The Cow (корова) is a 1989 animated short film (ten minutes) from the Soviet Union, directed by Aleksandr Petrov.
Somewhere on the vast Russian steppe there lives a farm family, consisting of a father and a mother and their little boy. The boy is particularly fond of the family cow, which provides them with milk and also pulls a plow in their field. When the cow gives birth to a calf the boy takes a special liking to the calf as well. However, these relationships are disturbed when the family has to sell the calf.
First of several Oscar-nominated films for Petrov, who uses a distinct paint-on-glass style of animation.
It can be watched here.
Tropes:
- A Boy and His X: A boy and his cow. The boy loves his family's cow and is deeply saddened when the cow apparently deliberately kills itself.
- Chiaroscuro: Some lovely scenes with the boy carrying a single lantern out into the pitch black darkness to visit the cow.
- Death of a Child: It can happen to cows! A cow goes into mourning and is eventually Driven to Suicide after its calf is sold off to the butcher.
- Down on the Farm: A small family farm somewhere in the vast Russian interior.
- Dream Sequence: The fate of the cow revealed in a surreal dream sequence of the boy's, featuring the cow nursing a human baby, the boy riding atop a giant cow, and a careening plow on the train tracks as the train whistle blows.
- Driven to Suicide: The cow never recovers after its calf is sold. It stands around in the field moping rather than pulling a plow. Eventually it bolts from the field, running onto the train tracks, where it is struck by a train and killed.
- Foreshadowing: The sound of the train whistle heard from time to time.
