By Karen - 17 September 2021
First of all, this film has nothing to do with the same sex.
Before watching the movie "The Power of the Dog", I hurriedly finished watching the original work that I had delayed for more than two months, so I had a good idea of the plot of the film. I have to say that this film is really loyal to the original, but there are some subtle changes on the basis of the original. The Johnny part was deleted, and the Indians who sold gloves and the Jews who bought animal skins were combined in the book, and several scenes of sexual tension were added.
This leads the film to a different dimension from the book.
Someone who has read the original feels that the Johnny part of the book is more exciting; Peter in the book is more cruel and cold-blooded than the movie; Phil in the book is more mean and asshole; Rose in the book is more cowardly. Of course, the book does not have too strong sexual tension that is overwhelming with hormones. For everything about Branco Henry, and for Phil's feelings for Peter, it is just a matter of point, whether it is a brother or a friend or a lover. , Don't talk about it.
But the Jane has no intention of making The Power of the Dog a story like the original. The drama of the original book is not strong, and the brief guide further weakens the drama of the movie-until the end.
The briefer sharpened the knife for more than an hour, and when he drew the knife, the knife was bright, and the knife went down firmly and hard. The audience was stabbed and didn't feel any pain. When they felt the pain, the blood would bleed long ago.
In the brief script, Peter is not so cold-blooded, and Phil is not so mean. From Branco to Phil, from Rose to Peter, and George, everyone was wrong, but everyone did not make a big mistake. Phil is mean, grumpy but also fragile and innocent; Rose is pitiful, but she agrees that George cannot be purposeless when she proposes, not to mention that she is also a heavy drinker; Peter loves his mother, but is also extremely cold and ruthless, using Phil to him Love killed Phil; George and Rose were married, but he was cowardly and stupid and hardly ever defended his wife. There is no pure evil and pure good, not pure good or determined revenge. Everyone is just a person, everyone is living a normal life, but their lives are squeezed and conflicted with each other, and finally they are heading towards an inevitable collapse.
Don't judge any role, Jane doesn't care about morality.
From Phil's point of view, Rose is an intruder in his life and a disturbing factor in the "male world" he has built for himself. He rejects Rose not only because she broke his peaceful life for so many years, but also because she has the femininity he rejects. Phil fears femininity like fear of scourges. He chooses to express his fear with endless mockery, as if he has the upper hand in words, and all this no longer poses a threat to him.
So he suppressed Rose. So he laughed at Peter. He also laughed at his brother, calling him fastco.
Phil is a tragic character. He is strong and mean, he is weak and lonely. He is depressed and has a surging desire. Just as the original author’s evaluation of Phil, Phil hates the world if the world hates him. And the actor BC’s description of Phil is more accurate, he tried to destroy the world before the world destroy him. Phil will always be destroyed, no Peter may also have a certain Jack in the future. Phil is a person who has been destroyed by his growth environment and growth experience. He will never be saved. But there is no need to sympathize with him. He is just an ordinary person.
From Peter's point of view, Phil makes his mother unhappy. The narration at the beginning of the film tells everyone that since his father's death, Peter's only goal is to make his mother happy. He chose to kill Phil and solve all problems for his mother once and for all. He is filial, indeed, but he is also cold-blooded. Dissecting such a cute rabbit without any movement (I’m sorry, I was eating snacks when I watched that scene... the snacks on my hand suddenly stopped fragrant). The description of Peter's killing of chickens in the original book is even more vivid, only Said that he wore the white shirt and twisted the chicken's neck lightly, and the chicken died in his hand. The process was rapid, and his white shirt would not even be splashed with a drop of blood. Peter is cruel and cold-blooded. I don't even know whether his last show of favor to Phil was the last pity of the hunter for the prey, the last bait to lure Phil to the bait, or whether he really had such a moment of tempest. The scenes in the fifth paragraph of the brief introduction are too ambiguous and confusing, and the essence of the entire relationship in the smoke of the same cigarette cannot be seen by ordinary viewers.
This movie is like a real "voyeur", intercepting various fragments from everyone's life and presenting it to the audience, in which they have a restrained life. The brief guide is shooting people, men, women, loved ones, unloved ones, greed, cowardice, desire, every scene under the lens is a quietly flowing stream. Life is staggered, like the wind passing through a valley, in fact, it's good to look at it from a distance.
The shots and the soundtrack are a must. The lens style is very similar to Terrence Malik, I love Terrence Malik too much, and I naturally love the photography style of this movie.
Kristen Dunst's performance was outstanding. Very, very good. The entire change of Rose is vividly displayed in multiple dimensions, and Rose's gradual collapse has increased the oppressiveness of Phil's existence. I watched Kristen Dunst's performance, especially the scene where she ran to ask for animal skins to change gloves, and I almost held my breath. That was her greatest resistance. Those gloves were something that really belonged to her and would not be laughed at by Phil. That was her greatest freedom. The scene was still silent, but there was an extraordinary and cruel beauty.
The most memorable scene was Rose holding a tray at the party. Dunst's shaky step back tightened my nerves and made my scalp numb.
With a pair of talking eyes, she wrote about a hare being hunted. From the happy woman with soft and delicate blonde hair to a prey that was terrified, embarrassed and trembling, she reminded her of roses staggered in the mountains and forests.
