of power in relationships and repressed lives. emma jones reports. this dog bites. made byjane campion in new zealand, the landscape doubling for montana of a century ago, the power of the dog is an adaptation of a thomas savage 1960s novel. it s the story of phil, portrayed by benedict cumberbatch. he s a deeply unhappy rancher who bullies his new sister in law, rose. cumberbatch says his director allowed him to inhabit the characterfor the duration of filming. right at the beginning, she said look, this is phil . you re going to meet benedict at the end of the shoot and he s really nice, but this is phil. and that was, like, it was great. itjust gave me full permission to do that without feeling self conscious. you know, because it s a way to go, it s far away from me. it was quite a transition. kirsten dunst, who campion admired for her performance
at the venice film festival. the film is backed by netflix. campion is the latest auteur they ve collaborated with as the streamer still searches for that elusive best picture oscar. do you feel that you can work with somebody like jane campion, who s a great auteur, and the film you re doing can still get a huge promotional push? that it can, you know. i think it s the perfect synchronicity. to think that someone who has that aesthetic and taste, you know, who s a festival queen and favourite, to think that her film might get an even bigger audience, that s a win win, yeah. good evening. benedict cumberbatch may be the actor of the moment. he also has an anticipated role in taika waititi s new film the electrical life of louis wain, a portrait of an english artist who made surreal cat paintings. i just don t want you to think you have to be cooped up in this house. but the brooding intensity of his performance in the power
flee also has a gay theme amin is gay. closeted in afghanistan, it was an issue he has had to struggle with. it s a key part of the film. the gay story is kind of a mirror on his refugee story because in his youth, and from his family, he had to flee his sexuality. so in a way, he s always been on the run. in his youth, it was from his sexuality and afterwards, it was from his past, from his story he couldn t tell, so i think those two stories really go hand in hand. the documentary s positive reception in new york was almost guaranteed because many critics in the city had already seen flee earlier on the festival circuit and really loved it. one new york film festival movie has haunted me from the moment i first saw it, the power of the dog. it s a western of sorts in which its film maker, new zealanderjane campion, shows full mastery of her craft, as does the movie s leading man, benedict cumberbatch. i see it as a study
in lars von trier s melancholia, plays rose. she says the actors stayed far apart during filming. the scenes that we were in, we were pretty distant from each other, so i kind of had to create my own demon of phil and benedict and i didn t talk to each other during filming either. i mean, when we if we went out to dinner on the weekend with our kids or something or hung out, obviously, we talked to each other but on set, we kept our distance. campion won the original screenplay oscar in 1994 for the piano, starring holly hunter and anna paquin. she also directed the tv series top of the lake, starring elisabeth moss. her protagonists have been female. cumberbatch s leading role as phil is new for her. but this portrayal of toxic masculinity and misogyny is resonating with critics. as well as the film appearing at toronto, telluride and now new york film festivals, campion was awarded best director prize
he s a deeply unhappy rancher who bullies his new sister in law, rose. cumberbatch says his director allowed him to inhabit the characterfor the duration of filming. right at the beginning she said look, this is phil. you re going to meet benedict at the end of the shoot and he s really nice, but this is phil. and that was, like, it was great. itjust gave me full permission to do that without feeling self conscious. you know, because it s a way to go, it s far away from me. it was quite a transition. kirsten dunst, who campion admired for her performance in lars von trier s melancholia, plays rose. she says the actors stayed far apart during filming. the scenes that we were in, we were pretty distant from each other. so i kind of had to create my own demon of phil, and benedict and i didn t talk to each other during filming either. if we went out to dinner on the weekend with our kids, or something, or hung out, obviously we talked to each other. but on set we kept