Gaav (the Cow)

is the story of ‘Mash Hassan’, the owner of his village’s only cow.
His connection to this prized possession transcends that of an owner and his animal, and is known to the whole village. So when the animal dies under mysterious circumstances while Hassan is away, the village bonds together to lie about her fate.

Hassan doesn’t believe their story about the pregnant cow’s escape. He sits on the roof of a building overlooking the desert, waiting for her return.
As he begins to lose hope, he slowly morphs into his cow, eating her hay, making her noises, and calling for Hassan to save her from the cruelty of men.

The distressing factor of the story is not just Hassan’s descent into madness; it lies in how the village community reacts to it.

When the cow dies the people from the village place blame upon ‘evil eye’ or on the outsiders for all the misfortunes, while continuing to commit morally reprehensible acts.
As they repeatedly find themselves in a situation unable to address (or find solution to) Hassan’s mental illness, the community slowly seem to give in to his illusion…
Besides many underlying philosophical and political messages this story carries, it represents a deep influence from the Sufi beliefs of unity between lover and muse…
The film: the Cow(1969 ) is directed by Dariush Mehrjui, and adapted from a short story by the leftist writer, Gholamhossein Saedi.

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