Strong and Moving!

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

A family of nomadic herdsmen lives traditionally in South Mongolia. The last calf born to their camel herd is especially difficult. The colt is white and rejected by his mother. The family sends the two young sons to find a musician who could coax the mother back to her offspring.This is an interesting slice of a traditional lifestyle. The movie starts with no tension. It's questionable what the story is about for a long stretch in the beginning. There is also the question of how real the story is. This feels like a fable trying to be a documentary. It's not my preference but it's not a major problem. It's fascinating but ultimately the style lacks any tension.

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

The Weeping Camel may not have the special effects or the attention-getting action of some Hollywood films, but it is a beautiful and not-to-be missed movie in its own right. Apart from being a documentary, it is full of symbolism and meaning that can be seen in the everyday routines around which the family of Mongolian shepherds have built their existence: the shearing of the camels' hair to braid into halters to put on the camels,showing how nothing is wasted; the sprinkling of milk into the air or onto the baby camel to ensure luck and appeasement of the nature spirits that is part of the Mongolian religion ; the storytelling and singing sessions inside the homely yurt. And, most remarkable of all and the highlight of the movie, the musical ritual consisting of a violinist on the horse-head fiddle and the woman's chanting designed to make the mother camel accept and suckle her newborn calf.The four generations of the family in the film, both genders and regardless of age (except for the youngest child who is around 1-2 years of age) work together doing everyday chores with an ease that suggests a contented acceptance of their way of living and the responsibilities that come with it. This is a culture in touch with the flow of life and nature in general, and the film shows links between the way the shepherds tend to their children and animals. It subtly but distinctly notes the way a leash keeps the toddler and baby camel from wandering off, similarly creating a connection between the lullaby a mother sings to put her child to sleep and the way violin music and chanting soothes a mother camel and charms her into accepting her rejected offspring. At first, the creature's response seems to be of the "what the. . . ?" variety, but then a magical transformation takes place as the musician plays on and the woman continues to sing and the family of shepherds watch expectantly. The effect that the music has on the other camels grazing nearby - watch their expressions, as if entranced - and eventually on the mother camel - Imgen Tenee as she is named in the credits - as she eventually gives in to suckle her baby and sheds tears as if in repentance of her erring ways is - as the Mastercard commercial would say - "priceless" Both moving and memorable, this sequence lies at the heart of the film, albeit close to the end, a moment of restoration as uplifting as anything I've encountered in recent years. Wisely, the producers of the movie take pains to avoid any anthropomorphizing or patronizing attitude, insisting every aspect should be seen through the shepherds' eyes as if the viewers were there right with them, sharing their joys, frustrations, victories, etc. The approach serves as a potent reminder that the simplest things can also be the most powerful and compelling.Throughout The Weeping Camel, Davaa and Falorni maintain an unobtrusive distance, allowing insights to emerge rather than thrusting them upon us. Most effectively, it allows us to discover the sharp contrast between the simple uncomplicated nomadic pastoralist way of living in one of the remotest areas of the world (the Gobi Desert)and the so-called modern Western living. Sadly though, the former appears to be fast disappearing or encroached by the latter - as can be seen in the final scenes of the film when the shepherd family acquire a television and the eldest boy is working on the satellite dish to get proper reception.

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.