Come along for the ride on the Oregon Trail and join us for a screening of the 2019 drama First Cow, as part of WestportREADS 2025!
In 1820, a skilled cook travels west and joins a group of fur trappers in Oregon, though he only finds true connection with a Chinese immigrant also seeking his fortune. Soon the two collaborate on a successful business, although its longevity is reliant upon the clandestine participation of a nearby wealthy landowner’s prized milking cow.
First Cow, adapted by Kelly Reichardt with frequent collaborator Jonathan Raymond from the latter’s novel The Half-Life, is many things. A simultaneously gentle and unsparing dissection of the formative flaws of capitalism, and thus of the American Dream; a frontier story which captures the harsh realities and simple pleasures of a life built painstakingly from rock, wood, and soil; a heist movie; an argument for the power of baked goods. It is somehow both brutal and pastoral, peaceful and laced through with the inevitability of disaster and death. (Nothing fragile can hold forever — not a tree branch, not a ruse, not luck, and not peace, no matter what William Tyler’s beautiful, serene score might trick you into believing.) But above all else, it is a story of friendship, treated here as a haven and basic human need, as essential as water or bread. The film begins with a quote from William Blake’s Proverbs of Hell: 'The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship.' And those bones are, for the viewer as well as the woman (Alia Shawkat) who finds them, both an invitation and a door into that friendship." —Allison Shoemaker, RogerEbert.com
About WestportREADS
Created in 2002, WestportREADS is a way for the Westport community to bond over a book and is designed to deepen our community’s engagement in literature.
Throughout January and February, there will be events and programs centered on In the Distance, book discussions, celebrations, and much more. It is a chance to not only read a great book but to engage with the community, meet new people, and celebrate our shared love of reading.
WestportREADS is funded by the estate of Jerry A. Tishman.
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The Library is pleased to be able to offer free programs and events through the generous donations of patrons like you. Please consider giving to the Library so that we can continue to offer events like this one. Your donation is tax deductible. Donate Now!
The Old West in Film and Literature
WestportREADS 2025
Arts & Culture
Kanopy
