A staunch rejection of the masculinist tropes of the Western genre, we revisit Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow as part of New Frontiers: Myth and Masculinity - a season exploring the new generation of women challenging cinematic frontier mythologies.

In 1820s Oregon, a taciturn loner (John Magaro) and skilled cook travels west to Oregon Territory, where he meets a Chinese immigrant (Orion Lee) also seeking his fortune. Soon the two team up on a dangerous scheme to steal milk from the wealthy landowner’s (Toby Jones) prized Jersey cow – the first, and only, in the territory – to create delicious fried cakes for sale at the market.

With this simple premise, Reichardt paints an authentic portrait of harsh frontier life in the early nineteenth century, depicting the immense, unsettling quietude of rural America and interrogating the very foundations on which the country was built. Yet this delicate and tender drama about male friendship depicts an alternative pioneer figure - one who thrives on domestic chores rather than macho violence.

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