The Story of Weeping Camel (aka Die Geschichte vom weinenden
Kamel)
Written and Directed by: Byambasuren
Davaa, Luigi Falorni
Starring: Janchiv Ayurzana, Chimed Ohin
Review by : Matt McConnel
My, my
this slice of Mongolian pie… Seriously. The Story of Weeping
Camel brings to the screen a rare blend of stunning cinematography
and top notch storytelling that has thankfully accessible
to all audiences. Don't let the form of the movie fool you.
It may look like National Geographic, but it is not a documentary;
it is a fiction, but a solid and eminently watchable one.
The movie
follows a Mongolian camel herding family from the beginning
of the birthing season to the resolution of the season's major
problem. The last colt of the season has a hard birth and
the mother rejects it. When one lives on the Gobi Desert and
one's livelihood is camels, the death of a colt can be a disaster
so the family must make the mother accept her colt. The concept
is simple, but for a Western audience the story might as well
be taking place on Mars, so simplicity becomes exotic.
It is
not a talky movie; the dialogue is subtitled but rare. The
director and writer opted to let the stark beauty of the Gobi
Desert speak for itself. If someone from Hollywood made this
movie the camels would undoubtedly up the word count with
some introspective speeches of their own, but thankfully this
movie was not made that way. The camels have personalities
to be sure, but they do not break out into song or communicate
with their human counterparts coherently. People are people
and animals are animals despite the symbiotic nature of the
relationship.
The little
touches are what sell this movie. If it was just the story
of a rough and ready family on the plains, it might as well
be a historical drama set in the Wild West. Instead, there
are moments that remind you it is a modern film. The two sons
go into the nearest settlement for (among other things) radio
batteries. The youngest becomes obsessed with television,
despite his older brother's admonition that it would cost
over thirty sheep.
It is
a pity that Story of Weeping Camel is an art house
film, it is a general audiences film at its finest. It blends
together remarkably well for a movie that leaves you with
an initial impression of high art house pretension. In point
of fact, it is a simple film and perhaps best not suited to
the depredations of critique.
Matt normally runs riot in our anime and comics (manga) sections,
but every once in a while he has to see something in English.
Or a German-Mongolian production. Whatever. Say hey here.
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