In this quietly affecting documentary, the camera follows a sow and her piglets as life in the farmyard unfolds – and a sad ending inevitably looms
The secret life of farm animals remains a secret, but a fascinating and even poignant one, in this strange and unexpectedly subtle film from the
Russian documentary-maker Viktor Kossakovsky, whose last movie, Aquarela, was a disturbing meditation on the climate crisis.
It’s an extended, black-and-white study of a farmyard sow whose name is presumably Gunda, although the humans who would have given her this name are never shown. There are no people. No dialogue. Just animals. The camera follows this sow around the farm, just after farrowing, and we see the tiny piglets suckling; and later these same piglets, much bigger, still suckling and jostling. We also see the sow’s fellow beasts, including a one-legged chicken and some cows who are shown running in slo-mo – the film’s one bit of over-aestheticisation, which is a misjudgment.