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Cows [DVD]
 
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Cows [DVD]

DVD ~ Emma Suárez
3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Cows [DVD]
54% buy the item featured on this page:
Cows [DVD] 3.3 out of 5 stars (3)
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Product details

  • Actors: Emma Suárez, Carmelo Gómez, Ana Torrent, Karra Elejalde, Klara Badiola
  • Directors: Julio Medem
  • Format: PAL
  • Language Spanish
  • Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: Fox
  • DVD Release Date: 15 Nov 2002
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B000E2PWV6
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 151,422 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
With Vacas, his first feature, the Basque director Julio Medem set out all the elements of his audacious and idiosyncratic approach to filmmaking: intricate, circular plots; richly sensual imagery and highly stylised camerawork; a deft interweaving of fantasy and reality; and a thoroughly subversive attitude to Spanish tradition and folklore. Vacas takes a staple Spanish genre--the epic historical melodrama with all its bombast and macho posturing--and kicks the stuffing out of it while pelting it with cowpats.

The action unrolls between two Spanish civil wars--the Second Carlist War of 1874-5, and the rather better-known conflict that started in 1936. An incident in the first of these sets up a feud between two farming families in a Basque valley, and the story leapfrogs down the decades taking in star-crossed lovers, log-chopping contests (a staple Basque competitive sport, it seems), mutilation, madness, incest, photography and any number of cows, through whose placidly bemused gaze we view a good deal of the action.

Though Medem is dealing with all the solemn Hemingway-esque elements of romantic Spanishry--honour, blood and death--his approach is too playful to admit any real sense of tragedy. Much of the time the tone is closer to myth, and there's more than a touch of magic realism: axes fly miles through the air, and a tree in the woods can apparently eat people alive. In the end, of course, love triumphs over all. Medem's films have since gained greatly in sophistication and technique, but there's exuberance about this debut work that's irresistible.

On the DVD: Vacas on disc has trailers for all five of Medem's features to date; filmographies for Medem and his two lead actors, Emma Suárez and Carmelo Gómez; and useful written notes on the movie by film historian Robert Stone. The transfer's clean and clear, doing justice to Carles Gusi's rich photography, with good sound and in the original ratio. --Philip Kemp

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Intensely Moo-ving, 31 Jan 2008
By G. Thomas (Canterbury UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Vacas [DVD] [1992] (DVD)
Well it looks like we're gonna have to raise the star score for this absolutely beautiful film; so here I go.

I first discovered Medem's work in The Red Squirrel. I didn't think he could possibly better that surreal gem but came very close to eating my words when I finally got round to seeing Vacas. What appears to be cosy pastoral drama about two intertwined families is so much more than it initially seems.

Spanning over 60 years from the Carlist Wars to the Spanish Civil War this film is a dreamy study of major events in spanish history and how they disrupt the interminable cycle of rural life.
This repetition of growth, birth and death is cleverly portrayed through use of the same actors playing the successive generations. This serves to make the characters shifting allegiances all the more poignant.
Whatever happens, you can be sure it all looks the same to the cows who are the only truly objective witnesses to the complex intricacies and social upheaval that surround this small corner of Spain.
There is a sustained slightly magical atmosphere which makes much of the story seem somewhat dreamlike but occasionally the jagged edges of a grim reality force their way into this deceptive idyll.

This is totally gorgeous film making with real heart and I urge you to see it.
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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Master directorial debut, 21 Sep 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Vacas [VHS] [1992] (VHS Tape)
This is Julio Medem's first feature film. The film tells the story of the rivalry between two Basque families that perpetuates with different generations. Vacas is set in the beautiful mountains of Medem's native Basque Country and takes us through the dark days from the end of the 19th century to the Spanish Civil War. Medem's characters are always mysterious, refreshingly enigmatic and rich in expression. A very respectable debut, beautifully filmed, that sets the pace for Medem's singular films. A great talent.
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6 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars total rubbish, 23 Oct 2004
By Bogdan Tiganov (London, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Vacas [DVD] [1992] (DVD)
I'm sorry to disappoint you art lovers but this is total rubbish. The actors are unconvincing, the story is pathetic, the surrealism is pointless and weak, in fact the best thing about it is when you see the cows because at least the cows seem to have some kind of dignity. Vacas is like a boring b movie.
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