Cow

(Dou Niu)

by Guan Hu

China

Director: Guan Hu

Script: Guan Hu after an original idea by Zhao Dongling

Cinematographer: Song Xiaofei

Editor: Kong Jinlei

Sound: Zhao Suchen

Music: Li Ke

Cast: Huang Bo, Yan Ni

Production: Zou Xiong

Contact:
Phillip Lin
Mail: [email protected]

Year: 2009

HDCAM, Colour, 105 min, 
OV Mandarin with English Subtitles
French Electronic Subtitles

Venise Film Festival Official Selection 2009

French Premiere

A lone man runs desperately around a deserted mountain village. He stumbles upon a burial pit overflowing with the charred corpses of dozens of executed villagers.The only remain sign of life is a clumsy, large Dutch dairy cow. He remembers how he came to know this foreign cow ... In winter 1940, approaching enemy Japanese troops force the villagers to prepare for evacuation. Unfortunately, their special cow, which supplies milk for wounded soldiers, is too big to easily hide. After drawing lots, a man named Niu becomes responsible for the task of protecting the valuable cow. As an incentive to do the job well, the village chief grants him marriage to spunky widow Jiu ...

«I wanted Cow to possess a magical quality. I believe life is magical and that fate controls us. The way I choose to tell this story could not be like a true-to-life documentation. It had to be full of myth and surprises... I believe that life naturally has a sense of fun, even under cruel conditions.» Guan Hu