Vacas - Analysis

Analysis

The aesthetics of the movie established strongly Médem's so-called "dreamy style" (which ironically can be very nightmarish). His expressionist values would contrast rapidly with a time period in the Spanish cinema when the influences from the American movies would multiply (i.e. Alejandro Amenábar). The structure of Vacas is made up of concentric circles: European Style—Spanish History—Basque culture—A village—Two houses of that village and, overseeing them all, the cows. The narrative is also very concentric; the film uses a continuous recycling recourse (i.e. the same actors play the three generations, which can be slightly confusing). Médem would also use a loop-like approach in his film Los amantes del círculo polar.

Médem subverts the conventions of the family saga by replacing the human subjectivity of conventional melodrama and historical epics with a diffidence about life and death that is expressed through the uninterested gaze of the cows. The title of the film refers to the passive omnipresence of cows. The political and social climate of the Basque country of Spain is constantly in flux, yet the cows of the region are steadfast and calm, observing the unusual changing human culture without reaction. Instead of a society that is traditionally presented as oppressed and belittle by exterior forces, Vacas presents the Basque people as a race that, in petty rivalries, civil war and incest, has consumed itself from within. Most characters wish for nothing more than to escape the supposed idyll of the Basque Country, though those who do are fated to return and suffer the consequences of inescapable roots and blood ties. Médem further illustrates the cyclical nature of the unresolved strife and vacillating alliance by using the same actor to portray generations of characters. Instead of typifying the beauty of the land, the mist of the basque Valley create a malignant atmosphere that enshrouds the protagonists of Vacas, stimulating and manifesting their latent desires and urges.