In 1925 Montana, a cruel and brilliant rancher is enraged when his brother marries a widow. He starts a campaign to destroy her effeminate son. Then the relationship between the rancher and the boy turns into something neither of them fully understands. This is Campion's most precise film, and it uses a Western to take apart the myths of the Western.
The Power of the Dog is a 2021 drama and western film directed by Jane Campion. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (1 psychology, 2 narrative and 1 cinematography), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Amadeus uses several of the same techniques.
Pairing the main character with a second character who mirrors them. The double shows what the hero wants, fears or secretly is.
How this film uses it
Phil and Peter are each other's shadow. Phil puts on an exaggerated toughness to hide his own nature. Peter hides his intelligence behind a fragile manner. Each sees something in the other that neither can name. I feel like the genius of the film is that you notice they are doubles before they do, and when they do recognize it, the consequences are catastrophic.
Where to see it
Phil braiding a rawhide lasso for Peter. It looks like mentoring, and each is using the other for purposes neither has fully put into words. You see how alike they are through a craft they share.
Building the whole plot on one character's fixation with a person, goal or rival. Every scene ties back to it, and the obsession keeps feeding itself while it destroys them.
How this film uses it
Phil is obsessed with Bronco Henry, the mentor he idolizes and mourns. That obsession shapes every relationship in the film. His cruelty to Rose, his contempt for George and his eventual interest in Peter all come from a loss he can't deal with. Bronco Henry never appears on screen, yet you feel his presence more than any other character's.
Where to see it
Phil in the glade with Bronco Henry's scarf. In this private ritual, you see the obsession directly. The dead mentor still rules the living man.
Filming characters from far away with a telephoto lens, which flattens the space between things. It feels like a documentary, with the camera as an uninvited witness to something real.
How this film uses it
Ari Wegner's cinematography uses long lenses, which shoot from far away, to watch Phil from across the ranch. The distance makes it feel like surveillance. This fits the story. Someone Phil has not taken seriously is watching him and sizing him up, and the long lens puts you in that watcher's position too.
Where to see it
Peter watching Phil from a distance. The telephoto lens squeezes the space between the watcher and the watched. It gives you a picture of how carefully the 2 are studying each other.
Telling the story through a character you can't trust, because they are lying, mentally unwell or fooling themselves. At some point, you have to rethink what you were told.
How this film uses it
You see most of the film through Phil's mind. He is the most intelligent person in every room and the most fully drawn character. He is also the only person who doesn't understand what is happening to him. He is sure he has read Peter correctly, and that confidence is his fatal blind spot. The film sets you up to see exactly what Phil's intelligence misses.
Where to see it
Phil's growing affection for Peter. The rancher is certain he controls the relationship. The film lets you see what is really going on between them, which Phil is too sure of himself to read.
Questions
The Power of the Dog: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does The Power of the Dog use?
CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in The Power of the Dog (2021): Psychological Doubling, Obsession as Structural Engine, Long-Lens Social Observation and Unreliable Narrator.
Who directed The Power of the Dog?
Jane Campion directed The Power of the Dog, released in 2021. CineCode also covers The Piano (1993), In the Cut (2003), Bright Star (2009).
What films are similar to The Power of the Dog?
Films that share techniques with The Power of the Dog include Amadeus (1984), Rebecca (1940), Gone Girl (2014), Phantom Thread (2017).
