I often think that I dislike the films of director Jane Campion, but that's not true. I really disliked In The Cut, and I have yet to watch The Piano (despite owning it for a number of years), but I always forget that I saw, and really liked, The Portrait Of A Lady. Campion has, according to many, been creating superb art for a number of years now and it is up to me to see more of her filmography.
The year is 1925. The place is a ranch in Montana. Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a difficult and unfriendly owner of the ranch, alongside his much more pleasant brother, George (Jesse Plemons). When George marries Rose (Kirsten Dunst), bringing both her and her son (Peter, played by Kodi Smit-McPhee) to live at the ranch, things take a major turn for the worse. Phil becomes more and more nasty to those around him, Rose starts to assuage her pain with alcohol, and Peter looks like he may not do well in an environment full of men quick to point and laugh at his perceived weak character. But things take an unexpected turn, which means some characters may be saved from their impending fates.
Based on a novel by Thomas Savage, this is a film that you would think of as, well, typical Oscar fare (which was proven by the love it received in the shape of Oscar nominations). It moves at quite a slow pace, it's beautifully crafted, and the central performances are uniformly superb. There's also a dark and intriguing third act that will make some viewers have to think back to details that were interspersed throughout the rest of the movie. I would, for some reason, see this pairing up nicely with Phantom Thread, and I hope others who see both movies can see why I would make a connection between the two.
Campion puts everything in place, from character details to important, but small, plot details, and trusts viewers to put things together as things play out. It's subtle throughout, in many ways, but also not subtle if you know what Campion is trying to make you notice. Even the start of the potential friendship between Phil and Peter, as the unpleasant man starts to make an effort to bond with a boy he realises maybe shouldn't be faulted for the choices made by his mother, feels entirely plausible, despite seeming highly unlikely during the earlier scenes.
Nobody in the cast disappoints, and Cumberbatch deserves extra praise for not fully mangling the accent that his character has. He also seems to enjoy playing someone who initially seems irredeemably bad. Plemons is a much calmer presence, but also ends up not getting as much screentime. Dunst has to act out some angst and emotional histrionics, but she feels right for her role. Then there's Smit-McPhee, playing the character who arguably goes through the biggest change in the movie. Smit-McPhee is excellent, and he's entrusted with carrying viewers through from start to finish, clarifying the main theme of the film, a thought-provoking and complex conundrum that will leave you weighing up your own moral stance on things long after the credits have rolled.
It feels like too long since I sat down to enjoy some full-on "worthy"drama, the kind of films I do normally try to check out in the run up to the Oscars. I'm glad I set aside some time for this one. I may have inadvertently started with one of the best from 2021.
9/10
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