The Power of the Dog

In March 2022, I watched The Power of the Dog for the first time at Kinema Junpo Theater. The drama film was released in 2021. It is based on the book with the same title written by Thomas Savage in 1967. The story is set in the late 1920s and in Montana, the United States. The film is directed by Jane Campion and stars Benedict Cumberbatch.

It follows two men who lived in far more conservative times when LGBT people have to confess their secrets quite carefully.

The prettiness of Thomasin Mckenzie totally fascinated me in Jojo Rabbit and Last Night in Soho, so I came to want to watch the drama movie when I knew that she is in it, at the same time, I also came to want to see today's Kirsten Dunst, who is famous as Mary Jane "MJ" Watson. As for Thomasin, I was disappointed because her appearance scene was shorter than even in Old where she acted for a short time. Dunst gave a good performance as a wife who is mentally bullied and cornered by her step-brother, though Benedict Cumberbatch's presence was too overwhelming to keep interest in the two actors halfway. His acting was really wonderful. I could not take my eyes off of him even at a moment. I felt that his nomination was natural for the 2022 Academy Award for Best Actor. Although Will Smith won the Oscar in King Richard, yet I think that Cumberbatch's acting was better in it. Moreover, a macho performed by the English actor was sensitively and delicately depicted maybe because the director is a woman. How women feel about men makes us aware of many things about us on the contrary.

I felt gloomy thinking that a tragedy like the case caused by a gay and a psychopath in the 2022 Oscar nominated film happens somewhere even in Japan whose society has become slightly better than long ago thanks to brave people who have taken a stand when I watched the film. LGBT Problems will not be resolved if all of the society does not change. LGBT people will be useful for the society if the people who have been restrained from honestly expressing themselves can show their true colors and live a carefree life, however, many other people would never accept the people and never change their own old stereotypes. Times would not easily change. All the same, flicks like the one are actually profitable for our society even though they have a tiny influence.