One Man and his Cow

La Vache (One Man and his Cow, 2016) is a French comedy-drama directed by Mohamed Hamidi that you can watch online on iFILM, starring Fatsah Bouyahmed, Jamel Debbouze and Lambert Wilson. The film opened in France to warm notices for its particular brand of gentle, unhurried comedy.

Faridj is an Algerian farmer with one fixed ambition: to bring his beloved cow Jacqueline to the International Agriculture Fair in Paris. His neighbours think the idea is absurd. He goes anyway — by ferry, with the cow, no French and barely any money. Paris is not immediately charmed. But Jacqueline has a way of softening people who thought they were too busy or too worldly to care about a farmer and his animal.

The film runs on the same principle as the best road movies: the innocent abroad as a lens that makes the surrounding world look stranger and smaller than it thinks it is. Bouyahmed plays Faridj with real dignity — no punchline, no condescension. It's the kind of warm, light-footed film that earns its ending without straining for it. Stream La Vache (2016) online on iFILM.