This image released by IFC Films shows a scene from "Cow." (IFC Films via AP)
The human voice, a necessity in virtually any film, is barely existent and wholly secondary in “COW.” We hear only random bits of conversation, muffled and unimportant, from people we don’t know and don’t need to.
The only character that counts in Andrea Arnold’s deeply moving documentary about the life cycle of one dairy cow is Luma, the cow. Thanks to her expressive sounds and soulful eyes — which we both see, and see through — we sense what it must feel like to be her, a creature whose only purpose is to provide milk, mate and procreate. In Arnold’s careful, unhurried hands, it is a sobering lesson, though one without a clear agenda. Arnold simply seems interested in telling us Luma’s story. And that is enough.
It should be noted that the humans in “COW,” workers on a British dairy farm, hardly seem evil. They are, in fact, amiable and fairly humane as they spend their days milking the cows with mechanized nozzles, guiding them into and out of endless metal cages and contraptions, stapling tags on their ears, making sure they mate, supervising their births. It is the entire enterprise that’s examined here. We all knew it existed. Most of us just hadn’t sat down and watched it play out for 94 minutes.
We begin with what would seem, initially, a heartwarming scene: the birth of a calf. The newborn is pulled from Luma in extreme closeup (and total silence), glistening in afterbirth. Gently, Luma licks her baby clean.
It’s a thrilling sight — and a deceptive one. The two are almost immediately separated, the calf taken to a different part of the farm. Luma seems later to be looking for her. The baby is fed through a plastic contraption. Mother’s milk? That’s for our coffee.
Arnold goes on to depict a life of endless mud and metal and machinery. We watch as one contraption raises the cow in the air sideways so the hooves can be trimmed. We also witness a mating session, which provides Arnold with a chance to inject a note of humor, via pop music — “All night give me mad love,” go the lyrics of “Mad Love” by Mabel — and a shot of fireworks at the conclusion.
But short of this, neither humor nor wit plays a role here. Seen from Luma’s perspective, it’s an unending slog of milking and breeding, since dairy cows must always be lactating. A visit from the doctor who checks out her reproductive organs and says she’s “doing pretty well!” seems more sinister in this context. Soon she can mate and give birth again to a calf that will be taken, again.
Arnold’s editing choices make for a disorienting experience at times, and surely this is intentional. We imagine Luma must often wonder where she is going and why she is being moved, and so we wonder, too.
Of course, narration would also make the viewing experience less disorienting — if we were to learn about various dairy farm methods, for example, or simply hear from people, as in another film that brought us into the inner world of an animal, “My Octopus Teacher.” But this, too, is an intentional choice on Arnold’s part. She teaches not by telling, but by compiling moments of one animal’s experience.
“This film is an endeavor to consider cows,” Arnold says in a statement accompanying her film. “To move us closer to them … not in a romantic way but in a real way. It’s a film about one dairy cow’s reality and acknowledging her great service to us.”
In other words, the film aims less to condemn than to educate, and even more to appreciate. Never is that message more profound than at the film’s stunningly abrupt ending, which we will not describe here.
“When I look at Luma, our cow, I see the whole world in her,” Arnold says. Her vision comes through, poignantly, in a simple but sobering film that may stay with you for a long time. However you may feel about that cow’s milk in your coffee.
“COW,” an IFC Films release, is unrated by the Motion Picture Association of America. Running time: 94 minutes. Three stars out of four.
CANNES, France — After two years of pandemic, the 75th Cannes Film Festival is getting going with a familiar dose of controversy and some new snafus as it readies for its largest gathering on the French Riviera since the 2019 edition.
FALMOUTH, MA – The police in Falmouth have identified the victim in an accident involving a car plunging into the ocean on February 20, NBC10 Boston reported.
PHILADELPHIA – The Federation of Hellenic Societies of Philadelphia and Greater Delaware Valley announced that the Evzones, the Presidential Guard of Greece will be participating in the Philadelphia Greek Independence Day Parade on March 20.
WASHINGTON, DC – Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with US President Joe Biden at the White House on Monday, in the first day of an official two-day visit to the American capital.
Sign up for a subscription
Want to save this article? Get a subscription to access this feature and more!
To purchase a gift subscription, please log out of your account, and purchase the subscription with a new email ID.
On April 2, 2021, we celebrated The National Herald’s 106th Anniversary. Help us maintain our independent journalism and continue serving Hellenism worldwide.
In order to deliver a more personalized, responsive, and improved experience, we use cookies to remember information about how you use this site. By Continuing to access the website, you agree that we will store data in a cookie as outlined in our Privacy Policy.
We use cookies on our site to personalize your experience, bring you the most relevant content, show you the most useful ads, and to help report any issues with our site. You can update your preferences at any time by visiting preferences. By selecting Accept, you consent to our use of cookies. To learn more about how your data is used, visit our cookie policy.
You’re reading 1 of 3 free articles this month. Get unlimited access to The National Herald. or Log In
You’ve reached your limit of free articles for this month. Get unlimited access to the best in independent Greek journalism starting as low as $1/week.