#77: The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage
Source Material, Volume 5
Book - Published: 1967 | Pages: 293 | 8-hour audiobook narrated by Chad Michael Collins
Movie - Released 2021 on Netflix
Written and Directed by: Jane Campion
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Nominated for 12 Academy Awards, won for Best Director (3rd woman ever to win).
This is a textbook adaptation. Screenwriters can use this as a case study on how to perfectly capture the dramatic tension and mood of a story. Both book and movie are slow and meandering, but also surgical in the way they unfold. I watched the movie first and I thought it was kinda boring…until the very last scene. I popped out of my seat upon realizing that the movie I thought I had just watched was not the movie at all. In an instant, that final scene recontextualized everything that came before.
Now, I’m not saying this is an M. Night Shyamalan “he-was-dead-the-whole-time” type of ending. Nobody ends up being an alien or cyborg. It isn’t even really a twist. It’s that the characters - their motivations and inner conflict and the parts of themselves they are trying to hide - are so well done. As an audience member, I was seeing the behavior and hearing the dialogue and I thought I was picking up on all the unsaid. And I was right, but also wrong and I couldn’t help but relish how wrong I was.
That was long-winded. This is supposed to be bite-sized.
Let’s do rapid-fire Q&A!
What’s it about?
Two ranch-owning brothers named Phil and George live under the same roof. The quiet one, George, gets married and brings home his new wife Rose and her grown son Peter. The loud one, Phil, torments them all (mostly Rose) by cruelly preying on weakness and insecurity.
This might be a spoiler, but there is no physical or sexual violence or even swearing (the book characters curse more than the movie versions and the R rating comes from one brief scene of full frontal male nudity). Phil’s torment of others comes from spite and cruelty. There is a lot of tension due to how unpredictable and enigmatic he is.
Should I read it or watch it?
Watch it. It’s uncomfortable and you might hate it, but it also might be totally worth it!
You don’t recommend the book?
The book was good, but it’s probably more time than you need to spend with these people. It’s not something I would re-read. You obviously get a ton more insight into each character, especially Phil, so if you want that after watching the movie, go for it.
Ok, I watched the movie…how can you like that?
I don’t know if “like” is the word I would use. I watched it by myself to avoid the stress I sometimes feel when I worry about the experience of whoever I’m watching with. I knew it was a character study in repressed sexuality, shame, spite, vulnerability, and cruelty. I sat with it, I tried to stay engaged. I think I put my phone away at one point to avoid checking out. By the end, I was so surprised that I had to talk about it, which meant trying to convince some friends to watch it because nobody had! Plus, it’s not hard on the eyes, the visuals are spectacular.
In conclusion
As one of my favorite podcast hosts says to conclude every episode: “At the end of the day, it’s pretty impressive that Jane Campion made a movie.” It is a well-acted, well-written, well-directed work of art. It is also mighty impressive that Thomas Savage wrote a “non-Hollywood” western that made it to the screen in an era of super-heroes, franchises, and abundant CGI. It’s a shame it was never released in theaters, but at least it was made.
What did you think of the book or the movie? Let’s chat about it!
Thanks for being here,
Kyle