films: La ardilla roja (The Red Squirrel), 1993) and Tierra (Earth), 1996) pairing him in both cases with Emma Suárez like here in Vacas. Carmelo Gómez - Manuel/ Ignacio / Peru Emma Suárez - Cristina Ana Torrent - Catalina Karra Elejalde - Ilegorri / Lucas Txema Blasco - Manuel as an old man Kandido Uranga - Carmelo / Juan Klara Badiola - Madalen Pilar Bardem - Paulina Overview Usually categorized as rural drama, the film narrates the lives of two Basque families covering the years 1875-1936, which historically were the unstable and bloody years from the Third Carlist War to the Spanish Civil War. To help the non-Spanish viewer understand the history depicted in the film: the Basques allied themselves initially with the Carlists (who were right-wing) but later with the Spanish Republic (who were left-wing) because, in each case, they were promised local autonomy. Small segments of Vacas were used by Medem in his documentary film La pelota vasca to illustrate the Carlist Wars. Reception Vacas was well received and proved an auspicious debut for Julio Médem, the director. Critics hailed Médem's craftsmanship and ability to marry the right images with his near mythic story lines. It was very successful and won the Goya Award of the Spanish academy for best new director and prizes in the festivals of Tokyo, Turin and Alexandria. Analysis The aesthetics of the movie established strongly Médem's so-called "dreamy style" (which ironically can be very nightmarish). His expressionist values would contrast rapidly with a time period in the Spanish cinema when the influences from the American movies would multiply (i.e. Alejandro Amenábar). The structure of Vacas is made up of concentric circles: European Style—Spanish History—Basque culture—A village—Two houses of that village and, overseeing them all, the cows. The narrative is also very concentric; the film uses a continuous recycling recourse (i.e. the same actors play the three generations, which can be slightly confusing). Médem would also use a loop-like approach in his film Los amantes del círculo polar. Médem subverts the conventions of the family saga by replacing the human subjectivity of conventional melodrama and historical epics with a diffidence about life and death that is expressed through the uninterested gaze of the cows. The title of the film refers to the passive omnipresence of cows. The political and social climate of the Basque country of Spain is constantly in flux, yet the cows