When director Jane Campion read The Power of the Dog, a novel written by Thomas Savage in 1967, she never thought she would end up turning it into a movie for Netflix. Thus, with no less than 12 nominations for the 2022 Oscar, the film starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst gives a hard and symbolic end that not many have been able to understand.
It is a western or drama that builds its story from repression and pain. A story with a peculiar ending that could be anticlimactic for some, but that actually lends itself to various interpretations.
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What happens at the end of The Power of the Dog?
Phil Burbank (Benedict Cumberbatch) dies as a result of an infection by the anthrax bacterium, which intentionally and secretly causes him Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee).
This causes all the characters to finally be able to live in peace. Both Pete and Rose (Kirsten Dunst) and George Burbank (Jesse Plemons) they stop living under the pressure of Phil.
As the tape suggests, Although the character could seem very bad, it is Peter who ends up being the most Machiavellian before his antagonist.
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Finding out that Phil is gay and hiding behind the image of a tough cowboy, Phil takes advantage of this to get closer to him.
The result: a coldly calculated murder, with acting involved, which leaves his executor out of suspicion.
The power of the dog: explanation of the end
Then, what does the fateful ending mean and what is the message of the film? As Jane Campion herself has said, it is a “humanistic story (…), that people from anywhere can understand”.
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biblical ending
When Phil’s wake happens, everyone attends, except Pete, who decides to stay home, take out a bible and read a peculiar passage:
- Psalm 22:20: “Deliver my soul from the sword. My life, from the power of the dog”.
Biblically, this verse from the Old Testament speaks of the enemies of King David and, at the same time, is a prophecy of the suffering, as well as the crucifixion of Jesus.
In other words, it is a parallelism between the situations of adversity that they went through and those that the characters in the film go through.
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In such a way:
- “The dog” represents Phil with his macho and abusive attitude.
- “My life”in English written as “my darling” (my dear), is Rose, Peter’s mother.
- “My soul” It refers to the life that Pete leads with his mother after the death of his father.
Seen more simply, the text would translate as a prayer from Peter saying: “Deliver me and my mother from this miserable life, from the power of Phil”.
two types of power
Much has been said about Phil’s machismo as “the power of the dog” that the film talks about.
While this makes sense, there is another type of power that is present through Peter.
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“When my father passed away, my greatest wish was to see my mother happy. What kind of man would he be if he didn’t help my mother? If he didn’t save her from her?”Pete recites.
These words reveal how you can also have “the power of the dog”, but through knowledge.
While Phil he is a ranch cowboy who uses physical force to assert himself, Peter does it through his intelligence.
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Other symbolism
The mountain that Phil sees in the form of a dog with an open mouth it also symbolizes the place he has under his power: the ranch where he hides his true ‘I’.
That’s why no one else sees the shape, just him and his late love Bronco Henry.
Thus, when Peter sees the same mountain next to him and discovers the figure of the dog, this is symbolic of how he already knows the truth about Phil: his hidden homosexuality.
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In such a way, the power of the dog it ends up symbolizing the Montana ranch where the events take place, Phil’s homosexuality and frustration, and Peter’s knowledge as a weapon to save his mother.