Benedict Cumberbatch reacts to Sam Elliott’s ‘The Power of the Dog’ criticism

By ANI

WASHINGTON: After veteran actor, Sam Elliot criticised the Oscar-nominated movie ‘The Power of the Dog’, actor Benedict Cumberbatch stepped in to defend his film, calling the previous’s unfavorable response “very odd”.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, the actor opened up in regards to the backlash throughout a current BAFTA Film Sessions occasion. Elliott’s feedback included taking challenge with the drama’s homosexual themes and calling director Jane Campion’s movie “a piece of s**t.”

Defending the Oscar contender, Cumberbatch mentioned, “I’m trying very hard not to say anything about a very odd reaction that happened the other day on a radio podcast over here without meaning to stir up the ashes of that.”

The Emmy-winning star added, “I don’t want to get into the details of it … but somebody 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. And beyond that reaction — that sort of denial that anybody could have any other than a hetero-normative 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, towards an acceptance of the other, of any kind of difference, and no more so I guess than in this prism of conformity of what’s expected of a man in the Western archetype mold of masculinity. So I think to deconstruct that through Phil, to look at that, it’s not a history lesson.”

Cumberbatch, who essays the function of a homosexual man named Phil Burbank within the movie, famous that it is essential to incorporate LGBTQ+ characters within the movie as a result of “these people still exist in our world”.

He continued, “Whether it’s on our doorstep or whether it’s down the road or whether it’s someone we meet in a bar or pub or on the sports field, 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, as we know, damage to those around them.”

In the movie, Cumberbatch, who options as a cattle rancher, unexpectedly falls for the son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) of a widow, performed by Kirsten Dunst, who not too long ago moved to his ranch. The character grapples together with his sexuality in an period and place that emphasizes binary gender roles and expectations, reported People journal.

ALSO READ: ‘The Power of the Dog’: An arresting exploration of poisonous masculinity

Elliott beforehand made it clear that he’s not a fan of how the American West was portrayed within the movie. The 77-year-old actor made headlines final month for his feedback in regards to the male characters in ‘The Power of the Dog’, evaluating them to Chippendale dancers who “wear bow ties and not much else.”

During an interview on the ‘WTF With Marc Maron’ podcast, the ‘A Star Is Born’ actor referred to as the film a “piece of s–t” that did not match into the western style.

“Cumberbatch never got out of his f***** chaps. He had two pairs of chaps: a woolly pair and a leather pair,” the ‘Parks and Recreation’ alum mentioned on the February 28 episode.”

He added, “Every f***** time he would walk in from somewhere — he never was on a horse, maybe once — he’d walk into the f***** house, storm up the f***** stairs, go lay in his bed in his chaps, and play his banjo. It’s like, what the f*****?”

The actor slammed Campion for selecting to shoot the movie in her native New Zealand, including, “What the f***** does this woman from down there know about the American West? … That f***** rubbed me the wrong way.”

‘The Power of the Dog’ scored extra nominations than some other movie on the 94th annual Oscars. With 12 complete nods, it’s the first film helmed by a girl to be recognised in additional than 10 Academy Awards classes.