The Cow
A grieving Iranian villager’s bond with his only cow collapses into an unsettling crisis of identity after the animal’s death is concealed from him.
Overview
A man's bond with his beloved cow leads to a profound transformation in a desolate village.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- bleak
- surreal
- oppressive
- arthouse cinema night
- world cinema retrospective
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a dazzling, psychologically powerful landmark of pre-revolutionary Iranian cinema, combining social realism with surreal and mystical elements.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The remote village, impoverishment, collective pragmatism, and restrained performances place the film within pre-revolutionary Iranian New Wave realism.
After the cow dies, Masht Hassan eats hay, lives in the barn, and increasingly believes he is the cow.
The villagers hide the cow’s death and claim it ran away because they fear Masht Hassan’s reaction.
Critical commentary specifically identifies mystical vision and surreal sequences within the film’s Italian neorealist influence.
Films like The Cow, and why
Bicycle Thieves
shared rural poverty, social realism, and psychologically devastating transformation
The Color of Pomegranates
shared Iranian New Wave sensibility, austere village setting, and surreal destabilization
The White Ribbon
shared allegorical rural drama, collective fear, and mystical atmosphere
Movie Details
- Director
- Dariush Mehrjui
- Release Date
- 1969-01-21
- Runtime
- 105 min
- Rating
- 7.7 / 10 (86)
Cast
- Ezzatollah Entezami
- Mahin Shahabi
- Ali Nasirian
- Jamshid Mashayekhi
- Firouz Behjat-Mohamadi
- Jafar Vali
- Khosrow Shojazadeh
- Esmat Safavi
- Mahmoud Dowlatabadi
- Parviz Fanizadeh
Common questions
- What is The Cow about?
- A grieving Iranian villager’s bond with his only cow collapses into an unsettling crisis of identity after the animal’s death is concealed from him.
- What is The Cow like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Cow as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Cow violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Cow as mild.
- What did critics think of The Cow?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a dazzling, psychologically powerful landmark of pre-revolutionary Iranian cinema, combining social realism with surreal and mystical elements.
- Which films are like The Cow?
- Films with a similar feel include Bicycle Thieves, The Color of Pomegranates, and The White Ribbon.
- How long is The Cow?
- The Cow runs 105 minutes.
