Vacas

. but this is not one. So what ? The opening scene, where a woodcutter's keeps swinging an axe, is a masterpiece of manipulation : you keep on expecting something dreadful until the tension becomes unbearable, though nothing really happens. This is a current running through the film, which makes you think that Medem could make the scariest thriller if he wanted to, all through a weird familial story. After this brilliant first attempt, he did the masterpiece "Red Squirrel", so what more could you ask for ? One of today's most underrated films.

If life itself is cyclical, the telling of it must be so, too. This is evident in films like `Los Amantes del Círculo Polar' (1998) (qv) and `Lucía y el Sexo' (2001) (qv), both seen a long way previously to `Vacas' which I have only just recently been able to see - and where better but on the Basque Channel (Euskal Telebista).

This story takes up over 60 years leading up to the eve of the Spanish Civil War in the high valleys and hills of Euskadi (Basque Country). Two rival families eke out a living. Highly charged with symbolisms - cows - and metaphorisms, as well as the ever-present rôle of Basque culture, such as the `aizkolari', the film proceeds unhurriedly through the years, unveiling an almost mysterious world of superstitions, envy and mistrust.

The cyclical effect of the film is enhanced by some of the main actors - Carmelo Gómez, for example - playing more than one character as the years go by, thus assuring that the spectator has to be on his toes and aware of how the film's story is progressing.

Good work here by Carmelo Gómez, and the rest of the cast is well up to Medem's demands. Superb photography by Carles Gusi, and as ever Alberto Iglesias' music is really good, mirroring well the scenery, its people and the story line. Well worth watching if you get the chance.

"Vacas" a film debut by Julio Medem is an astonishing work and one of the best films in the spanish filmaking history. It is a masterpiece about the conflict between two basque families, from XIX to XX century. Masterly directing, superb acting and writing, and excellent photography and music. Everything filmed with poetic and lyric, that gives the film a very special image, and with the presence of the cows (vacas) and the basque tradition of cutting trunks. Do not miss that film, it is a superb work by a director, that in my opinion is one of the best directors around the world for the last ten years.

From 1875, (second Carlist war) to 1935 (Spanish CIvil War) in Basque Country, we are able to see the relationship between two near families, their discussions, their fight and their envies. All is viewed form the point of view of the cows, so quiet, so peaceful, so able to forgive, while we watch to the humane, their madness their lack of respect for life, their irresponsibility. Though it is hard to digest (too much for my taste) it is clear that it is a Medem's movie: the treatment of time, the sense of quietness in the environment and the development of the story. But we can see a young Medem, not so expert in these tools, and the result is not good as is used in these author, as he was still a noob, but we are able to see that he was a promising talent. Carmelo Gómez makes a terrific triple part and he is the one that builds the movie, everything happens around him and he is able to take the responsibility. The director is able to mix in a curious way the peaceful live of cowman's in Basque Country (and cows too) with the horrors of the war. It is not the best Medem's movie (well it is the worst he has done), but, being his opera prima, it is a pleasure to watch to it. If you are able to digest more or less correctly his films, you should not let pass the opportunity of watching this one, although it is not as good as "Tierra" or "Los Amantes del Círculo Polar"

Since 'Los Amantes del Círculo Polar' (1998), Julio Medem has been in my good books. This is one of his earlier masterpiece and I think this is one of the most powerful European movie in the 1990s, but very underrated, maybe because the Basque region (where the film sets) is not very popular nowadays. But if you watch this film, you will realize that those people are just like us with human feelings (fear, love, courage) and you will tolerate them. The only thing to do is to look into their eyes and you will understand that these people have been suffer and fight for freedom for centuries. Julio Medem is the most sophisticated and most sensitive contemporary Spanish director and in lot of aspects his works are much better than Almodóvar's and Saura's films because his style is cleared-out. This film is only 91 minutes long but it covers the story of two rival families from 1875 till 1936 so the story is very tense. But in my opinion if someone knows what he wants to say, he can say it in short and says the entity. Medem says the entity. The scenes of the woodsmen contest is one of the most thrilling and exciting scene what I've ever seen. The cinematography and the music are also superb it's full of surprising cinematographical solutions, like in the 'Los Amantes...'.

Check this film, you won't be disappointed and you will find a real treasure and become a fan of Julio Medem. 100%