Jane Campion returns to the kind of mythic frontier landscape—pulsating with both freedom and menace—that she previously traversed in The Piano in order to plumb the masculine psyche in The Power of the Dog, set against the desolate plains of 1920s Montana and adapted by the filmmaker from Thomas Savage’s novel. After a sensitive widow (Kirsten Dunst) and her enigmatic, fiercely loving son (Kodi Smit-Mcphee) move in with her gentle new husband (Jesse Plemons), a tense battle of wills plays out between them and his brutish brother (Benedict Cumberbatch), whose frightening volatility conceals a secret torment, and whose capacity for tenderness, once reawakened, may offer him redemption or destruction. Campion, who won an Academy Award for her direction here, charts the repressed desire and psychic violence coursing among these characters with the mesmerizing control of a master at the height of her powers.

Here are some pictures of the Criterion blu-ray set and its contents; the cover art and booklet illustrations are by the amazing Greg Ruth –

DIRECTOR-APPROVED 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

– 4K digital master, approved by director Jane Campion, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack
– One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
– Interview with Campion about the making of the film
– Program featuring interviews with members of the cast and crew and behind-the-scenes footage captured on location in New Zealand
– Interview with Campion and composer Jonny Greenwood about the film’s score
– Conversation among Campion, director of photography Ari Wegner, actor Kirsten Dunst, and producer Tanya Seghatchian, moderated by filmmaker Tamara Jenkins
– New interview with novelist Annie Proulx
– Trailer
– English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
– English descriptive audio
– PLUS: An essay by film critic Amy Taubin

This 2 disc set comes with a 4K UHD disc as well as a blu-ray disc, with the special/supplementary features included in the latter, which is great because it allows for the highest bitrate encoding possible for the 4K UHD version of the film, which looks absolutely stunning. The wide shots of the cattle herds and sweeping vistas of Wyoming’s mountain ranges look spectacular in 4K, and the tonal quality of actors’ skin and costumes are creamy and rich, with no hints of crushed or clipped blacks and/or compression artifacts.

For the special features, Criterion releases never disappoint and there is a whole host of illuminating interviews, both with the director Jane Campion as well as the leading cast and key creatives like the DP Ari Wegner.

This is the first Jane Campion film released by Criterion that I’ve had my sights set on, the other is her earlier film The Piano, which I am looking forward to acquire once I save up some money.

Buy From Amazon CA | Amazon JP | Amazon UK | Amazon FR | Amazon IT | Amazon DE | Amazon ES

You might also be interested in these items :