I found this at a video sale. The title was so intriguing and poetic I threw it in with my buys. The title (the addition of lonely probably an English invention) makes it all the more powerful, a haiku to balance the story. While the filmmaker probably got the money and the go-ahead to make a film based on the nudity and the sexual moments, he managed to surpass those elements to make a contemplative film about the sadness of life. Noriko, a young widow, just twenty-nine, fears facing the world again. She feels she is too old, perhaps the milk-less old cow of the story. It is obvious to all but herself that she is still vibrant. For a few years now she has hidden in the security of her father-in-law's farm. But he is aging and becoming senile. He panics at the loss of his beloved milk-cow Bessie. Afraid she will lose him and her haven from life, Noriko, each morning, makes believe she is Bessie so that the old man will continue to feel that all is right with his world. When his daughter, Noriko's sister-in-law, arrives to try to convince her father to sell the farm off to the developers, the game is broken and the world changes for Noriko and her father-in-law. And the truth about their shared horror is enhances with the revelation of just how Bessie died.
Daisuke Goto has managed to tell a powerful little tale while still managing the insert the required sexual elements. And he's had fun with them. The old local vet keeps a pretty assistant who he ravishes when he needs to. This is played out to a hysterical accompaniment of squealing pigs, requests to compare his manhood to that of a horse, and a nurse who plaintively bangs on the door talking about the pain the pigs are going through as their testicles swell outrageously. The other sexual encounters are between the farmer's daughter and the greedy land sales middleman. But even these manage to integrate into the story and reveal much about the lives of these rural people. The final sexual moment, that between Noriko and her father-in-law, is less about sex than human connection. It reminded me of Louis Malle's Murmur of the Heart in that it was less about the act than about the emotional connection that needed to be made.
I was not expecting such a deeply felt or artfully crafted film. It was a pleasant surprise. I didn't think this was what a "pink film" would be and may cautiously try another. But I do recommend the poetic "A Lonely Cow Weeps At Dawn" to the adventurous art film lover seeking a brief look into the human soul, Japanese style.
Daisuke Goto has managed to tell a powerful little tale while still managing the insert the required sexual elements. And he's had fun with them. The old local vet keeps a pretty assistant who he ravishes when he needs to. This is played out to a hysterical accompaniment of squealing pigs, requests to compare his manhood to that of a horse, and a nurse who plaintively bangs on the door talking about the pain the pigs are going through as their testicles swell outrageously. The other sexual encounters are between the farmer's daughter and the greedy land sales middleman. But even these manage to integrate into the story and reveal much about the lives of these rural people. The final sexual moment, that between Noriko and her father-in-law, is less about sex than human connection. It reminded me of Louis Malle's Murmur of the Heart in that it was less about the act than about the emotional connection that needed to be made.
I was not expecting such a deeply felt or artfully crafted film. It was a pleasant surprise. I didn't think this was what a "pink film" would be and may cautiously try another. But I do recommend the poetic "A Lonely Cow Weeps At Dawn" to the adventurous art film lover seeking a brief look into the human soul, Japanese style.