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Ali Nassirian, Jamshid Mashayekhi, Esmat Safavi, Ezzatolah Entezami, Jafar Vali ... see more see more... , Khosrow Shojazadeh , Parviz Fanizadeh

This highly symbolic Iranian drama (shot in black-and-white) revolves around the most important figure in a remote rural village. That figure is the village's sole cow, owned by Mashdi Hassan (Ezat En... read more read more...tezani). The beginning of the film makes clear just how vital the cow is to the life of the village and how much Mashdi and his neighbors cherish it. When the cow is threatened and then killed by members of a nearby clan, Mashdi becomes so distraught that he is gradually transformed into a cow himself. One highlight of this film is the glimpse it offers into a style of rural life which has gone unchanged for thousands of years. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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82% liked it

475 ratings

Unrated, 1 hr. 45 min.

Directed by: Dariush Mehrjui

Release Date: January 1, 1969

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DVD Release Date: August 24, 2004

Stats: 40 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (40)

  • Jossepi
    March 3, 2009
    Jossepi
    This simple movie is so profound on so many levels. I am simply speechless.
  • HuskersNC949597
    August 6, 2011
    HuskersNC949597
    Pretty weird, I'm pretty sure Hassan loves the cow more than his own wife. IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN (I mean he has sex with the cow. This is pure speculation.)
  • benjaminzapata
    December 12, 2010
    benjaminzapata
    A landmark in Iranian cinema.It was certainly the first Iranian film to grab the attention of Western critics and inspired a new era in Iranian film-making. A remarkably mature piece of work directed by a then 28 year old Dariush Mehrjui,his second film. Heavily influenced by the... read more Italian neo-realists who themselves received the film warmly at the 1971 Venice Film Festival after it was smuggled out of the country,where it went to win prizes,even without subtitles, and also a prize at the Berlin International Film Festival,becoming very popular and a source of pride to the Iranian people.
    It's a very visual,very simple,very moving film. The story is set in a remote Iranian village,where owning a cow for subsistence is a sign of prosperity. The cow dies,and Hassan,the owner,breakdown,becoming a man who no longer knows who he is. Play by Ezzatolah Entezami in an astonishing performance(he received best actor at the Chicago Film Festival for it),he has a face that vividly captures his physical and emotional change he suffer when he becomes(he believes himself)the cow. Mehrjui uses actors with "compelling faces" as key elements in the cinematography,as did the Italian Neo-realist. This movie is about as far as one can get from Hollywood blockbusters. Scaling new heights in the bonding between human and animals,in this case not a dog,a cat,a horse,but a cow. The film stuns you.Forget Iran,forget the cow.Replace the scenario with any person close to his earthly possessions and what happens when that person is suddenly deprived of them and you will get inside the characters as Fellini,De Sica or Mehrjui demonstrated in their films.

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