A cow witnesses marital bliss and is NOT having it. No dialogue. Pure bovine jealousy.
Not a single word is spoken in the mini-drama Anna II. The sounds and glances produced by the leading character, the cow Anna II, are telling enough. Her mooing and smacking minutely convey her displeasure with her farmer's budding conjugal bliss. When, on the morning after the wedding night, he enters the cowshed but does not pay enough attention to his prize cow yet, Anna II has had it. The cow's sultry gaze registers how the bride brings the farmer a cup of coffee.
Acting
Sandra Stam's cow performance: Oscar-worthy side-eye.
Direction
Uitdehaag makes 10 minutes feel like a complete marriage.
Sound
Strategic mooing as dialogue replacement.
Director
Maria Uitdehaag
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Part of the Dutch 'absurdist short' tradition where livestock judge human behavior more harshly than we judge ourselves.
Sandra Stam spent weeks studying cow behavior; the ear-flick toward the coffee cup was improvised on set.
NL
