Review: Weeping Camel movie

Subject: Review: Weeping Camel movie
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 01:51 PM

Last night my son (age 9) and I went to see The Story of the Weeping Camel. It was a beautiful little film, and full of music.

"Springtime in the Gobi Desert, South Mongolia. A family of nomads assists in the births of their camel herd. One of the camels has a difficult delivery, and when her rare white calf is born she rejects it, refusing it the milk it needs to survive. In accordance with an ancient ritual, the shepherds summon a musician from a far-off village to perform a magical ceremony - the calf's last hope..."

There is not only the music of the ritual - the climax of the movie - but the singing of the great-grandmother as she embraces a ewe while she nurses her lamb, the lullaby the mother sings her little girl to sleep with, and as a finale, the after-supper singing session with their guests, where the younger son is praised for his solo song and everyone finishes up with a good sing-along. And then there's the music of the wind and the amazing sounds of the camels...

The movie was conceived and co-directed as a Munich Film School final project in documentary film-making by Byambasuren Davaa, a Mongolian woman, and Luigi Falorni (also cinematographer). They were inspired by the early films of Robert J. Flaherty, of "Nanook of the North" and "Man of Aran". They had a story in mind, but worked with a real family of nomads to tell it, without written dialogue.

We recommend it, if you can find it near you, or look for it when it comes to tape or disc.

The related National Geographic Society website (they were in on distribution) is here.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Review: Weeping Camel movie
From: katlaughing
Date: 31 Jul 04 - 05:34 PM

My 8 month old grandson and I just watched the trailer. THANKS for the links and review. It looks wonderful!

kat

Subject: RE: Review: Weeping Camel movie
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 05:23 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: Review: Weeping Camel movie
From: Uke
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 05:50 PM

Saw it the other night with my daughter, who liked it too.

I agree with you - nice movie. An uncomplicated story about not just the camels, but changing times in Mongolia, ie. the coming of satellite TV. Amazing it was the directors first film!

Good music too - but really, those shaggy camels were the stars...

Subject: RE: Review: Weeping Camel movie
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 01 Aug 04 - 06:24 PM

I didn't go to the movie with music in mind, and it certainly wasn't even the main impression left by the movie (that was the camels' voices!), but the music took me by pleasant surprise and so I thought it was worth alerting the Mudcat world.

The peripheral aspects of the story concerning the pressures of the modern world on traditional life were definitely bittersweet.

Not a big action film, but many quiet details to absorb for those with patience.

~ Becky

Subject: RE: Review: Weeping Camel movie
From: katlaughing
Date: 11 Apr 05 - 11:16 AM

Just saw this. It was truly beautiful. Thanks, again, for letting us know about it. One of the things that struck me was the director's use of quiet filming...just the people going about their business with no need for dialogue or explanation. There was sound from Nature, the camels, the wind, bells, etc. The singing and music were haunting and very touching.

I would highly recommend this.

kat