Vacas (Cows) is a movie which has acompanied me for many years now.
It surely deserves a review because it remains quite unknown even if it is for sure a fantastic introduction to Julio Medem's fantastic filmography.
The main reason why this film stands out, and is like no other ones, is without a shadow of a doubt, its first scene: A lumberjack cutting a tree trunk with an axe at a few inches to his own toes in a Basque competition that will give you the tokens - that's quite an introduction and quite a way to mark history !
First of all, this movie and the mood in general of this first scene, this first movie, this first piece of art are unforgettable. They are very emblematic of Julio Medem's world actually.
What is it about ?
Well, it's mainly about the rivalry between two families from a same village, but it also gives very intersting insight on Spain, its rural world, country side's habits, ane the heartbreaking legacy of the civil war.
It's an atmosphere you will retrieve in no other director's film. Julio Medem is indeed a unique and fantastic Basque director (Spanish), with a cinema full of poetry, full of misteries and with his cultural heritage spreading through his filmography but especially in this first film. The Basque Country will never seem more beautiful than in Julio Medem's film... and that is in itself a good reason to watch this film.
Needless to mention that it is beautifully directed and interpreted, that it tells a fantastic story of rivalry of two families with opposite opinions, all this in a bewitched atmosphere over a lenght of time of a century.
Absolutely magnificient.
All the Basque country, Julio Medem's world of fantasy and directing feats in one film. A must-see one indeed for anyone who wants to know a bit more about Spanish cinema.
It surely deserves a review because it remains quite unknown even if it is for sure a fantastic introduction to Julio Medem's fantastic filmography.
The main reason why this film stands out, and is like no other ones, is without a shadow of a doubt, its first scene: A lumberjack cutting a tree trunk with an axe at a few inches to his own toes in a Basque competition that will give you the tokens - that's quite an introduction and quite a way to mark history !
First of all, this movie and the mood in general of this first scene, this first movie, this first piece of art are unforgettable. They are very emblematic of Julio Medem's world actually.
What is it about ?
Well, it's mainly about the rivalry between two families from a same village, but it also gives very intersting insight on Spain, its rural world, country side's habits, ane the heartbreaking legacy of the civil war.
It's an atmosphere you will retrieve in no other director's film. Julio Medem is indeed a unique and fantastic Basque director (Spanish), with a cinema full of poetry, full of misteries and with his cultural heritage spreading through his filmography but especially in this first film. The Basque Country will never seem more beautiful than in Julio Medem's film... and that is in itself a good reason to watch this film.
Needless to mention that it is beautifully directed and interpreted, that it tells a fantastic story of rivalry of two families with opposite opinions, all this in a bewitched atmosphere over a lenght of time of a century.
Absolutely magnificient.
All the Basque country, Julio Medem's world of fantasy and directing feats in one film. A must-see one indeed for anyone who wants to know a bit more about Spanish cinema.