The Cow

  • 100'
  • Iran
  • 1968

Neorealism, surrealism and mysticism meld in this groundbreaking, deeply moving Iranian New Wave film. Hassan, a farmer in a poor village, goes mad when he hears his only cow has mysteriously disappeared. Lost and bewildered, he takes the cow’s place.

The Cow was funded by the Iranian government, yet was immediately banned after completion due to its negative portrayal of rural Iranian poverty. The film was smuggled to the Venice Film Festival in 1971 where it won the FIPRESCI or critics’ prize.

Mehrjui’s astounding camerawork captures the villagers in tight close-ups or through windows and doors, seemingly imprisoning them. This symbolises their unchanging world that has suddenly been upended by the disappearance of the village’s only cow. Ezzatolah Entezami won an acting prize at the Chicago film festival for his impressive acting: his face and body literally start to approximate the features of his cow, after he has assumed the animal’s personality.

Director
Dariush Mehrjui
Country of production
Iran
Year
1968
Festival Edition
IFFR 1996
Length
100'
Medium
16mm
Original title
Gâv
Language
Farsi
Producers
Dariush Mehrjui, Ministry of Culture and Isl.Guid
Screenplay
Dariush Mehrjui, Gholam-Hossein Saedi
Cinematography
Fereydon Ghovanlou
Editor
Dariush Mehrjui, Zari Khalaj
Production Design
Esmaeil Arham Sadr
Music
Hormoz Farhat
Cast
Ezzatolah Entezami, Ali Nassirian, Jamshid Mashayekhi, Firouz Behjat-Mohamadi, Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, Jafar Vali, Esmat Safavi
Director
Dariush Mehrjui
Country of production
Iran
Year
1968
Festival Edition
IFFR 1996
Length
100'
Medium
16mm
Original title
Gâv
Language
Farsi
Producers
Dariush Mehrjui, Ministry of Culture and Isl.Guid
Screenplay
Dariush Mehrjui, Gholam-Hossein Saedi
Cinematography
Fereydon Ghovanlou
Editor
Dariush Mehrjui, Zari Khalaj
Production Design
Esmaeil Arham Sadr
Music
Hormoz Farhat
Cast
Ezzatolah Entezami, Ali Nassirian, Jamshid Mashayekhi, Firouz Behjat-Mohamadi, Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, Jafar Vali, Esmat Safavi