MovieChat Forums > The Power of the Dog (2021) Discussion > It took me forever to 'get' this movie

It took me forever to 'get' this movie

posted 2 years ago by Jinx (3736)
5 replies | jump to latest

Honestly, at first watch I noticed quite a bit of symbolism from the get go but when it was over I was kind of 'meh' about it. I only watched it once, but here I am months later . . . I was thinking about it and WOW! The complexity is friggin' amazing.

How the film directed your thoughts away from what was REALLY going on, really incredible. Did any of you guys pick up on things later that wowed you?

The characters were so much more than the sum of their parts.

the focus on homosexuality was a diversion from the point of the story and the writers knew that, because when men are homosexual, society makes that the entirety of who they are and we feel second hand shame through them. When what you were really watching was a quiet sociopath circling his prey. So many other things I just didn't think through until later. The kid faking his connections to people, this bond you think is forming between these two men is only a game. The dynamic between the brothers was another layer of rivalry, pride and shame on top of everything. It was all about hiding your true self, every character was playing a game rather than being honest about who they were. The boy's mother drinking would probably be me in that situation, anything to try to escape for a while until you have to put the mask on again.

[–] stickman38 (3356) 2 years ago

Jinx,

I think you pretty much nailed it, this movie is a lot deeper than people give it credit for. It's just too bad the first hour or so of the film is so damn slow. But these slow-burn films are starting to grow on me.

It kind of reminds me of another slow film called Wind River, it's kind of like another modern day Western similar to POTD. I would recommend it to those that liked POTD.

Anyhow, I'm going to give POTD a very solid 7.1 out of 10 I'd probably give it a little bit of a higher rating if the first part of the film was a little more interesting but still, this is some good stuff.

[–] Jinx (3736) 2 years ago

I'm really impressed that it was a Netflix film, mostly because there hasn't been much 'depth' to the Netflix films or series. That's not to say that I don't like them, I enjoy a lot of Netflix stuff! This one was just, more cleverly written than others.

The first part of the film is probably why I don't have much of a desire to watch it again even though I want to see what I missed. You are right, sloww burrrnn, but I think it had to be in order for all of the threads to be gathered at the end, kind of like creating the rope. None of it was a waste it just seemed insignificant while you were watching it, waiting for something to happen.

Thanks for Wind River, I'll check it out! It's strange, I never have a desire to watch Westerns, (perhaps because I'm a woman and that period of history was really awful for women) but I always enjoy them.

[–] stickman38 (3356) 2 years ago

Our movies can make it look like being a woman back in the old west was terrible and perhaps it was for some, but I would think that chivalry was more in style back then than it is today. Everyone, even plenty of women would often carry a gun. So, you had to be somewhat careful in the way you treated others back then.

However, I am not an expert on the subject but from my limited knowledge it seemed like if a woman was married back then, she was going to have a pretty good life but an unmarried woman probably had a more challenging role in society.

But it all boils down to social norms of the day and where you lived, more opportunities opened up for women in the west back then probably due to the popularity of Victorian styles in culture. But it's hard for us to compare what we have in 2022, to what they had in 1800's America. Was it worse? maybe, but when you lived it, you probably didn't think it was all that bad because you were used to it.

Here's an interesting article about women in the old west. You might like it...

https://www.oldwest.org/wild-west-women/

And here's an article about the kind of guns that women used and the stories behind them.

https://www.womensoutdoornews.com/2017/03/wild-west-firearms-women/

But you are so right about the POTD, everything happens for a reason, nothing is done for the hell of it, it's all for a reason. It's quite the good film, I'm tempted to change my score to an 8 but I might have to watch it again first. But I will say, I liked POTD a lot more than Brokeback Mountain, another "gay western". haha...

[–] com (30) 2 years ago

How the film directed your thoughts away from what was REALLY going on, really incredible.

Isn't that the opposite of what a director should be doing?

[–] RockAway (1601) 2 years ago

I don't know, I liked that you had to think about it afterwards. That's what most classical novels do, it's not until you are finished that you discover the philosophy behind it.

The director is supposed to weave the tale, I think the director created something lasting and memorable with this film. I think much of POTD is supposed to be leading the audience to see the forest for the trees which is clever and the reason why it's memorable.