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Simply Perfect

Beautiful, moving film.

Absolutely Fantastic

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This is a short tale of a bactrian camel owned by Mongolian shepherds who gives birth to an albino named Botok, rejects it, and when it is about to expire, finally accepts it as her own offspring. The ten-minute story is accompanied by a simple sentimental melody on strings.The bactrian camel has two humps, unlike like the dromedary of the Arabian desert which has one. The Gobi desert is at higher latitudes and gets powerfully cold, so the beasts are appropriately shaggy and robust.Of course one's heart is engaged while the viewer watches the newborn take its first faltering steps and the shepherds encourage it to nurse from its mother while at the same time feeding it milk from a hollow horn. This is argumentum ad miseracordiam and is irresistible.It really works too. The bactrian neonate must be one of the few animals that can be pathetic without being cute. This is one awkward looking juvenile. It appears to have been assembled out of playdo by a drunken child. I was rooting like hell for Botok to finally be accepted by his mother.There is some evidence of staging. The shepherds' hands are clean and their nails are trimmed. The men are closely shaved and their silk garments look brand new. Those are minor carps. The explicit message of the movie is that we should all feel love because it's somehow good.Okay.

The lifestory of a mongolian family that live devoted to their camels. The camels give them milk, wool, and they're the center of their universe. They're happy with that ancient lifestyle , they don't need TV or electricity, they don't need cars..."The Weeping Camel" is an outstanding documentary that shows things just the way they are. There's not a narrator, so we just see and hear what that family do or say. The landscapes of the Gobi desert are so overwhelming, and Mr. Davaa and his crew have portrayed it with such gentleness. The photography is really something.A nice tribute to those people that live in communion with their animals and with nature. In a matter of speaking they're the last of the mohicans...*My rate: 7/10

I truly feel sorry for those viewers - of a younger generation, no doubt - who are products of a culture whose main purpose seems to be the constant diminishing of attention spans. This is indeed a slow and long-breathed story whose pace matches the vast spaces and ancient culture of the people portrayed. I stumbled on this charming, touching, and humorous film purely by accident this morning, drawn by its fetching title. As soon as I tuned in I could not take my eyes off it. It is true that we are drawn by the strangeness of the way of life of these people, but the film makers have done a superb job of showing us how, in so many ways, these people and their families are so much like us, stressing our common humanity. The film makers made the admirable decision not to include a voice-over narration, allowing events and the words of the people involved to tell the story, as sparse as it is. But then "story" is not the point of this movies, although the central plot line of a mother camel who rejects her calf is certainly sufficient to make it all hang together. I also - although far from being a guilty green liberal felt a twinge of sadness abd regret to see the accoutrements of Western consumer culture slowly insinuating themselves into these people's lives. I really cringed when young Ugna asked his father for a TV for their tent.This is really a grownup film, and perhaps it appeal is - sadly - to a more mature and intelligent audience, but it is a real sleeper not to be missed.

I almost feel I should give this film a higher rating, but it was just average. I liked a lot of aspects of it, especially as a documentary without the voice-over telling us what we are supposed to think and know. However, it just didn't work for me. I don't know if it was too slow or the story was not compelling enough. The story was slightly interesting, watching the people involved was obviously the aim and the story of the mother camel and her calf was almost a distraction.. Watching people who have access to an odd hodgepodge of technology was interesting, but I think they should have done two documentaries here and both would have probably been better.