First Cow

AroView: Acclaimed director Kelly Reichardt (MEEK’S CUTOFF), patiently depicts the hardscrabble way of life of the early nineteenth century in this masterful and authentic portrait of male friendship set against the immense backdrop of the American frontier. Based on the novel ‘The Half Life” by long-time Reichardt collaborator Jonathan Raymond, who also co-wrote the script.

John Magaro plays a skilled cook who joins a group of fur trappers in Oregon Territory, seeking his fortune along with a Chinese immigrant (Orion Lee). When the pair learn of the first milk cow in the region, they start a business which involves sneaking onto a wealthy Englishman’s property at night to milk the cow, then using the milk to bake biscuits that prove very popular at the local market.

“It is a tremendously engaging story which does something that very few movies do: mention money. Something very palpable is at stake, the jeopardy is real and it’s a question of survival.” ~Peter Bradshaw, THE GUARDIAN