The Story of the Weeping Camel

In the cold, windswept deserts of Mongolia, a mother camel rejects her newborn calf, and the nomadic herders to whom the animals belong must perform an ancient ritual to reunite them. Filmmakers Byambasuren Davaa (who grew up in this world) and Luigi Falorn (Italian) developed this "narrative documentary"--a nominally fictional story within a real-life framework--in a German film school and shot it on-the-fly on-location in the Gobi desert with a cast of nonprofessional actors. The wonderfully hammy, scene-stealing camels, and the simple story are mesmerizing enough, but the truly hypnotic aspect of this austerely beautiful film is the exoticness of its landscape, both geographical and cultural. An adventure in ethnographic filmmaking, The Story of the Weeping Camel introduces us to a people mostly unknown to the outside world, with the added fascination of witnessing how they accommodate and/or refuse the intrusion of new technology and encroaching civilization (there's something ironic and at the same time beautiful about a satellite dish sitting next to a yurt in one of the most remote regions on the planet). The herders' devotion to and dependence upon their animals, as well as their stubborn clinging to a harsh land, will be alien to many viewers; a young boy's excitement over seeing video games in town--a two-day camel ride away--won't be. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include a photo gallery. Bottom line: a disappointing extras package for a wonderful film that begs for a behind-the-scenes commentary or featurette.] (M. Johanson)