The film, “The Cow” as I’m beginning to believe is true of most everything, both modern and not modern at the same time. The characters all exhibit traits there are very purposefully designed to appear unenlightened, closed off from the rest of the world, and superstitious. There is a feud with a neighbouring town, a fundamental lack of compassion and understanding for the mentally challenged boy, and repeated fear of an “evil eye” is mentioned by the women. Yet, the movie seems very aware of this, and seems to want the viewer to be too. This lack of understanding of the perspective of others is the root of all conflicts. Fear of the neighbouring village is, in large part, the driving force of Hassan’s mental breakdown. The inability of his neighbours to comprehend his situation, and help him out of it is what causes his death. Had Hassan lived in the city, the events of the movie would have played out very differently. With access to a global collaboration of medicine, he may have been treated immediately. Despite the lack of tangible modernity in the film itself, the themes all seem very modernist.

At a time when modernity was in the forefronts of the minds of so many Iranians, it makes complete sense that this film would have been so highly acclaimed by critics. Modernity was, and remains, a touchy subject in Iran. It needed to be approached with caution. This movie’s just subtle enough message achieved just that. There was an advocacy throughout for modernity without it ever being too explicit. The movie managed to capture the life of an Iranian village in a critical light without being offensive, or degrading the people who lived there. Thus, a message was sent to the target audience without a necessary fear of extreme backlash.

When I first watched The Cow I was deeply confused. I could understand the film as a commentary on human nature (dependence, desperation, mental health, relationships, and the eventual loss of humanity), but I had trouble seeing any connection to modernity, except with the very surface-level read that these events were primarily taking place in a village that did not appear to be “modernized” and lacked stability in the form of external structures, such as governing bodies, law and order, or access to local healthcare. Professor Malekzadeh pointed out the importance of positionality in the film, both of the characters and the viewer in Tehran. This made it a bit easier to see a connection to modernity, as the viewers in Tehran would not see the Iran presented by the film as part of an Iran that was familiar to them; it would be a distant representation, like a relic from the past.

One element that I think relates to our course material is the role of superstition in the film. While religious belief itself is not necessarily counter to modernity, the dependence on rational thought in ‘modern’ life does involve a push away from superstition and superstitious behavior. In the film, for example, one of the villagers blames an ‘evil eye’ after the death of the cow. Another tells him to be quiet. I think this could be read as an expression of modern thought competing with pre-modern thought, as while the person expressing the latter seems comfortable with the ‘evil eye’ as a causal explanation, the person rebuking them is looking for a cause more easily understandable or rational. This is also expressed when the villagers agree they should take Hassan to the city, the representation of the modern, in order to be healed, as they are relying on some possible medical intervention to provide an explanation and solution to his belief that he is a cow.

What are your initial impressions of The Cow as it relates to the themes of the course, and in particular, to our ongoing discussion of Iran’s particular movement towards modernity?  How is this an Iranian film, if at all, in your estimation?