Cow - The film

Muddyroads

Member
NFFN Member
Location
Exeter, Devon
Picked up on a review of this “documentary” film yesterday on 5 live and think it might be good for TFFers to be aware of it. It’s been nominated for Cannes apparently so could get quite a bit of press. Filmed on a large dairy farm somewhere in the south of England it follows a cow for around 4 years. There’s no actual commentary by the sound of it so it’s up to the viewers to draw their own conclusions. Inevitably it will be down to the film makers to portray what they want the film to say but it was described as depressing on the radio. Critics comments such as “what the cow might be thinking“ won’t help its image even though they say it doesn’t anthropomorphise the animal.
Dairy farmers here who engage with the public might just want to be aware of questions it’s going to raise if it becomes popular. I hear more negative comments about dairy farming from non farmers than any other sector.
I’ve pasted a trailer for it below.
 

Lofty1984

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
South wales
Picked up on a review of this “documentary” film yesterday on 5 live and think it might be good for TFFers to be aware of it. It’s been nominated for Cannes apparently so could get quite a bit of press. Filmed on a large dairy farm somewhere in the south of England it follows a cow for around 4 years. There’s no actual commentary by the sound of it so it’s up to the viewers to draw their own conclusions. Inevitably it will be down to the film makers to portray what they want the film to say but it was described as depressing on the radio. Critics comments such as “what the cow might be thinking“ won’t help its image even though they say it doesn’t anthropomorphise the animal.
Dairy farmers here who engage with the public might just want to be aware of questions it’s going to raise if it becomes popular. I hear more negative comments about dairy farming from non farmers than any other sector.
I’ve pasted a trailer for it below.
Best for everyone if you just stay off the comments section
 

Lofty1984

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
South wales
I wonder if anyone will think to compare it to the life of an African plains wildebeest, living each day in constant fear of lions and jackals......

Or one of the Indian feral cows that look like hatracks....

Both of them are "free".
Well I just read a comment lions rape lionesses and eat other lions children we can do better than that,, with logic like that you may as well argue with your big toe for all the good it will do you
 

MattR

Member
Good grief. Melancholic soundtrack, dull, low light shots of their feet, the birds flying off into the sunset, close-ups of worried looking eyes, and guess what people call it depressing!!

If you removed the cows the shooting/soundtrack put me in mind of one of those films about a kid growing up in Belfast during the Troubles.

Could as easily have had bright sunny days with cows grazing sociably and contentedly, instead of the doom laden skies etc
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
Good grief. Melancholic soundtrack, dull, low light shots of their feet, the birds flying off into the sunset, close-ups of worried looking eyes, and guess what people call it depressing!!

If you removed the cows the shooting/soundtrack put me in mind of one of those films about a kid growing up in Belfast during the Troubles.

Could as easily have had bright sunny days with cows grazing sociably and contentedly, instead of the doom laden skies etc
Absolutely. It may be largely wordless but the soundtrack is carefully crafted, as with all films, to create an emotional response without you even realising.
 

David.

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
J11 M40
To be fair, despite the interviewer trying to lead her a bit, Andrea Arnold sounds fairly benign about it.
Unlike all the warriors commenting on the YouTube clip above.
 

Muddyroads

Member
NFFN Member
Location
Exeter, Devon
Good grief. Melancholic soundtrack, dull, low light shots of their feet, the birds flying off into the sunset, close-ups of worried looking eyes, and guess what people call it depressing!!

If you removed the cows the shooting/soundtrack put me in mind of one of those films about a kid growing up in Belfast during the Troubles.

Could as easily have had bright sunny days with cows grazing sociably and contentedly, instead of the doom laden skies etc
Exactly my point about the way it’s edited.
Veganuary seems to have been a bit quiet this year, possibly because there have been several more news worthy stories around this month. Could it also be because they realise that people are getting fed up of them constantly banging on about it? This could be a different way for them to get there message out. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the likes of PETA helped fund it.
 

slackjawedyokel

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Northumberland
Exactly my point about the way it’s edited.
Veganuary seems to have been a bit quiet this year, possibly because there have been several more news worthy stories around this month. Could it also be because they realise that people are getting fed up of them constantly banging on about it? This could be a different way for them to get there message out. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the likes of PETA helped fund it.
The BBC helped fund it.
 

slackjawedyokel

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Northumberland
I heard the 5-live review yesterday as well- all most depressing and apt to raise one’s blood pressure. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wins at Cannes, given that it’s a hot topic that many have opinions about.

It’s more or less a documentary, so most people seeing it will therefore think that it has to be unbiased because it is just presenting real life events. From the sound of it, it is anything but. By anthropomorphising the cow, and focusing on aspects that most people will interpret negatively (apparently there are lots of shots of the cow in dark sheds, no doubt standing in filth, lots of her ‘crying’ when her calf is removed, the ‘monstrous’ milking machines… etc), it will give a highly warped impression of the industry, and the ‘education’ it gives will be specious and misleading. Apparently there is a brief moment when the cow is in a field (they didn’t film much over summer then, huh!, then it’s back to the dark sheds.

I used to quite like Mark Kermode and have enjoyed his highly entertaining film review programs with Simon Mayo. Mark is a pescatarian (veggie but eats fish) and his kids are vegan. In his review, he had clearly drawn the conclusions that you are led to. I thought that his comments at the end of the review were entirely uncalled for- “I really think veganism is the way forward”.
No.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.5%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 65 34.9%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.1%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 6 3.2%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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