Good idea lost in the noise

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

"Korova" or "The Cow" is a short film from 1989 and the writer and director here is Aleksandr Petrov. This was the first time he was nominated for an Oscar and more nominations (including one win) should follow in the 2 decades afterward. I must say I did not enjoy the watch here really. I wished the story could have been much better and it also feels really more off a cruel film than really something that would touch me emotionally. If you still want to see it, make sure you get subtitles unless you are fluent in Russian. I have seen other works by Petrov and I would say this is one of his weaker efforts. He certainly improved during the years to come and you can kinda forgive him. His animation technique, however, is the usual and I guess this really challenging technique in terms of effort is also the reason why the Academy considered him. But I do not agree with them and I don't think it's a good watch. Thumbs down from me.

This is a short done by Aleksandr Petrov, done by painting directly on glass. There will be spoilers ahead:This short, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Animated short, losing to Balance, is an early short by Aleksandr Petrov. The story concerns a poor farming family and their son's remembrance of the family's cow.The cow gives birth to a calf at the start of the short (I love how the mother gets the calf to drink milk from a pail). The calf grows, but must be sold early due to the family's poverty. The cow grows discontent, balking at pulling the plow in the fields.The boy tries to console the cow, encouraging her to forget her calf and think of him as her son now. One day, the cow breaks free and runs off. Here, the short becomes dream-like, with part of it a flight of fancy in the boy's imagination and part of it all too grim reality, as the family loses their cow to tragedy.The short closes with the boy remembering the cow and everything it gave (literally and figuratively). It's absolutely beautiful visually, even as narratively it speeds to misfortune.This short has been on VHS and can be found online. Most recommended.

not only for Petrov technique. but for the taste of hot bread and fresh milk. for the surrealism. and for the quality of brick of a Russia image. a boy. and his cow. a story about a gesture. and a reaction. as memories. as confession. nothing complicated. only a travel in the heart of an universe. after its end, not the story remains important for viewer but the delicacy of last boy words air.something magic because it represents a beginning. like the film itself. a film for adults for remember small details who defines life. nothing more. only an exercise of remember. like a trip of a boy in search of his cow. the force of image. the genius and hard work of an artist. and the silence after its end. a form of magic who impress and seduce. and becomes part of yourself

Aleksandr Petrov is one of the Soviet Union's most respected animators, and his accomplished use of paint-on-glass animation has made his films instantly recognisable and, above all else, absolutely timeless. Petrov studied at the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (abbreviated to VGIK, and known as Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography since 1986), and, throughout the 1980s, refined his animation technique as art director on such films as 'Welcome (1986).' Petrov's directorial debut was 'Marathon (1988),' a short film that is currently unlisted on IMDb {as are countless works of excellent Soviet animation; if only the administrators didn't merely ignore my attempts at updating their database listings}.However, the animator's breakthrough film was 'Korova / Cow,' a lovely and touching ten minute short about a young boy and his impoverished family's cow. The film received worldwide acclaim and was nominated at the 1990 Academy Awards, though Christoph and Wolfgang Lauenstein's interesting (but inferior) 'Balance (1989)' ultimately took the Oscar. Nevertheless, Petrov eventually won the award in 2000 for his breathtaking adaptation of 'The Old Man and the Sea (1999).' Petrov's style of animation has often been described as "romantic realism," and this is a generally good summation. His attention-to-detail, especially considering the difficult and time-consuming process of paint-on-glass, is absolutely staggering, and yet the slowly shifting colours and textures create a timeless, dream-like quality. It's as though his films exist in a moment permanently suspended between the real world and the world of our hopes, dreams and memories.A young boy fondly remembers when his family used to own a beautiful cow. In times of poverty, she was a godsend, always providing mother, father and son with their daily serve of milk. One day, when times get particularly tough, the father is forced to sell the cow's young calf for meat. The heartbroken mother cow suddenly turns silent and obstinate, before breaking free and disappearing perilously into the Russian countryside. Though Petrov ordinarily strives for realism, the film's explosive climax is a wonderful piece of surrealism, as the young boy's dreams feverishly blend key components of the story – the cow, the railway line, the plough – into a singularly devastating conclusion.