A Lonely Cow Weeps At Dawn (2003, Review)

Director: Daisuke Goto
Cast: Horyu Nakamura, Ryoko Asagi, Yumeka sasaki, Seiji Nakamitsu, Haruki Jo, Sakura Mizuki, Toshimasa Niiro, Hidehisa Ebata
Pink Eiga / NTSC Region 1/ Not Rated / Widescreen (Anamorphic) / Japanese with English subtitles / 61 Minutes

Senility is associated with elder age and usually consists of the loss of memory recollection and it impairs the current state of the current memory. The symptoms are different with each person, of course. Each person also copes with it differently, but those who can effectively cope manage a long life of happiness....most of the time. Sometimes they are stuck in an inescapable cycle that becomes their cage from the rest of the world. With their mental impairment, they tend to drive their family and friends away, leaving them to their solitude so they can slowly whither away. Director Daisuke Goto's A Lonely Cow Weeps at Dawn considers the opposite in which the hardworking elder, even with his unusual case of senility, manages to capture the heart of a young and beautiful woman.

Shukichi has had a hard life in the last few years with his son and his favorite cow Bessie being tragically killed in an automobile accident. His son's wife, Noriko, stays and lives with her father-in-law, working in the fields and, most importantly, pretending to be Shukichi's favorite cow. Every morning, Noriko wakes up early to head to the barn where she strips all her clothing, gets on all fours and moos like a cow. Shukichi does not realize that it is his daughter-in-law and carries on his duty of trying to milk "Bessie." Mitsuko, Shukichi's drunk and prostitute daughter, returns home and her suspicious eyes are directly on the two and their bizarre living arrangement.

In an odd way, Goto's film is a bit of a romantic love story. Noriko cares for her husband's father so endearingly that she is willing to be humiliated for the sake of Shukichi. The method of her madness is certainly unorthodox when compared to others' foolish sacrificing endeavors but with most extreme cases like Noriko's, its a desperate act in order to keep the mind of Shukichi active and, for the time being, sane as opposed to searching for a missng cow that has been deceased some time ago.

The farm becomes a symbol of the Shukichi's last strong hold on youthfulness and activity. He works a young man's operations while he struggles with elderly mental instabilities; an effort he would most certainly lose in the end. For the time being, Noriko, in her naivety, believes she can help Shukichi and restart his mind to normal. She doesn't even consult a doctor to Shukichi's condition, showing she considers herself enough of a impact to resort Shukichi back. Her love is pure, but her method is immature even if she is nearing her thirties. Shukichi does give his last youthful effort in return for all of Noriko's dedication; he manages to erect himself one last time and make love to the hopeless romantic that shells Noriko.

Mitsuko and Hajime, a business man trying to thwart and mislead Shukichi into giving him the deed to his farmland, are lovers of a different sort. They're intentions of sex and on Shukichi are different. The duo team up as the reality that Shukichi needs to face if he ever wants to live a normal life instead of his fantasy world where a naked, succulent woman is his desired cow in his mind. Misuko and Hajime seek to destroy the arrangment held so tightly by the reigns of Noriko, but they easily penetrate the blockade with their ties to Shukichi; Mitsuko is his daughter and Hajime was his former student.

Though I deeply commend the story for it's peculiarity, I can't say I'm impressed with the release itself. The clarity of the picture was choppy and contorted at times. It was hard to make out what was what. Pink Eiga does dish out on the extras, I'll admit that. The audio was a bit weak with this release as well. The mono 2.0 usually comes through with what Pink Eiga releases I have seen, but for A Lonely Cow Weeps at Dawn, I had to keep upping the volume. The story will draw you in, but if you have memory loss than this will impact you even more after a new refreshing view of this film over and over and over again. The erotica isn't what makes the film. Hell, there is much to be said about the erotica since it lacks in comparison with other Pink Eiga releases, but it is there - just with a bit more finesse and melodrama baggage than expected.