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Released by: Pink Eiga
Released on: 2/23/2009
Director: Daisuke Goto
Cast: Horyu Nakamura, Ryoko Asagi, Yumeka Sasaki, Seiji Nakamitsu, Haruki Jo
Year: 2003
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The Movie:
Written and directed by Daisuke Goto, 2003's A Lonely Cow Weeps At Dawn is odd, even by the standards of the pink film. The movie tells the story of a woman named Noriko (Ryoko Asagi) who has recently lost her husband, Hideo. She's understandably pretty down about this turn of events, as is her father-in-law, Shukichi (Horyu Nakamura), who is now left to take care of the family's small farm all by himself. Making matters worse for Shukichi is the unexpected death of his favorite cow. This distressing loss is proving to be too much for the aging farmer and it isn't long before his mental state begins to crumble.
Noriko decides to pay the kindly old man a few visits and after meeting him in the cattle barn, he with a milking pail in hand, decides to take over for the dead cow where it had left off. As Shukichi begins milking Noriko on a regular basis, their relationship evolves into something that works for both of them. Unfortunately for the two of them, obviously this isn't an arrangement that's going to go over too well with anyone else, especially Shokichi's daughter, Mitsuko (Yumeka Sasaki), who has recently returned to the farm after an extended period of absence. Understandably distraught about what her elderly father has become involved with, she decides to put a stop to all of this. Mitsuko also sells her body to Hajime (Sieji Nakamitsu), who ropes her into helping him get the title to the farm away from the old man they feel has gone insane.
Despite the perversity of it all, there's an almost sweet side to this odd film as two very different people from different generations find in themselves a way to cope with their mutual sense of loss. The story is told with a surprisingly quiet tone and pace, eschewing the hyper sexualized style of many of its cinematic compatriots and instead relying heavily on characterization. As Noriko and Shukichi grow in their relationship, we see how it benefits the both of them and are forced to question if it's really a bad thing in the end.
The film is well shot and makes use of some nice camera work that uses angles that are as evocative as they are provocative. Noriko is almost always framed nicely and while she's not as overly sexualized as some women are in other films of this ilk this adds to the pictures earthy charm and grounds it a little bit more in reality. It's all set to a moving and poignant score that compliments the wide range of emotions that the film deals with rather flawlessly. Of course, even if the film is excellent on a technical level, it'd fall flat if the performances weren't up to snuff. Thankfully, both Ryoko Asagi and Horyu Nakamura are excellent in their respective roles. As bizarre as the central relationship may be and as unusual as it is for this pair to essentially play surrogate to each other, they do a great job of playing it all with complete believability. You'll have no trouble buying either one of them in their roles, while the supporting cast that makes up the various bit part players rounding out the cast are all quite good as well.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Unfortunately, the 1.85.1 widescreen transfer is non-anamorphic and interlaced. It's a newer picture so there isn't any dirt or debris to complain about and the colors, including the black levels, are fairly strong but the standard letterboxed presentation feels a bit dated. That said, it's all perfectly watchable. The image is clean, though skin tones look a little bit greenish in spots. There are some mild compression artifacts present but no edge enhancement problems to complain about, but detail isn't particularly strong. Had this been anamorphic it'd have definitely scored higher but this isn't a horrible transfer once you get past that part.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track on the disc is in Japanese with burned in English subtitles. There isn't really any heavy channel separation to note, maybe a bit here and there in regards to the score, but the dialogue is clear enough. Not being able to remove the subtitles is always obnoxious but at least there aren't any obvious typos and they're plenty easy to read.
Aside from some text based biographies for the male and female lead and the director, Pinku Eiga offers up a some interesting notes from Daisuke Goto that explain his intent with this film, text bios for the director, producer and three main stars, pair of small still galleries and trailers for a few of their other releases, and two trailers for the feature itself. Menus and chapter selection are also provided.
The Final Word:
To call the film twisted and leave it at that isn't doing the picture justice. There's more here than simple taboo busting and exploitative shock value, in fact, there's a very effective sense of sadness and loneliness to the story that gives it a very humanitarian slant. Pink Eiga's presentation won't wow you, but the film is good enough that you'll want to see it anyway.