First Cow – Films – Visions du Réel

Kelly Reichardt
United States | 122 min
Language : English
Subtitles : French

In Oregon in the 1820s, territories taken from indigenous people are populated by immigrants from Europe and Asia, coming to offer their services to the new Western bosses in an inhospitable environment where pleasures are rare. The arrival of a cow – and its milk – on this land marks the start of this enchanting humanist fable.

A close-up of mushrooms in an Oregon forest in the early 19th century filmed as though they were emeralds. They are carefully collected by Cookie, a travelling cook for the trappers who mistreat him. Harvesting is a sublime moment that momentarily suspends his precariousness and solitude. In this same forest, Cookie has a fleeting encounter with Lu, his alter ego in search of friendship and prosperity. A few days later, they find themselves in the neighbouring fort, built on land taken from the indigenous population, where immigrants from all over the world flock in search of work and fortune. A rumour is circulating that a cow will be brought in from Europe to satisfy the craving for milk of an influential business owner in the fort. Cookie and Lu fantasise about little warm, crispy milk and honey doughnuts – the perfect contrast to the cold and damp of their habitat. First Cow is a humanist fable that depicts the splendour of subtly subversive gestures that highlight the absurdity of existing power dynamics.

Dimitri de Preux

1994 – River of Grass1999 – Ode2002 – Then a Year2004 – Travis2006 – Old Joy2008 – Wendy and Lucy2010 – Meek’s Cutoff2013 – Night Moves2016 – Certain Women2019 – First Cow2019 – Owl2021 – Bronx, New York, Novembre 20192021 – Cal State Long Beach, CA, Janvier 20202022 – Showing Up2025 – The Mastermind