Cow (2009 film)
Cow | |
---|---|
Directed by | Guan Hu |
Written by | Guan Hu |
Story by | Zhao Dongling |
Starring | Huang Bo Yan Ni |
Cinematography | Song Xiaofei |
Edited by | Kong Jinlei |
Music by | Li Ke |
Distributed by | United Star Corp. |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
Country | China |
Languages | Mandarin (Shandong dialect), Japanese |
Cow (simplified Chinese: 斗牛; traditional Chinese: 鬥牛; pinyin: Dòu Niú; lit. 'fighting for the cow') is a 2009 Chinese film directed by Guan Hu. A black comedy, Cow takes place during the midst of the Second Sino-Japanese War. A villager, played by Huang Bo, has been entrusted to care for a Dutch cow when a Japanese attack leaves him and the cow the only survivors.
The film premiered at the 66th Venice International Film Festival as part of its "Horizons" program.[1]
Plot
The film takes its story from oral traditions of
A group of soldiers meet first some Japanese wounded, unaware that there is a survivor of the village. Niu'er is almost killed by the squad leader by
Cast
- Huang Bo - Niu'Er
- Yan Ni - Jiu
- Liu Jie
- Tenma Shibuya
- Gao Hu
- Shang Tie Long
- Hu Xiao Guang[2]
Reception
The film was well received by English-language critics during its screening in Venice. Derek Elley of Variety for example, felt the film was strong enough to deserve a competitive spot in the festival and extolled both the film's aesthetic and its lead performer in Huang.[3] The Shanghai-based City Weekend also praised the film, noting that as a return to film after five years in television, Guan Hu's Cow "couldn’t have turned out better."[4] Notably, several critics favorably compared the film to Jiang Wen's similarly themed black comedy, Devils on the Doorstep.[3][5]
The reception in Asia was similarly positive. Given its small budget, the film's release in China was a strong 7.7 million RMB box office for the opening weekend, particularly in light of the film's competition, the highly publicized
Style
Despite its seemingly simple story, Guan Hu's presentation of Cow has been described as both "hyper-realistic and surreal"[5] and "magical-realist"[3] by critics, particularly in its use of a non-linear narrative structure.[3] The film also uses personal point of view, like making the character hold a small hidden camera while taking in some scenes.
References
- ^ a b "Guan Hu presents 'Cow'". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. 2009-09-10. Archived from the original on 2009-12-07. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
- ^ "Hong Kong Cinemagic - Cow". www.hkcinemagic.com. Retrieved 2019-02-08.
- ^ a b c d Elley, Derek (2009-09-17). "Cow". Variety. Variety Media. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
- ^ You, Tracy (2010-01-04). "Guan Hu's War-time Drama turns on Lowly Bovine". City Weekend. Ringier China. Archived from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
- ^ ScreenAnarchy. Retrieved 2019-02-08.
- ^ Screen Daily Staff (2009-10-07). "Like A Dream, No Puedo lead Golden Horse race". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2010-01-10.
- ^ "Nominees & Winners". Taiwan Golden Horse Awards. Archived from the original on December 10, 2009. Retrieved 2010-01-10.