The Cow and I

The year 1943. Charles Bailly is a French prisoner of war working on a farm in Germany. He decides to escape. The plan is simple and strange: he will tie a cow to a rope and set off. His reasoning is that a man leading his cow to pasture draws nobody's attention. He sets out. The cow is slow, hungry and stubborn. He walks hundreds of kilometres, through villages, checkpoints and groups of soldiers. Nobody stops him. As he nears the French border he has to get rid of the cow, and by then he cannot. Henri Verneuil directs. Fernandel plays Charles. It is a French, Italian and German co-production. It was among the most watched productions in France of its time and is one of Fernandel's best known parts. The humour it builds is patience rather than exaggeration; the comedy comes out of nothing happening. The animal playing the cow was called Marguerite and became a subject of interest in its own right during the production. The narrative keeps the war in the background; violence is barely seen and the enemy soldiers are shown as ordinary people. The landscape and the walking set the rhythm. Its ending is emotional and the bond between the man and the cow becomes the real subject. Its limit is pace; the narrative has one idea and repeats in its middle stretch. Who it is for: viewers who like classic French comedy and Fernandel. Who it is not for: it has one idea, the pace is slow, and the humour quiet.