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msclaritea · 3 years ago

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The novel The Power of the Dog had been percolating for some time in the back of the brain of filmmaker Jane Campion, previously an Academy Award winner for writing the screenplay for The Piano. Eventually, she felt compelled to adapt it for the screen.

“It intrigued me for many reasons: I couldn’t guess what was going to happen, it was incredibly detailed, and I felt that the person writing the story had lived this experience,” says Campion. “It’s not just a cowboy story from 1925 of ranch life. This is a lived experience, and I think because of that I felt a real trust for the story. I loved how deeply it explores masculinity and that it’s also about a hidden love.”

At the center of The Power of the Dog is Montana rancher Phil Burbank (played in the film by Benedict Cumberbatch), a charismatic but unflinchingly cruel figure that dominates his ranch hands. When his gentler brother George (Jesse Plemons) marries, Phil levels his brutal, bullying sights on George’s wife Rose (Kirsten Dunst) and her sensitive son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee). But Phil’s toxic barrage disguises an agonizing inner struggle, which once exposed, could be his undoing.

“He’s so complicated and cruel but, as mean and unkind as he often is, he’s also the tormented lonely lover safe only by treasuring feelings from a long gone past,” says Campion. “He is in an impossible situation of being an alpha male who is homophobic and also homosexual. It’s incredibly painful and complicated. I found Phil moving and I found the mysterious relationship between him and the boy exciting and satisfying.”

“I saw the potential of this as material for Jane,” says producer Tanya Seghatchian, a frequent Campion collaborator. “It’s a rich psychodrama with extraordinary roles for the central characters, has an incredibly cinematic landscape, and a chilling and surprising ending that really works.”

Our approach to the adaptation was to boldly fillet the book to make it tighter and more propelling for film, whilst honoring Thomas Savage’s vision, of course,” says Seghatchian. “Jane has an instinct for finding hidden notes and knowing how to intensify sensuality. One of her real gifts is making invisible emotions visible. We pinpointed themes and emotional gaps to explore more deeply and Jane crafted scenes only partially described in the book in a visual language. Jane is a master at highlighting desire and making it come alive cinematically.”

In an attempt to capture as much of the flavor and spirit of Savage’s work, the New Zealand-based Campion made a foray to Montana to gain a deeper perspective on the region. While there, she visited the Savage family ranch and soaked in as many details about the author’s life and lore from his descendants, further informing her take on the source material.

She also consulted with novelist Annie Proulx, who authored the short story Brokeback Mountain and penned an afterword to a 2001 edition of Savage’s book, discussing the iconography of the American West and Savage’s intensely masculine tale from the perspective of a female writer.

“I really do honor other people’s work, and I wanted to honor Thomas Savage with this film,” says Campion. “When I read a book like this, I don’t take the adaptation lightly. I want it to be as good as it can be. I wouldn’t say I’m a perfectionist, but I do like to do things really thoroughly!”

Click below to read the script for the pic from Netflix, which released Dog in theaters around Thanksgiving and launched it on the streaming site December 1. It has been one of the buzziest titles on this season’s awards circuit since its Venice Film Festival debut, where Campion won the Best Director award. It was named one of the films of the year by AFI among a slew of critics group honors, and took the Golden Globes’ Best Picture – Drama award. It has 10 Critics Choice nominations to go along with numerous acting noms for Cumberbatch, Dunst and Smit-McPhee, and directing and writing honors for Campion (though notably the screenplay is not eligible for the WGA Award)

#benedict cumberbatch #kirsten dunst #kodi smit mcphee #jesse plemons #the power of the dog #Director Jane Campion #Thomas Savage

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taralouisereed · 8 years ago

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The Australian news article doesn’t seem to work as a link.... It should be found here: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/dance-academy-the-movie-earns-its-place-at-the-barre/news-story/cfa647e840ce679e8cee5a8ded83fdfd

Warning: it has minor possible plot spoilers... minor! And it claims it is ‘’better than La La Land’’!!!! Yeah!

STEPHEN ROMEI

OK, I’m just going to say this right at the start: Dance Academy, a feature film sequel to the successful Australian television series, is better than La La Land. Now that may seem like an extravagant plie (I looked up the words for ballet movements after seeing this movie) and people will disagree with me. Even Faye Dunaway thought La La Land should have won a best picture Oscar.

I liked the Emma Stone-Ryan Gosling song and dance romance-drama, but for me Dance Academy feels more real. It has something about it that is more dramatic, more emotional, more complex, which is surprising for a movie aimed at the teens and young adults who loved the Logie-winning, Emmy-nominated TV show, which ran for three seasons from 2010 to 2013.

Set 18 months after the final TV episode, the film explores the early adult lives of the would-be ballet dancers, who are now not teens but in their early 20s. Some, such as Abigail (dancer, singer and actress Dena Kaplan), realised their teen dream and are members of the Sydney-based National Academy of Dance. Others are more footloose.

The action opens with a ballet at the Sydney Opera House. We see the super-talented dancer Tara (a brilliant Xenia Goodwin). But as the scene widens we realise she is watching the performance on a TV screen. She is at the Opera House, yes, but working as a waitress. “Remember we are feeding old rich people, not ballet dancers,’’ her admonishing boss reminds her.

Tara, who could have been “the best dancer of her generation”, broke her back after slipping on a bead during a performance of Stravinsky’s Persephone. Not for nothing does that ballet include Hades. She has recovered but her dancing days seem to be over. She is suing the academy for damages. Her lawyer thinks she will win and receive at least a million.

But we know how Tara feels. The first scene shows her in a creative-writing class, reading a story she’s been working on. “All I see is a blank page and a giant question mark,’’ her fictional self says. “Who am I? Who is anyone without a dream?” And so the prima ballerina of a question is established. Can Tara make a comeback or is her dream dead? This is the regular storyline of lots of dance movies, but that doesn’t necessarily make it weak or cliched, and certainly it unfolds here with passion, nuance, intelligence and even surprise.

The crew from the TV series returns. It’s the second feature (after the romantic comedy Ali’s Wedding) for director Jeffrey Walker, who has an impressive television CV that includes Neighbours, Blue Heelers, Home and Away, the Jack Irish series and in the US, four episodes of the hit comedy Modern Family. Samantha Strauss continued as scriptwriter. The result is a tight, honest, moving drama that vibrates with the optimism and uncertainty of being young. There is no soap opera here.

The camerawork (Martin McGrath) reveals the real and imagined lives of the dancers. The pure physicality of dancing is apparent in unexpected moments, such as a behind-the-scenes shot of the dancers who have just come off stage. They are gasping for breath. They need to go back on stage soon. I don’t think I’ve seen a dance film that made me realise how hard it is. And that’s just the physical side. The emotional stress is also there, especially in innovative scenes where Tara remembers her accident.

There’s a sensuality too, though well within the PG rating. And perhaps this is one area where the rating renders the characters a bit unreal. No one swears, no one has sex (that we see). There is a brief, humorous moment involving a celebrity, a topless selfie and Twitter. I don’t mind such absences, but I suppose most 20-somethings do drop both the F-word and their pants now and then.

Most of the original cast is back. Tara’s boyfriend Christian (Jordan Rodrigues) is teaching modern dance to kids.

The gorgeous Kat (a bold yet subtle Alicia Banit) is in New York, starring in a children’s TV show that has seen her climb the ladder to “C-list celebrity”. Her penthouse apartment is nice. She’s hanging out with an American muso, Xavier (Nic Westaway, who does the accent well), who says he doesn’t want to be a minor talent but, in a clever line, “a Hemsworth”. He doesn’t say which of the three Australian actor brothers he wants to be.

Ben (Thomas Lacey) is still dealing with an illness that makes dancing life-threatening. Ollie (Keiynan Lonsdale) is also overseas, putting himself through cattle calls. Persephone becomes important to both of them, and to Tara, who finds an outlet for her literary skills. The new head of the academy is Madeline Moncur (a chilly but not ice-cold Miranda Otto) and Tara Morice is back as Tara’s former ballet teacher Lucinda Raine. The action spreads from Sydney to New York, both full of life, and later to Texas. There are also jokes about the cities that are funny because they are true, such as when Tara runs through Manhattan in an elaborate costume and no one blinks. Indeed, a Spider-Man salutes her.

I don’t want to reveal too much, as part of the thrill is watching, waiting, wondering as the dancers experience the pain and passion of their dream. “Everything hurts, every day,’’ Abigail says at one point. The classes, the auditions, the performances all ripple with the fear of failure.

This brings us to the deftest aspect of Dance Academy. The real question is this: is the dream worth it? When a struggling Tara says she is “nothing” without dance, a friend says, “Choose something else.’’ Christian asks her, “You are hurting yourself every day and I am just meant to let you?” When Tara complains that “I could do this variation when I was 15” she soon meets a teen dancer who can do it. Is it possible that Tara would be better off if she forgot her dreams? She has revealing conversations on this with Kat, Abigail, Christian and Miss Raine.

This theme evokes one of the great ballet films, The Turning Point (1977), with Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft. Ballet has interested a lot of filmmakers. It pirouettes with politics in Bruce Beresford’s Mao’s Last Dancer and in White Nights, starring Mikhail Baryshnikov, probes the psyche in Black Swan (2010), with Natalie Portman, and tackles class and gender biases in Billy Elliot. And of course being torn by the urge to dance is central to the tragic 1948 British classic The Red Shoes, choreographed by Robert Helpmann. Australia’s Dance Academy deserves its place at the barre.

Dance Academy (PG)

4 stars

National release

Oh my goodness, when, oh when will I get to see it!!!!!!!??????

#Dance Academy #dance academy the movie #danceacademymovie #better than la la land #when will i get to see it????

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