Programme Notes
Monday 28th June 7.30pm
First Cow (12A)
Set primarily in 1820s Oregon, in the USA’s Pacific Northwest, the charming, beautifully made First Cow follows the exploits of a taciturn cook, Otis ‘Cookie’ Figowitz (John Magaro), and a well-travelled Chinese immigrant seeking his fortune, King-Lu (Orion Lee). After encountering one another in the forest, the two men forge a connection, quickly settling into a routine of quiet, domestic intimacy that is at odds with the brutish manners of the quick-to-anger fur trappers with whom they frequently cross paths. When Cookie learns of the presence of the local governor’s milking cow - the first cow to be brought to the region - the ever entrepreneurial King-Lu comes up with a highly successful business venture in which they collaborate. However, its longevity is perilously reliant upon their illicit milking of the cow in the dead of night. And so, this loose adaptation of the sprawling novel “The Half-Life” - from author Jonathan Raymond, who has co-written the script - offers a careful examination of the early American Dream and the stresses inherent in capitalism, through a lens of gentle masculinity and tender connection. With it, celebrated filmmaker Kelly Reichardt (Meek’s Cutoff, Certain Women) continues to reinvent the western genre. Shot in the square-like 4:3 aspect ratio, the film’s richly textured pictures marry with a clear soundscape of crackling leaves, the rustle of gentle movement, and William Tyler’s restrained score, bringing this story to life with fine detail. There’s a similarly granular approach to costume, set design, and the everyday mundanities of life for travellers on the Oregon Trail. Certainly, there is no doubt that Reichardt and Raymond have done their research, and it’s a hugely rewarding, immersive watch as a result.
REVIEWS A work of great beauty, a vision of a younger, more hardscrabble America that’s both historical and mythological. It’s a reminder that all Americans have today was stolen, not borrowed, from those who lived on this land long before white people knew it existed: the ugly behaviour of those forebears is the foundation of prosperity today. And yet, even as the opportunistic creatures we are, humans can’t help striving for kindness and connection. That’s the optimism at the heart of First Cow, a picture that’s both tranquil and dazzling, two qualities that should be at odds with one another yet somehow bloom in tandem under Reichardt’s gentle touch. Stephanie Zacharek, Time
The meat of the story isn’t just Cookie and King-Lu’s tenuous success. Their story is a micro version of the American Dream, of supply and demand, of the arrival of so-called civilization to the American West. The conversations the two men have about what they’re doing — the balance between risk and reward, and how long they’ll have a monopoly — are applicable throughout history. … Most importantly, there’s the human need for connection. The way Cookie and King-Lu’s story fits into a larger picture of American history isn’t as important, or as touching, as the way their relationship blooms onscreen. Karen Han, Polygon The cast of First Cow bring tension to life with sensitivity and wit. … Lee takes the Western trope of the indecipherable East Asian outsider, typically a complete non-character, and imbues King-Lu with magnetic cleverness, tenderness, and something else—something intriguingly at odds with Cookie’s humility, in that it could work to Cookie’s benefit or his complete demise. Magaro, meanwhile, is an actor with the kind eyes of a saint. There’s nothing quite like watching him sweet- talk a cow into relinquishing her milk. … Just as good are the early conversations between Cookie and King-Lu, in which Reichardt [as editor] builds trembling ambiguities into their scenes in multiple ways: in the differences between what the men seem to want out of their business venture, and perhaps even out of each other. K. Austin Collins, Vanity Fair
Cast Crew
John Magaro Cookie Director Kelly Reichardt Orion Lee King-Lu Writer Kelly Reichardt, Jonathan Raymond Toby Jones Chief Factor Producers Neil Kopp, Vincent Alia Shawcat Woman with Dog Savino, Anish Savjani
Eve the Cow The Cow Cinematography Christopher Blauvelt Ewen Bremner Lloyd Editing Kelly Reichardt Lily Gladstone Chief Factor’s wife Music William Tyler
Film Facts
In an interview with Film School Rejects, Kelly Reichardt explained how she prepared her lead actors - in lieu of rehearsals - and how they immersed themselves in the world of their characters: “the way they got to know each other was we sent them off in their costumes with a survivalist into the rain for three nights. They learned how to make fire without matches. … [Magaro] had been cooking for a while with the ingredients that would be available to him. … They needed to become comfortable in those clothes, learn the traps, and make sure things felt natural in their hands.” According to Seventh Row, John Magaro described his bovine co-star, Eve the Cow, as a delight to work with, and “better than most actors”. The Telegraph’s Tim Robey carried out a delightful Zoom interview with Eve, and her trainer Lauren Henry. They lovingly describe her casting and how they trained her. Usually they leave animals alone between takes to allow them to rest, but Eve got more energised the more attention she got, so the cast and crew were encouraged to pet her, give her apples and take selfies. Much care was put into the building of the raft on which the First Cow arrives, to ensure Eve was comfortable. Henry’s husband, Roland Sonneburg, was on the raft, in costume as a Frenchman, to ensure Eve’s tranquil comfort, and the water was only a few feet deep in case Eve fell off the raft and had to walk ashore. She took to night shoots kindly, but one evening decided to have a nap on the way back to her trailer. “We all decided to sit down with her and let her take a nap before we finished the walk back.” Reichardt and Jonathan Raymond are frequent collaborators, with the latter having written Reichardt’s 2010 Michelle Williams-starrer Meek’s Cutoff, and co-written her 2013 environmental thriller Night Moves.
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