The bovine with the curved horns

The historic abandonment of entire regions and populations by the Colombian establishment has led to different armed actors taking over the functions of the state and subjugating civilians in rural areas. In the case of the northern areas surrounding the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta’s vast swamps, far-right, narco-trafficking-associated, and extremely cruel paramilitary groups dominated during the 1990s and to this day. This is the setting for The bovine with the curved horns, but the film is a mix of Caribbean fantasy and magical realism, telling its story through the eyes of a child, and letting imagination take them to a safer place.

It’s been days since Amado’s father went out to the swamp with the other fishermen. At night, the power has been going out, and someone is taking advantage of the darkness to put on a mask made from a bull’s skull to watch over the empty town. Uncertainty grows as rumours of the presence of armed groups are becoming harder to ignore. Amado is sent to find a lantern in one of the further stilt-houses, but first he’ll have to face the titular bovine, a sort of demon that has terrorized the village for generations.

Working with a cast of non-professional actors, director Omar E. Ospina Giraldo weaves oral traditions and a penchant for mixing reality and myth with the cadence of rhythms of daily life, letting the narrative unfold poetically. The cinematography by Rafael Gonzales elevates the whole story with an incredibly nuanced black-and-white treatment that elicits how indelible pain inhabits the same places as unending beauty.

DIANA CADAVID

Content advisory: frightening scenes, mature themes