This amazing film will make anyone who watches it become vegan

"Andrea", a film by Andrea Arnold, follows a cow in an industrial dairy farm and does so in a way that makes viewers faint, cry, have anxiety attacks - and stop eating meat and drinking milk.

In an interview on the occasion of his screenings in Israel, the director tells why not judge who will still eat a hamburger and drink a milkshake

Avner Shavit

19/01/2022

Wednesday, 19 January 2022, 00:52

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Trailer for the movie "Cow" (MK2)

Andrea Arnold is one of the most esteemed directors in the world, and every new film of hers travels around the world. As part of these rounds, the filmmaker especially loves the London premieres, her mother base, because it is an opportunity for her to share her work with friends, girlfriends and family, celebrate with them and receive a warm hug from them.

But the premiere of her new film, "Cow," was a different story. "It was an intense experience," she says. "In the cocktail after the screening, seven people cried. One of them was a good friend of mine, and when we talked the next day, she was still crying."

Even during the Israeli premiere of the film, last summer at the Jerusalem Film Festival, the reactions were extreme, and one of the viewers experienced an anxiety attack. At other screenings there were spectators who vomited. Indeed, it is a difficult film, for the simple reason that it documents reality - and reality is difficult.

As its name implies, "cow" takes place in an industrial dairy farm and follows one cow, from her first calf litter and during her daily life, in which the dairymen milk everything possible from her, until they no longer need her.

Some call it cow number 1129, and some call it luma.

Arnold follows her with intimacy, compassion and kindness that further emphasize her humanity, and the result is a poetic, moving and heartbreaking cinematic experience.

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A movie from awwwwwwwwwww.

From "Cow" (Photo: Cannes Film Festival)

Arnold says she has heard of many and many who decided following the film to stop consuming milk, but that was not her goal. "I wanted to show an inhuman consciousness," she says in an interview with Walla! Culture in preparation for special and one-time screenings of "Cow" at the Jerusalem Cinematheque next week. "I was interested in checking - if we follow an animal for long enough, will we be able to see its consciousness? I chose a cow because cows work so hard, get pregnant and give milk all their lives. I chose Loma because they said she had personality and character."

"For me, the film is a spiritual experience. I want the audience to feel that the cow feels too. That's why, I told the team not to be like a fly on the wall during filming. We will not pretend we are not there, because I want to see and show how the cow reacts. I think the film causes "Viewers and viewers look at cows differently, not just them. People told me that after watching, they look at their dogs differently."

"Maybe because there are no dialogues in the film, it leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Because it describes how to separate cows from their offspring, some people interpreted it as a film about motherhood. Some saw it as a film about fertility, or that we have no physical freedom, and above all "People see it as a film about loneliness. Someone told me, 'I watch the film and all I see is loneliness, loneliness, loneliness.' So they are not angry with me either, despite the challenging experience they are going through.

"Cows on the farm have almost no control over their lives. They live between gates and locks. Their lives are planned from beginning to end, and every morning and every evening they are told what to do and where to go. How different are we from them? We too, as human beings, ultimately have Minimal control over our lives, we also do not know whether we will go to the slaughterhouse or pasture tomorrow. "

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Director Andrea Arnold at the recent Cannes Film Festival, which hosted the world premiere of "Cow" (Photo: GettyImages, Pascal La Sartan)

Work on the project began more than a decade ago.

"It took time to raise the money, and then it took time to find the right economy and the right cow," says the director.

"We filmed for four years, and then it took time for the editing, which took time as well, and of course the Corona also delayed the completion of the film."

"Always when I start a project, I have some essence of it in my head, but then reality comes, and not everything that is good on paper is the same in practice. I once read that the sculptor Giacometti was tormented when he saw his sculptures, because they were not like what he had in mind. "

Early in her career, Arnold directed short films. One of them, "Wasp", is one of the most beautiful short films of all time. "We did it so fast," she recalls. "I wrote it in two days, filmed it in four days and edited it in five days. Maybe this is the right way to make films. Maybe it's better to work quickly and spontaneously and not plan too much."

After that, Arnold directed a series of long feature films that were appreciated and resonated. Among them, "Red Road", "Out of Water" and "American Honey" stand out. The last two are adolescent films and in a sense "Cow" is also an adolescent film, but in his case, the protagonist does not flourish and grow, but is doomed to the cruel fate that humans have determined for her.

"Maybe that's why 'Cow' is the ultimate adolescence story," she says. "It's a movie that talks about how to accept death, because growing up is realizing that life is not forever.I think her health has only become more and more peaceful over time, and she did not suffer in the end. "

Arnold's films have always been characterized by marvelous soundtracks, and the same is true of this film. "The songs are songs that came out of the farm radio," Arnold says. "I do not think we played them for the cows, but for the cowboys, but I guess the cows also enjoyed it. It was a radio that played contemporary British pop and rock songs, and a lot of those songs are about passion, longing, love and lack of love. All these issues fit the film because of the occupation "Of course I did not choose which songs would be played on the radio, but I also could not put everything that was played, so I did a process of curating and chose a part."

"It's a bonus. It's an amazing song, which I've always loved, and it's an intense song about passion, so it's very suitable for a movie."

"A bleak future, because in absolute numbers, meat consumption is only growing. Americans ate more meat last year than ever before in history. This means that humanity will need more cows, and their living conditions will be more difficult."

"I'm not judging anyone. People have complicated lives, that has to be taken into account. The film is an invitation to a discussion, nothing more."

Do you think a warning should be added before watching a movie?

"It's a question I ask myself sometimes. Maybe it's a good thing that a film undermines this way. Either way, when you make a film, your responsibility does not end at the end of its making. It's not that I come and say 'I made a film, now it's yours, and your reaction is unrelated. "I share the film with the audience and I also share its pain with it."

"I'm much more environmentally conscious. I'm constantly looking my dog ​​in the eye and feeling like we're having a busy conversation. Some time ago I was walking in a park with a friend and I said to her 'I think I hear a rat in distress.' Rats in distress. "

"I would ask what she wants. I would like to listen to her desires."

"I was really hoping for a happier and more romantic ending. I would like to photograph the cows running towards the sun, but that's not what happened."

"Cow" will be screened at the Jerusalem Cinematheque next week - Wednesday 26.1 at 21:00, Saturday 29.1 at 16:00 and Sunday 30.1 at 18:00.

To purchase tickets see the official website.

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