“Cow” Andrea Arnold – Deadline

Andrea Arnold Turns her clever observational skills into the world of cows a cow, premiere at Cannes with a difference. It is a documentary that follows a cow on an English farm over time, watching it intently as it gives birth and gives milk. Humans only appear when they enter its orbit, and screenshots of the dialogue inform us with basic information. Her name is Loma, and she protects her calves, and she was no younger.

as with Cannes Film Festival Favorite Fishbowl And the American honeyArnold threw a new attractive screen on the screen and kept the camera close to it the entire time. While Luma may not be able to speak, the camera lingers on both her eyes and her point of view, inviting the viewer to project his assumptions to her. Outside of the dialogue we’ve heard, we’re not informed of any of the farm’s operations, so we’re testing everything through Loma’s eyes and her calves. Details that would seem human when explained from a distance, seem menacing and constraining up close, from milking machines to the ironing of calf horns.

Arnold is careful not to demonize the farm workers: we hear them talk affectionately to the cows and try to calm them down as he guides them here and there. These are people who do something fun and realistic. But this movie is not about them. It’s about encouraging empathy for an animal that can’t speak for itself – and if the editing choices call for anthropomorphism, many will be convinced the topic is worth it. There is a liberating feeling of freedom when cows are taken to the fields to run and graze, and pain when they resist returning to their barns.

Ever a fan of pop music, Arnold uses a soundtrack of mainly female singers, some of whom seem to be playing on the radio in the background. We hear the DJ of BBC Radio 1, and we see a farmer wearing a Santa hat as Bogos’ “Fantastic New York” plays. In what may or may not be a comforting coincidence, Luma mated with a bull on a night where fireworks are in the sky. The camera captures the fondling, turning away at a crucial moment to see an explosion in the sky. It might be fun, but it’s also a little annoying: This is a picture of a female with very limited agency. Farm workers rejoice when she later has a girl, confirming the commercial reality behind the cows’ existence.

Like the last pig document Gonda, this can certainly be taken as a pro-vegetarian statement; In fact, it plays out as a less conspicuous version of Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar speech in 2019. And while the select ranch is more humane than they could have chosen, it’s still an impersonal and modern discipline; Kelly Richart’s bovine period first cowالبقرة It could be said that he had a better deal. a cow It may be slow to move, but it gives the sick audience plenty to chew on—especially with the devastating last shot.