First Cow

First Cow, released in 2019, is an American drama film directed by Kelly Reichardt and from a screenplay by Reichardt and Jonathan Raymond based on Raymond's 2004 novel The Half Life. The film was premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30th, 2019.

Plot

The film takes place during the 1820’s in the backdrop of Oregon. The plot centers on the exploits of two men, Cookie and King-Lu, played by John Magaro and Orion Lee respectively, and their quest for a better life by cooking baked goods using the stolen milk of the only cow in the recently settled area. Both men are outsiders and want a better life for themselves and want to escape from this place make a business cooking “oily cakes” together, with Cookies culinary skill and King-Lu’s commercial expertise. This desire for a better life is the driving point for their actions throughout the entire film and eventually lead to their demise when the wealthy man  who owns the cow discovers their actions and hunts them down.

Reception

The film was positively received by reviewers; both new viewers of Richard’s work and fans. Reviews praised the simple but engaging heist plot and the calm but strong friendship between Cookie and King-Lu. Critics also praised the rough but beautiful landscape shown throughout the film of 18th century Oregon.

Awards

First Cow won Best Film at the 2020 New York Film Critics Circle Awards.

Aesthetics

Plot

First Cow has many choices made deliberately for the sake of aesthetics the first of which being the plot itself. First and foremost the titular cow becomes a symbol of Cookie and King-Lu’s dreams of freedom and the underhanded tactics done by many in for the sake of fortune in the frontier days. The films plot is deceptively simple and easy for the viewer to enjoy but is also a subversion of many genre tropes found in Westerns.

There is no grand shootout with guns. No grand escape sequences. No grand finales with a traditionally satisfying conclusion. The biggest heist found in the film are the nightly sneaks to the cow with a stool and bucket. It is all done for the sake of keeping the feel of the film which is a realistic, slow-paced, calm view into life in the settlement and colonization of America. The melting pot atmosphere of the settlement also plays into the plot as the film makes clear jabs at capitalism and the white men who are colonizing and taking the land from native peoples.

Film Techniques

The film also makes a lot of cinematic choices that can be felt and seen throughout the film. The most glaring one being the decision to film in 4:3 aspect ratio for a more intimate and close-up view of the frontier life and Cookie and King-Lu’s relationship throughout the film. Many scenes are shot without a lot of motion and are done so deliberately to show the audience the silent but deep friendship between the two main characters.

Small trinkets begin to fill their shared cabin over time but no scenes are given to show how they got their. There is no need. The audience can already understand the bond the two men have without even a word being spoken between them. Reichardt wants the viewer to view each detail she gives as an opportunity for a story rather than the need to give one. The skeletons found at the beginning of the film are an example of this; they could be seen as just the remnants of corpses or the catalyst for understanding how these two men got here.

Texture

The film also takes a great deal of care into showing texture. The film in incredibly beautiful to look at at times, such as the arrival of the cow in which she seems almost like a fairy or mythical creature, but it does not shy away from telling us that America in the 1820’s is a gritty, dirty, mess.

Mud is everywhere in the main settlement and tons of footprints show us it is a heavily traveled trade hub. Each cabin seems crudely made; none more so than King-Lu’s; which is dusty and has a literal dirt floor. Food is also extremely well shot and shown with each cake Cookie bakes being shown as being beautifully un-even and bumpy. The only place this texture is absent from is the manor of Chief Factor which seems almost clinical and untruthful in its apparently perfect beauty and regal furnishings.