First Cow

"How is a baker like a beggar? They both need bread". This is a story of bakers and beggars. Rich and poor. From those who can buy a cow and who have to steal her milk. A western with a feminine look. Kelly Reichardt's cinema is quiet but deep. She constructs the characters with patience but complexity. The last one is a radical film that talks about the roots of capitalism through a story of friendship.

Stunning film from Kelly Reichardt. Wendy and Lucy still remains my favourite of hers but this ran it extremely close. The way Reichardt shoots the Oregon landscape and the nature within it is absolutely beautiful.

At it's heart it's a tale of friendship among those that set off for America's West Coast to find their fortune. Not unlike something like There Will be Blood. But it's done with so much grace and compassion that the viewer is floored by the two main characters' affinity with each other.

There's a reveal in the very first segment of the film too, which just reinforces how good a filmmaker Reichardt is to pull this off. John Magaro's performance is also noteworthy. Great film.

I renewed my Mubi subscription this year, and the first film I watched was this one. Afterward, I also watched the 10-minute director’s interview.

The film is like a naturalistic pastoral poem. It’s filmed in pitch darkness at night, and I have to turn off the lights to even see what’s on the screen 😂. It seems the director didn’t use any artificial lighting at all, just shooting with the dim natural light.

At first, I thought the film was heading toward God’s Own Country, telling a story about a seasoned Chinese man from the 1820s New World colony and a sweet white boy’s rural love story, which I was curious to see. But… the ending was satisfying~ It’s about the untamed, unexplored land and the two characters’ journey in pursuing their dreams.

Just as important as the characters are the environments in the film.

The tone, visual style, and pacing are all exactly what I love — beautiful natural landscapes, with occasional acoustic instrument accompaniments. Similar to The Lighthouse, the characters’ relationships and plot twists add great tension to the otherwise straightforward story.

Another kind of movie. I didn’t know what I was watching... still not 100% sure. Sometimes slow but always entertaining.

Horses used to be stolen in the West, but now it seems that cow's milk is stolen straight from the source.

I'm a sucker for any media where an old timey character is named "cookie"ù.

I genuinely believe this would have made for a great short film, instead it is an overly-long, inaccessible feature.
It's funny because the movie is so economical in dialogues (quite literally less lines than a sitcom episode) but so inordinate in everything else.

super boring movie. the reason behind the 6/10 is that usually A24 films look good and this one looked really good. I dunno for some reason not my cup of tea. The acting was decend tho.

No, not a film about the previous president's wife, _First Cow_ is the story of two men in ye olde tymes out in the wild northwest. It's a wonderful sepia photograph, though 2 hours is a long time to look at a picture.

Certainly, the set design and costumes are unique. The story is simple but impactful, yet it's unclear what this film truly is. It's not a thriller or a western, not a noir; it's a comedy that tries to do a bit of everything. It's original but slow-paced and not very engaging in the way it all unfolds.