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Julio Medem's enigmatic film Vacas is not only a cult-classic of Spanish cinema — it also makes a contribution toward a philosophy of the unknown. This essay weaves Bergsonian philosophical ideas together with those of Henri Lefebvre and Gilles Deleuze in order to underscore the importance of the unknown in the film through three areas in particular: the heterogeneity of time, the superimposition of narrative and non-narrative cinematic aspects, and the role of a key image — the 'agujero encendido' which dominates the film's middle third. Throughout Vacas, Medem works hard to frustrate the designs of a traditional intellectual/analytical posture and visually point to that which lies beyond the simplistic representation of reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]