherman and Iain Canning. It is the tenth feature she directed, following Bright Star in 2009. Benedict Cumberbatch plays Phil, with Kirsten Dunst as Rose, Jesse Plemons as George and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Peter. Thomasin McKenzie and Geneviève Lemon are also credited among a cast of 42.
The film was released in 2021 and runs 127 minutes. It drew a critics' rating of 8.4/10 from 366 reviews, while audiences were cooler: on IMDb it holds 6.8/10 from 222,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.7/10 from about 3,050 votes. The gap suggests strong critical approval alongside more divided viewer response.
What's left behind the scenes
- Kirsten Dunst and Benedict Cumberbatch became so immersed in their characters that they did not speak to each other during filming.
- The rights to the book on which this film is based were held by a wide variety of people over many years, but for one reason or another, no one ever got around to adapting the book for the screen. At one point, actor Paul Newman (1925-2008) owned the rights to the adaptation.
- Kirsten Dunst diligently and persistently learned the piano piece that her character performs on screen. In fact, she learned and played two pieces, but the performance of one was cut during editing – much to her displeasure.
- To get into the role of Phil, Benedict Cumberbatch didn't wash for almost two weeks at the beginning of filming. In addition, he started smoking non-stop, one cigarette after another. The actor smoked in real life, but he felt sick after each take due to smoking roll-ups. Continuous smoking led to him experiencing nicotine poisoning three times.
- Director Jane Campion had long wanted to work with Kirsten Dunst, whom she considered a wonderful actress, and at some point, even before filming this movie, fate brought them together on set. According to Dunst, Campion even wrote her a letter once – around 2001 – which she still keeps.
- Paul Dano was initially cast in the role of George, but due to commitments to other projects, he had to leave the film's cast.
- Editor Peter Skiberras from Australia began working in Sydney due to COVID restrictions. He later moved to New Zealand, where he continued working on the film's editing in complete solitude for the first two weeks of quarantine.
- Kirsten Dunst's character played the piano terribly, while Benedict Cumberbatch's character then brilliantly performed Johann Strauss the Elder's (1804-1849) “Radetzky March” (1848) on the banjo.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
