Benedict Cumberbatch isn’t letting Sam Elliott’s critique of “The Power of the Dog” get him down as he looks forward to the Academy Awards with optimism.
In a video interview for BAFTA Film Sessions, Cumberbatch didn’t mention Elliott by name, but nonetheless referenced “a very odd reaction that happened the other day on a radio podcast.”
“Someone really took offense to — I haven’t heard it so it’s unfair for me to comment in detail on it — to the West being portrayed in this way,” he said, before stressing that the movie was “not a history lesson.”
“Beyond that reaction,” he added, “that sort of denial that anybody could have any other than a heteronormative existence because of what they do for a living or where they’re born, there’s also a massive intolerance within the world at large towards homosexuality still and toward an acceptance of the other and anything kind of difference.”
Netflix’s “The Power of the Dog” stars Cumberbatch as Phil Burbank, a cattle ranch owner in 1920s Montana. It’s implied that the sexually repressed Phil had a romantic relationship with another man, Bronco Henry, and is haunted by that memory.
As the story progresses, Phil develops an unlikely friendship with his brother’s stepson, Peter Gordon (Kodi Smit-McPhee), whom he initially mocked for his effeminate mannerisms.
Appearing on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast last week, Elliott deemed the movie a “piece of shit,” comparing the look of the male characters to Chippendales dancers and taking issue with its “allusions to homosexuality.”
“That’s what all these fucking cowboys in that movie look like,” he said. “They’re all running around in chaps and no shirts. There’s all these allusions to homosexuality throughout the fucking movie.”
From there, Elliott fired off criticisms of director Jane Campion, saying her decision to shoot the movie in New Zealand, as opposed to Montana, “fucking rubbed me the wrong way.”
Later in his BAFTA Film Sessions chat, Cumberbatch did not define Phil Burbank’s sexuality but noted that the character was “damaged” from having grown up in an era where he was expected to conform to rigid gender roles.
“There is aggression and anger and frustration and an inability to control or know who you are in that moment that causes damage to that person ... and damage to others around them,” he said. “This is a very specific case of repression, but also due to an intolerance for that true identity that Phil is that he can’t fully be.”
Fortunately, Elliott’s views appear to be in the minority. Since its premiere last fall, “The Power of the Dog” has received near-unanimous praise from critics and is nominated for 12 Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Cumberbatch.
Watch Benedict Cumberbatch’s BAFTA Film Sessions interview below.