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THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL Send This Review to a Friend
When you leave whatever your environment is and enter the world of “The Story of the Weeping Camel,” you will find yourself in Mongolia among nomads living their traditional life. You’ll also find a thoroughly captivating tale that’s among the most original films you are likely to encounter. A camel having a painful time gives birth to a calf but shuns it and refuses to nurse it. The calf will die if something can’t be done and the villagers band together to find a solution. Imagine someone trying to pitch a story like this to a Hollywood studio. But filmmakers Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni had a vision for their student film in Munich and parlayed the idea into this absolute charmer.
They went to the locale hoping to find such a situation and they lucked out. The approach is somewhat akin to the classic documentary “Nanook of the North.” The film is a kind of staged documentary, with the villagers cooperating and the camera capturing their efforts. The solution involves going to a more built-up area and finding a musician to visit and serenade the reluctant mother with music, Mongolian style. The idea is that the music can mellow mom and put her into a frame of mind that will break her resistance. It is a wondrous event to watch.
We also get to meet the nomads, and in particular, two charming little brothers, who set out on a camel to fetch the musician. Their encounter with more modern lures, such as television sets and computer games emphasizes the encroaching contemporary ways on the traditional life of the nomads. We see them in their daily routines caring for their animals and living in makeshift quarters, impressive for the way in which they are brightly decorated.
The entire viewing experience is involving and very special, topped with the emotional thrill of watching a mother finally reunited with her young, thanks to a communal, close-to-nature effort. A THINKfilm release.
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