What's really intrigued me about The Cow was how it depicted reality in such a fragile manner.
I was surprised at how well the movie got its message across so well while being so slow and simple. I feel like the movie felt slow because the viewer becomes witness to everything that the village says and does while Hassan is away . The plot of the movie is very simple and could have gotten the same point across in under 1 hr and 40 minutes, but Mehrjui needs this time to bring the viewer as close as he can to the village. By end of the film we are so deep into the village that the treatment of Hassan becomes a bit of a shock because the deeper we feel to what is going on, the more real the shock becomes to the viewer.
The Dabashi article made me think of the village as a microcosm of society and Hassan's cow as what society values. You are only as powerful as society values what you have; Hassan lost his sense of reality because he could no longer offer value to his society. It was as if Hassan's cow was worth more than he was, which is probably why he started acting like the cow once he found out it had died. The village seemed to have little respect for life in their treatment of the cow, Hassan, and the mentally impaired man that they tied up. They couldn't offer anything to society so they were tied up just like the cow and treated just like animals. Although this film is exaggerated, Hassan could represent any unfortunate person in society today.
I really enjoy your analysis of the film. Although I did not personally point out the same things you did, I agree with you entirely. I especially connect with your idea of the slow movement of the film as a means of engaging the viewer fully, to the point where they are part of the community. This almost forced me to feel guilt for what the people did to Hassan and his spirit, by burying his cow and lying about the loss.
ReplyDeleteMy question for you is about the reality. You mentioned the film becoming "more real" and that it "depicted reality." Like Dabashi, I thought the community seemed so real that it was entirely unrealistic. Did you have the same thoughts?
I think you interpreted this film excellently, I too said similar things. I think what you say about how the film moves is interesting because that is something I did not think about; I just thought it was just how films were done back then. But you make a great point that it helps to witness everything that happens while Hassan is gone. It's hard to imagine that people were reduced to being treated like animals when they no longer can offer any value to their society.
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