Kelsey Gilson - Response to The Cow

I was not too sure how to feel after watching The Cow the other day in class. I was slightly bored by it and the constant mumbling to the cow even annoyed me at times. I want to say my opinion changed after a while but it did not. The film moved slowly and the plot was so simple in my opinion. I feel like it took a while before anything happened. However with that being said I did feel Hassan’s love and connection to his cow. He clearly preferred his relationship with his cow over every other relationship. He treated the cow with more respect than he did his wife. He valued the others in their community but not their opinion on how to care for his cow. He was constantly concerned for his cow due to the Bolouris hanging around. He took it more as a kidnapping of a child had they taken his cow. The other man in the community lost his sheep and was angry but was not emotionally attached the way Hassan was to his cow. It is clear that he was struggling with some mental or emotional response rather than just out of anger when this group returned.

            As for the filming of this movie, I was impressed with the overall effectiveness of the camera views. They were able to zoom in to let you know that there was something important the audience needed to notice. They also showed the facial expressions of each person as they went through various emotions at a close angle. They played with the sound to make you feel certain emotions. This occurred during the burial when all sound ceased so you could see and feel the sadness.  They also kept bringing the scene back to common locations. An example would be the window the men received drinks from. It makes the audience aware that that was a common place for the men to gather and discuss news. This makes the audience feel familiar with the setting in the movie. The reading was able to help me better understand the film itself but I can appreciate the way the film conveyed emotions that the written version did not. You get to see his wife crying but in the reading you don’t get that perspective. It helped fill in the holes but the movie itself relays the idea and concept much clearer.