The cow (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The cow |
| Original title | Gāv (also Gaav) |
| Country of production | Iran |
| original language | Persian |
| Publishing year | 1969 |
| length | 100 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Dariush Mehrjui |
| script | Gholam Hossein Saedi |
| production | Dariush Mehrjui |
| music | Hormoz Farhat |
| camera | Fereydon Ghovanlou |
| cut | Dariush Mehrjui |
| occupation | |
| |
The cow ( Persian گاو, Gāv ) is an Iranian film by Dariush Mehrjui from 1969. It is considered one of the landmarks of new film in Iran.
action
The film shows the close relationship between the villager Hassan and his cow. She is his most valuable possession and at the same time the only cow in the village.
When Hassan had to leave the village for a short time, the pregnant cow was found dead in the stable. Afraid of Hassan's reaction, the villagers cover up the incident on his return and tell him that the cow has escaped.
The loss of his beloved cow, who was the epitome of his social status within the village, leads to a nervous breakdown in Hassan. Gradually he loses his mind and finally believes that he is the cow himself and begins to eat hay. The villagers' attempt to bring Hassan back to normal fails and ultimately ends with his death.
occupation
- Ezzatolah Entezami : Mash Hassan
- Mahin Shahabi : Hassan's wife
- Ali Nassirian : Mascht Eslam
- Jamshid Mashayekhi : Abbas
- Firouz Behjat-Mohamadi
- Jafar Vali : Kadkhoda (village chief)
- Khosrow Shojazadeh : young man
- Ezatallah Ramezanifar : village chief
- Esmat Safavi : old woman
- Mahmoud Dowlatabadi
- Parviz Fannizadeh
style
The film is an “ existentialist , neorealist staged fable about the relationship between the individual and the group”.
publication
The film was one of the first state-sponsored film projects, but was then banned because of its depiction of the poor conditions in the country. In 1971 the film was smuggled out of Iran and shown at the Venice International Film Festival . There it became the film event of the year and won the critics award. Further presentations at film festivals followed.
On June 18, 1973, the production was broadcast for the first time on German-language television (ZDF).
reception
The film brought Dariush Mehrjui national and international recognition. It became a cult film and was voted the best Iranian film in some polls.
Reviews
The lexicon of international films wrote that the film was a careful staging that was captured in "clear, lyrical-realistic black and white images" and therefore offered "impressive evidence of economic, cultural and religious living conditions in an underdeveloped country." The German dubbing voices, however rated as “annoying” and “unsuitable”.
Web links
- The cow in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Article in Filmarchiv Austria (German)
- Article about Dariush Mehrjui on the Iranchamber (English)
- Article with interview about the film on Firouzanfilms
Individual evidence
- ↑ filmarchiv.at ( Memento of the original from January 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ iranchamber.com
- ↑ a b The cow. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed April 15, 2017 .
- ↑ iranchamber.com
