The First Cow: Westworld, Smoke and Dust

In her latest feature film, First Cow, American female director Kelly Reichardt focuses on two men with very different images, personalities and identities — a silent and introverted white chef and an adventurous Chinese immigrant. The two are common protagonists in Leicat's films, they are passers-by and wanderers with no way out, entering the screen with the simplest background of their lives and embarking on a journey, but the rich and beautiful life is always difficult to reach.

In the 19th century state of Oregon, where rumors of rich land did not bring material gains to those who came in search of wealth, Cookie, who was hired by a team of fur hunters, found the golden road to escape while searching for food in the jungle, and kindly distributed the already limited food to the eastern visitor. Later, the two met again in a bar in the west, this time when Jinlu let Cookie live in his cabin, and soon after they began to do business together.

The scarcity of resources will turn a new pair of leather shoes into the visual focus, and it will also make the fried bread made by cookies a delicacy that everyone queues up to buy. In this land where history has not yet been written, everyone is doing small business, the transaction is also primitive, and barter still exists here. The British, the Russians, and the Chinese all appeared in this land that originally belonged to the Indians, and the wild lands in the west were also the melting pot of races, and the big people with enough primitive wealth made inequality end.

Kelly Lett's films do not make blunt accusations, but regard the individual as the subject of the narrative, and through their encounters, they draw out the oppression of capital on people. She tells the helplessness of the bottom and the loss of the American dream, describes the plight of people in a specific social and historical environment, and depicts the occurrence and transformation of emotions between ordinary people. In her shots, the joys and sorrows of the little people are not in the form of a big wind and waves, even if they face the dramatic challenges of life. Leikat always finds a glimmer of hope in the midst of cruelty, and when happiness is in front of her, she reveals the gripping side of fate. So when watching "The First Cow", we will feel that the sinister West is also beautiful, mushrooms, blueberries, owls, puppies... These flora and fauna are even close-ups, and at the same time, we understand that cookies and golden roads seem idyllic and simple, but in fact they are full of hardships.

The first cow represented a position, and she had reached a tacit understanding with those who were hard and needy. The cow, which had traveled thousands of miles, acquiesced to Cookie's nighttime milk collection and refused the british landlord's request. Her clear eyes are repeatedly emphasized by the camera - this cow with aura, her gaze and look back, does not contain the creator's sympathy and compassion for her character.

As the most undeniable female director in the American independent film industry today, Kelly Lecat has a highly recognizable personal style. Her films are simple, quiet, and slow, and she adheres to a realistic approach, firmly stands on the opposite side of the American dream, does not follow the crowd, and always cares for the neglected and marginalized ordinary people. At a time when the times were calling for a female community, male friendship on the screen was now a rare sight, and Lei carter's "The First Cow" showed a male emotional connection that we had never seen before.

"Male friendship" is more common in two types of films, Buddy Film and Western. The former will set up two protagonists with distinct and different personalities, who often have to experience some unusual difficulties together; the latter will focus on how civilization is established on the american frontier, how human beings are united, and how complex human nature is. The First Cow fits two types of traits while breaking through common settings: manhood is no longer emphasized, cookies are cooked, baked, needlework, washed by the river, and even ordered to take care of babies; the adventurer is a yellow-skinned Chinese, he has many ideas and boldness, and his choices affect the common encounter between the two; there is no thrilling disaster, no rude villains and bullies, and the villains are just pretend capitalists.

Cookie and The Golden Road friendship is a precious affection between men and proves that an alliance between different ethnic groups is possible. The film ends with two people on a new journey together resting in the arms of the earth, at which point the two bodies exhumed at the beginning of the film seem to have an answer. "The First Cow" is a flashback story with the ending written at the front. Just when we are looking forward to the future of the two, Leikat echoes with the simplest end-to-end, making the simple expectation instantly become a mixture of feelings.

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