Andrea Arnold turns her astute observational skills to the bovine world in Cow, a Cannes Premiere with a difference. It’s a documentary that follows a cow on an English farm over time, watching her intently as she gives birth and gives milk.
Humans are only featured when they enter her orbit, and snatches of dialogue inform us of basic information. Her name is Luma, she is protective of her calves, and she isn’t getting any younger.
Arnold is careful not to demonize the farmworkers: we hear them speak affectionately to the cows and try to soothe them as they steer them here and there.
These are people doing a job, cheerfully and matter of factly. But this film is not about them. It’s about encouraging empathy with an animal that can’t speak
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