First Cow

Description

American guitarist William Tyler composed the music for 'First Cow', the new A24 film directed by Kelly Reichardt, using almost exclusively his few guitars and a dulcimer. At the crossroads of stripped-down, meditative melodies and avant-garde, ambient-like experimentations, the music, like the film, brilliantly navigates between accessibility and artistic demand. In 'First Cow', Kelly Reichardt once again casts her astute and attentive gaze on the Pacific Northwest, this time evoking a challenging early 19th-century world. A taciturn and skilled lone cook, John Magaro, has traveled west and joined a group of fur trappers in the Oregon territory, though he finds a true connection only with a Chinese immigrant, Orion Lee, also seeking his fortune. Soon, the two collaborate on a thriving business, though its longevity depends on the clandestine involvement of a wealthy local landowner's prized dairy cow. Reichardt once again deploys her unique talent for depicting the specific rhythms of daily life and her ability to capture the immense and unsettling quietude of rural America.