Wednesday, April 13, 2005
THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL
2004
Directed by Byambasuren Davaa
Running Time 87 minutes
Hardly a "documentary" as much as it is cultural/spiritual observation, The Story of The Weeping Camel is a subtle and simple tale of a family of a Mongolian shepherds whose otherwise harmonious and successful camel breeding "farm" is interrupted by an ornery female camel who rejects her unique newborn colt.
It is a wonder how this group of film makers came about arriving and filming this Mongolian family in the remote Gobi Desert during such a dramatic shepherd challenge. What can be respected about this film maker and the crew is their ability to not interfere with this family's experience by narration. They simply show what's going on and allow the family to be themselves. There is no narration except for the Mongolian family, who seem to ironically face the same difficulties that most other families face: running a business, dealing with their aging parents, their young children and a 5 year old boy who wants a brand new tv imported to his yurt immediately (they do not have electricity).
Although the family's herding business seems flawless, it turns out that one of the last pregnant camels in their flock is starting to act a little weird: she strays away from the camp and has to be retrieved over and over again by the patriarch of the family.
Through a difficult and violent labor, the camel finally gives birth to a beautiful white colt - very rare it turns out - but the family is shocked and worried because the mother will not allow the newborn to suckle. The shepherds gently try to persuade the mother camel to warm up to her child through what may seem to most people as bizarre methods: binding her rear legs together to prevent kicking the colt away, forcing her to smell her colt over and over again and then leaving mother and child to wander about together in the desert hoping that her post-partem depression will soon fade.
After about a weeks time, however, the family becomes seriously worried. The colt has only eaten very little from the family's force feeding and they fear he will not be able to live much longer. They turn to the elder folk in their family, who suggests there is only one solution: they must send for a spiritual musician to serenade the mama camel to get over her blues. Their two young boys are sent on the trek into a far away Mongolian Reservation camp to retrieve the specialist. Will they be able to find the savior for their colt?
The Story of The Weeping Camel is very gentle and organic, therefore not recommended for those with MOVIE A.D.D. or any other type of patience, attention or narcolepsy problem. But it is a pretty cool movie. The family we are introduced to in the 87 minutes this film runs showed such awesome fundamentals of things most people don't seem to have. Caring for the success of this one camel and her colt seems like a metaphor for the way they live their lives. We see their love for eachother, the love for their land, the respect for their elders, respect and sensitivity for the animals they tend and a spiritual tie to their religion and faith.
2004
Directed by Byambasuren Davaa
Running Time 87 minutes
Hardly a "documentary" as much as it is cultural/spiritual observation, The Story of The Weeping Camel is a subtle and simple tale of a family of a Mongolian shepherds whose otherwise harmonious and successful camel breeding "farm" is interrupted by an ornery female camel who rejects her unique newborn colt.
It is a wonder how this group of film makers came about arriving and filming this Mongolian family in the remote Gobi Desert during such a dramatic shepherd challenge. What can be respected about this film maker and the crew is their ability to not interfere with this family's experience by narration. They simply show what's going on and allow the family to be themselves. There is no narration except for the Mongolian family, who seem to ironically face the same difficulties that most other families face: running a business, dealing with their aging parents, their young children and a 5 year old boy who wants a brand new tv imported to his yurt immediately (they do not have electricity).
Although the family's herding business seems flawless, it turns out that one of the last pregnant camels in their flock is starting to act a little weird: she strays away from the camp and has to be retrieved over and over again by the patriarch of the family.
Through a difficult and violent labor, the camel finally gives birth to a beautiful white colt - very rare it turns out - but the family is shocked and worried because the mother will not allow the newborn to suckle. The shepherds gently try to persuade the mother camel to warm up to her child through what may seem to most people as bizarre methods: binding her rear legs together to prevent kicking the colt away, forcing her to smell her colt over and over again and then leaving mother and child to wander about together in the desert hoping that her post-partem depression will soon fade.
After about a weeks time, however, the family becomes seriously worried. The colt has only eaten very little from the family's force feeding and they fear he will not be able to live much longer. They turn to the elder folk in their family, who suggests there is only one solution: they must send for a spiritual musician to serenade the mama camel to get over her blues. Their two young boys are sent on the trek into a far away Mongolian Reservation camp to retrieve the specialist. Will they be able to find the savior for their colt?
The Story of The Weeping Camel is very gentle and organic, therefore not recommended for those with MOVIE A.D.D. or any other type of patience, attention or narcolepsy problem. But it is a pretty cool movie. The family we are introduced to in the 87 minutes this film runs showed such awesome fundamentals of things most people don't seem to have. Caring for the success of this one camel and her colt seems like a metaphor for the way they live their lives. We see their love for eachother, the love for their land, the respect for their elders, respect and sensitivity for the animals they tend and a spiritual tie to their religion and faith.
