A man who thought he was a cow, in the masterpiece that launched the New Wave of Iranian cinema. Screening as part of the film programme Tashkent-1970. The Festival That Never Was.
The Cow
- Date:
- 13 Jul 2025,
17:00–20:00
- Age restrictions
- 18+
Gāv
1969, Dariush Mehrjui
Iran
105 minutes, Farsi with Russian subtitles
Starring: Ezatollah Entezami, Mahin Shahabi, Ali Nassirian, Jamshid Mashayekhi
T
There is only one cow in a poor Iranian village, and its owner Hassan adores her. But the animal mysteriously dies in his absence, and the man, convinced by his fellow villagers that the cow has escaped, begins to gradually lose his mind.
Shot from The Cow, 1969
Spare, allusive, featuring starkly beautiful black and white photography and an extraordinary lead performance by Ezatollah Entezami, now Iran’s most revered actor, The Cow had a catalytic effect on Iran’s filmmakers and critics.
— Godfrey Cheshire, The New York Times
With its powerful philosophical overtones, drawing as much from Kafka and Marx as from Sufi beliefs, The Cow was perceived by the public primarily as a political statement. After the Islamic Revolution, it may have saved Iranian cinema: the film was beloved by Ayatollah Khomeini who, probably thanks to it, abandoned the idea of banning cinema in the country.
