Usually I wait a week or so after having watched a film before I feel ready to write something about it. I need to see if the film keeps engaging me, if fragments and issues dealt with in the film keep coming back to me, if it keeps stimulating my imagination.

Twice before I’ve written an article about a film of the American independent filmmaker Kelly Reichardt. Once under the title Beautiful Minimalism in Certain Women and once about her film Night Moves under Examples of American Independent Film Her small, quiet, slow pace films have a gentle tone and yet go forcefully to the core of human hopes, dreams and realities. What I understand Kelly Reichardt is struggling with in all her films is what it means to be American and how people in this context of wideness and individuality are trying to find meaning in their existence.

First Cow from 2019 is her latest film about the American West. The film starts with a quote from William Blake: “The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship.” This indication of what is most essential in humankind’s existence is followed by a modern day prologue about a young woman discovering a shallow grave in the Oregon woods with two skeletons side-by-side. Then it turns to 1820 Oregon with a roaming group of trappers in the forest for whom the protagonist of the film, Cookie, is their cook. Cookie is a shy man who feels pushed, pressured and unappreciated by these rowdy men. One day, searching for food in the woods, he comes across a wandering Chinese man Lu, whom he befriends. Supporting each other in their loneliness, they start to make plans for a living and Lu points out that he has seen a cow arriving in the territory. By stealing the milk and using it for making cookies, they start their entrepreneurial project that can lead to success and riches. But dangerous threats to their success and stability are always around the corner.

Through this story Reichardt seems to tell us that the essential ”success” factors for life in the American West are opportunity and friendship. Without grasping the opportunity when it presents itself, we will get lost in the vast and messy space. Without someone to bond with, we will lose ourselves in our attempts to succeed. And I believe that the combination of seizing the opportunity and bonding in friendship have a wider significance than just for the American West!

If you’re not familiar with the work of Kelly Reichardt I warmly encourage you to start somewhere. You will discover that her earlier films Old Joy (2006), Wendy and Lucy (2008), Meek’s Cutoff (2010), Night Moves (2013) and Certain Women (2016) all lead up to and contribute to the themes of First Cow.

Rinus, August 2021

*image and trailer posted for non commercial purposes under ‘fair use’ of copyright material in recommendation of the film

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