A Lonely Cow Weeps at Dawn — dvd movie review
Director: Daisuke Goto
Starring: Ryoko Asagi, Horyu Nakamura
Genre: Drama
Ah, the pink film. The only genre where a melancholic exploration of loneliness and love in the face of dementia can be made into an erotic tale of illicit love, role playing, and tit-milking. Yep. I said tit-milking.
A Lonely Cow Weeps at Dawn (aka: Chikan gifu: Musuko no yome to…) tells the tale of Noriko (Ryoko Asagi), a young widow tasked with caring for her elderly father-in-law, Shukichi (Horyu Nakamura), on a small dairy farm in rural Japan. Slowly losing his sanity to the grips of dementia, he longs for the therapeutic presence of his recently deceased cow, Bessie. Noriko, suffering from a great deal of loneliness herself, poses as Bessie in an effort to help Shukichi deal with the loss. The substitution proves authentic enough to Shukichi’s muddled mind, lending the two a bit of happiness while fostering an unconscious, mutual romantic longing. But when Shukichi’s farm becomes the target of greedy land developers
, aided by Shukichi’s delinquent daughter, the duo’s secret therapy sessions run the risk of discovery.
The setup, as outlandishly perverse and potentially disgusting as it seems, surprisingly actually works. Daisuke Goto, the director of the awful Scorpion’s Revenge (aka: Sasori in LA) built A Lonely Cow around a drunken idea inspired by the films of Bernardo Bertolucci, Yasujiro Ozu, and a simple desire to work with Horyu Nakamura in a context that would see him milking the breasts of a young woman. But as unfocused and lofty these concepts may seem, when fleshed out into an actual story, Goto somehow managed to make every outlandish setup seem believable, and further, bolster them with a recognizable tenderness and humanity. This is due in no small part to above average acting on the part of the cast (particularly that of lead Nakamura), who demonstrate willingness to commit to any setup, no matter how illogical, and in doing so, completely sell every segment to the audience. Believe it or not, A Lonely Cow Weeps at Dawn is a surprisingly sweet love story.
Yet, as well as the story is sold, A Lonely Cow’s technical merits are far fewer. Cinematography is a mixed bag, with as many shots seeming purposefully framed as not. Furthermore, the pink elements are not shot in any particularly erotic fashion, acting almost as comedic commercial breaks with respect to the broader story. This is not exactly surprising, as the sequences stand as Goto fulfilling the genre’s contractual obligations in order to exercise his wild imagination, but they do feel a bit lazy compared to the rest of the film. In fact, if some of these sequences had been shortened, the time regained could have afforded the already emotional narrative even more of an impact.
This being a short film (roughly 60 minutes) I’ll simply cut it off here. A Lonely Cow Weeps at Dawn surprised me in just how decent a film it turned out to be. While not the most stellar cinematic effort, the film still stands proof positive that any idea, no matter how outlandish, can be carried off convincingly and effectively with enough conviction.
The DVD
Another decent release from newcomer Pink Eiga. Being a DV film , the video is nothing to write home about, but is presented in a best possible transfer. Subtitles are embedded again (which I kind of like), but remain readable throughout the picture. The DVD includes Bios for the film’s main actors, the film’s original theatrical poster and trailer, stills, notes from director Daisuke Goto, and a number of trailers for other Pink Eiga releases. Given that the film is rather short, I would have liked to see an interview or two with the actors, but that’s not much of a gripe.
A decent disc for a surprisingly decent film. If you’re feeling adventurous, check it out.
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