In association with

Vacas [1992]
from Tartan Video
starring Emma Suárez, Carmelo Gómez, Ana Torrent, Karra Elejalde, Klara Badiola
directed by Julio Medem

Features:

• Anamorphic
• PAL
• Widescreen

Editorial Review:

With Vacas, his first feature, the Basque director Julio Medem set out all the elements of his audacious and idiosyncratic approach to filmmaking: intricate, circular plots; richly sensual imagery and highly stylised camerawork; a deft interweaving of fantasy and reality; and a thoroughly subversive attitude to Spanish tradition and folklore. Vacas takes a staple Spanish genre--the epic historical melodrama with all its bombast and macho posturing--and kicks the stuffing out of it while pelting it with cowpats.

The action unrolls between two Spanish civil wars--the Second Carlist War of 1874-5, and the rather better-known conflict that started in 1936. An incident in the first of these sets up a feud between two farming families in a Basque valley, and the story leapfrogs down the decades taking in star-crossed lovers, log-chopping contests (a staple Basque competitive sport, it seems), mutilation, madness, incest, photography and any number of cows, through whose placidly bemused gaze we view a good deal of the action.

Though Medem is dealing with all the solemn Hemingway-esque elements of romantic Spanishry--honour, blood and death--his approach is too playful to admit any real sense of tragedy. Much of the time the tone is closer to myth, and there's more than a touch of magic realism: axes fly miles through the air, and a tree in the woods can apparently eat people alive. In the end, of course, love triumphs over all. Medem's films have since gained greatly in sophistication and technique, but there's exuberance about this debut work that's irresistible.

On the DVD: Vacas on disc has trailers for all five of Medem's features to date; filmographies for Medem and his two lead actors, Emma Suárez and Carmelo Gómez; and useful written notes on the movie by film historian Robert Stone. The transfer's clean and clear, doing justice to Carles Gusi's rich photography, with good sound and in the original ratio. --Philip Kemp

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

• Intensely Moo-ving
  Well it looks like we're gonna have to raise the star score for this absolutely beautiful film; so here I go.
  I first discovered Medem's work in The Red Squirel. I didn't think he could possibly better that surreal gem but came very close to eating my words when I finally got round to seeing Vacas. What appears to be cosy pastoral drama about two intertwined families is so much more than it initially seems.
  Spanning over 60 years from the Carlist Wars to the Spanish Civil War this film is a dreamy... more info

• total rubbish
  I'm sorry to disappoint you art lovers but this is total rubbish. The actors are unconvincing, the story is pathetic, the surrealism is pointless and weak, in fact the best thing about it is when you see the cows because at least the cows seem to have some kind of dignity. Vacas is like a boring b movie.

• Master directorial debut
  This is Julio Medem's first feature film. The film tells the story of the rivalry between two Basque families that perpetuates with different generations. Vacas is set in the beautiful mountains of Medem's native Basque Country and takes us through the dark days from the end of the 19th century to the Spanish Civil War. Medem's characters are always mysterious, refreshingly enigmatic and rich in expression. A very respectable debut, beautifully filmed, that sets the pace for Medem's singular films. A great... more info

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