Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by tinear (A) on November 06, 2009 at 18:11:28

shepherds. Wow. Zzzzzz you may well think.
And you'd be very wrong. This director's previous film, the highly decorated and Academy Award nominated, "The Story of the Weeping Camel," was a gem.
This film, however, is its superior.
A young girl, the oldest of her nomadic family which scratches a meager existence from the spartan wilderness that is the Mongolian steppes, finds a wild dog and beseeches her family to keep it. Through her eyes, we see the challenges, the intense work and many skills necessary to survive in an ancient lifestyle which now frequently is abandoned for city life.
Quiet, poetic, and with a wisdom seldom reached by far more ambitious fare. The actors, amateurs all, create natural characters (in effect, themselves) which no actor, no matter the skill level, could commensurately portray.
I had expected a simple story, told in a simple way, and which would at best provide a simple pleasure. I am pleased to say I couldn't have been more wrong on all counts.