At the beginning of The Story of the Weeping Camel, a film that chronicles the daily life of a family of shepherds in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia, one of the elders tells the story of the weeping camels. At one time, he says, a camel loaned his antlers to a deer but they were never returned causing the camels to look to the horizon with tears in their eyes, hoping that their antlers will be returned. It is the spring and the time for camels to give birth. One of the camels has a painful birth and the family members help the distraught camel by pulling a beautiful white colt from her womb.Almost immediately, it seems that the camel has rejected her young for reasons unknown but perhaps because it was such a difficult delivery. Although the members of the clan make every effort to bring the mother and her offspring who they have named "Botok" together, their efforts produce no results and the picture of the baby wandering alone longing for his mother is heartbreaking. The film, however, is not a sad one. It radiates the purity of the simpler life that has gone on for centuries and the ties that nurture a family, their responsibilities and the traditions that they share. Great grandmother Chimed cooks the milk and cares for the family's young granddaughter while her mother Odgoo works with the animals and the family treats the young lambs as pets.Nothing works to bring mother and baby camel together until an ancient ritual is performed. The family's two young sons Dude and Ugna are sent on a trip by camel of what appears to be several miles to the regional tribal center at Aimak. There they request that the music teacher come to their tents to perform a ritual where the teacher will play the violin and the boys' mother will sing to the camel. The ritual was learned by Luigi Falorni, a film student in Germany, from a fellow student, a Mongolian, and they both traveled to the Far East to make the film, in the tradition of Robert J. Flaherty's Nanook of the North.At Aimak, the boys are introduced to a touch of the modern world - TV, motorcycles, and computer games. Ugna buys an ice cream and batteries for his grandfather and when he comes home, he sheepishly asks his family if they would buy him a TV. The ritual performed by the family and the music teacher highlights the healing traditions that families in the area have used for hundreds of years and it is soothing and quite beautiful. The Story of the Weeping Camel is very slow, perhaps too slow for some children, yet is a wonderful learning experience of nurturing and how other cultures live, the feeling of community, and how healing can be performed in ways other than taking two pills before bedtime.

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.

This is a fantastic movie.I smiled and cried all the way through this film.The colors.The pictures.Not many words.Very meditative and uplifting.I have it on DVD and I can watch it again and again.The story is simple and touching.The camel mother refuse to take care of its baby and leave it when it tries to suck milk.After several days of trying different things the owners of the camel a Mongolian family realize that the baby camel wont survive if they don't do something very soon.So they sent out two of the youngest boys of the family to a town for help and for some batteries for their transistor radio.I can really recommend this film.