In Power of the Dog, Jane Campion, one of the greatest authors of our time, explores the various facets of masculinity. Initially, Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch), his brother George Burbank (Jesse Plemons), and George’s new stepson Peter Gordon (Cody Smith-McPhee) represent three extremely distinctive aspects of 1920s masculinity in the late frontier era.
Dog Power tells the story of Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch). Phil is a successful rancher who works alongside his younger brother George (Jesse Plemons), living by the same principles that their late mentor Bronco Henry taught them at an earlier age. One day, George tells Phil that he has married Rose (Kirsten Dunst), who works at a local restaurant. There is also Rose’s son, Peter (Cody Smith-McPhee), a flamboyant young man who dreams of one day becoming a surgeon. Phil loves neither and torments Rose and Peter at every opportunity until Phil tries to stand up to Peter.
The Power of the Dog movie has a somewhat dark ending to its story that doesn’t fit in with the traditional direction that a similar movie can take, and instead has a revealing ending that implies that some characters, Peter in particular, may have had darker intentions. than the movie, make believe up to this point.
Dog Power isn’t the kind of movie that many would consider a man vs. man type of story, but its ending implies otherwise, taking a much darker approach to the film’s ending.
What happens at the end of The Power of the Dog?
At the end of Power of the Dog, Phil finally reaches his breaking point when Rose – Peter’s mother – asks the Native Americans on their land to take all the cowhide that Phil used to make rope for Peter. Phil sees making that rope and making that connection with Peter as a way to recreate the relationship he had with Bronco Henry before his death; it’s a way for Phil to finally find a sense of connection and happiness again.
Phil breaks down over Rose and her drinking problem, to which Peter replies that he has some cowhide he saved to finish the rope. This is the cowhide that Peter removed from the sick dead cow at the beginning of the movie. However, Peter does not share this information with Phil. Phil then gets to work, soaking his hands in the same fluid as the diseased cowhide, without gloves and with a large open cut on his arm. The next day, Phil is sick and George takes him to the doctor, but he doesn’t make it in time as Phil is dying from the infection.
It was suggested at Phil’s funeral that Phil died of anthrax, but George dismisses this notion because Phil has always been very clear about not working with sick animals. The final scene of “Power of the Dog” shows Peter in his room holding the rope Phil made for him in gloves, but he ends up pushing the rope under the bed, ignoring it when he hears George and Rose coming home from the funeral .
Peter looks out his bedroom window to see the two hugging, to which Peter smiles and walks away, ending the film’s complicated story and implying that Peter had darker intentions than originally thought. It’s not your typical western ending at all, but Power of the Dog is not your typical western.
Peter kills Phil?
Yes, Peter kills Phil. What happens between them is a form of subtle seduction on Peter’s part, and he does it masterfully. Phil or anyone else doesn’t realize it until it’s too late. Peter puts on gloves, then takes a cowhide from a dead cow with anthrax and cuts it into thin strips. When Phil gets angry after discovering what Rose did, Peter approaches him and offers him the strips, claiming that he wants to be like an older man, reminding Peter of his relationship with the Bronco.
Previously, Phil had suffered a hand injury. He dips the hand with the oozing wound into the water on which the strips of cowhide have been placed to soak, exposing himself to disease and sealing his fate. Near the end of the film, after Phil’s death, it is revealed that Rose has stopped drinking. In Phil’s absence, she and George can look forward to a bright future together.
The film takes its title from Psalm 22 of the Old Testament: “Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of dogs” . Peter reads the same passage in one of the film’s closing scenes. It is Peter who turns out to be the savior of his mother. He expels evil from her life, Phil – the leader of a pack of dogs, who caused her a lot of torment.
The Power of the Dog movie explained
Phil and George’s ranch is the richest and most successful ranch in Montana. Many in the area would like to work for the Burbank brothers. One is fully engaged in economic activities, the other is engaged in accounting, paperwork. Such a fraternal and business union suits everyone and gives good results. Farmers are respected, but treated with caution. Men are very different, and not only externally, but also by nature.
- Sharp and angry, Phil is impulsive and tough. A strong and strong dork in a stetson is the idol of local auxiliary workers, he overtakes the herd and alone can castrate the bull. A supporter of the traditional semi-wild way of life of a cowboy.
- Calm, kind, intelligent George is a button-down American. Educated, businesslike, gets along well with people. He likes order, dresses stylishly, drives a car. Strives for the best and seeks change in life.
However, the film is not about how progress is being introduced into the life of adherents of the old order in the USA of the 1920s. On the example of the inhabitants of the ranch, “The Power of the Dog” describes the problem of loneliness and the search for the meaning of life. At the same time, the director presents the story of broken souls ambiguously, leaving the viewer room for reflection and their own conclusions.
The Burnbank fraternal union is in jeopardy when George becomes infatuated with the pretty widow of a local eatery owner. Poor Rose Gordon, after the wedding, enters as a hostess into a rich house with oak panels, paintings and stuffed animals on the walls. It is difficult for a woman to get used to a different way of life. Her unsociable and embittered son Pete, who is not adapted to rural life, causes many problems. Phil is against the invasion of strangers into their measured life and intends to upset his brother’s marriage. At first, he mocks the new family members in every possible way, but later notices something similar to himself in the teenager and becomes close to him. But the relationship between Phil and Peter is far from related color.
The essence of the film is that the characters are in the closest relationship only formally. And in fact, none of the four have the right to give free rein to their own feelings and experiences, since they cannot count on love and understanding from the other. They feel alone and unable to rally together against the harsh reality of being. This is clearly striking against the backdrop of the boundless freedom of the natural landscape and the smooth flow of life for both animals and people.
Relationships between the inhabitants of a huge ranch either twist into a ball, or unwind into threads of personal problems. The main thing is that each of them feels uncomfortable, lonely and tries to hide from others.
- Rose becomes isolated, depressed and increasingly “looks at the bottom of the bottle.”
- Pete has built himself a secret hideout where he hides from bullying about his “too feminine” behavior.
- George abstracts, optimistically believing that everything will turn over.
- Phil constantly provokes conflicts, aggressing towards all household members.
The drama of the situation lies in the fact that the characters are in the same position, although each is unhappy in his own way. Therefore, they deal with difficulties in their own way. As a result, their past seems to be not so dark and rough. And for others, the future is not so bright and unknown. In the end, conscious calmness and grace come to everyone – at the cost of terrible torment and inner experiences.
The British drama film The Power of Dog, which is based on the book of the same name by Thomas Savage, has a different translation of the title – “The Power of the Dog”. Both refer to Ps 21:21, in which David calls on the Lord to deliver his lonely soul from the sword and the dogs. Initially, in the Bible, dogs were depicted as scavengers, and also reminded of the sinful burden of man. There is also a metaphor in the picturesque humpbacked mountain, near which the inhabitants of the ranch live: the outlines of a dog’s head are seen in it.
