Introduction
The Story of the Weeping Camel is a movie produced by Tobias Siebert. It was officially released in 2004 and distributed by New Yorker Films Think Film. The movie, directed by Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni runs for one hour and twenty seven minutes. The producer chose to shoot the movie in Gobi desert, Mongolia. Mongolia is a landlocked socialist republic in central Asia. Gobi desert is home to several generations of nomadic families that keep camels. The communities in the desert live in prehistoric days as they still use a cashless economy. Families that live in the desert belong to the same clan, which has a number of elders.
In the first scenes of the movie, a clan elder narrates a story that explains the reason as to why their camels weep. According to the elder, camels are responsible for antlers found in a certain member of the deer family. Long time ago a deer borrowed the antler, which was initially given to the camels to attend a festival. However, the deer failed to return the antler after the festival, thus leaving the camel without one. This made the camels to start weeping hoping that the deer will one day appear and bringing back the antler. This phenomenon made the birthing season of camels to be a high profile occasion in the community, as everyone stays on high alert to see whether any newborn calf will have antler.
The plot
Film experts describe this movie as a narrative documentary due to the fact that it uses real people sharing a story created out of their own individual inspirations. The producer uses real people to play animal characters, an element that makes the movie to be very enjoyable. Some of the cast include Ingen Temee as the mother camel, Botok as the baby camel, Odgerel Ayusch as Odgoo, and Enkhbulgan Ikhbayar as Dude. The story of the movie focuses on the life of a nomadic family that has to deal with a unique crisis after one of their camels delivers a rare calf, and then rejects it.
The calf is white in color and its mother refuses to nurse it, prompting community members to summon one of their primordial customary practices used in solving such issues. Desperate attempts to feed the baby camel by hand or force the mother to allow it to suckle do not bear any meaningful results. The owner of the camel chooses to engage the services of a traditional musician. The ritual is used to coax the mother camel to accept and take care of the calf, which the community is desperate to rescue. According to clan elders, the camel will weep if the musician coaxes it to accept and nurse the calf. This phenomenon leaves most community members confused because no one understands whether it’s the agonizing delivery or the strange looks of the calf that made the mother camel to act in such a weird manner.
Arguments and themes from the movie
The producer uses camels to showcase the rich dynamism of nomadic communities with regard to their respect for various age groups and life in general. Despite their prehistoric ways of life, the nomadic families have bright people who understand the importance of making the right decisions and the benefits they get. They show a great spirit of togetherness and responsibility towards each other. If anyone within the clan encounters a misfortune, everyone in the community plays an active role of helping the victim to recover. The producer also uses the camels to emphasize the concept of wealth. In nomadic communities, wealth is determined by the size of one’s camel heard and the ability to survive through tough times without losing some of their possessions.
It is important for someone to identify his or her wealth and ensure that one works towards maintaining it. The situation in Mongolia today is very different with regard to economic growth and quality of life. For example, the mining boom in the country has helped to achieve economic growth and political stability. The growth of the mining sector has also created numerous job opportunities. It is also important to note the way the producer highlights the existence of ties between human beings and animals. The connection builds upon the nurturing nature of human beings towards animals, a phenomenon that plays a crucial role in making life an enjoyable experience.
The producer develops the theme of spirituality and culture throughout the movie. When the camel rejects its own calf, community members turn to their culture to find a solution to the crisis. They believe that a traditional musician has the power to make the camel accept her own calf. The ritual turns out to be a success, as the camel embraces her calf and allows it to draw milk on its own. In addition, the producer uses the movie to showcase the traditions and cultural beliefs of ancient people as a way of reminding the viewer about human evolution. Another theme developed by the producer in the movie is that of trust. The young calf represents the way new members in a community get the trust of their newly found family members. Trust plays a crucial role in the growth of families, as shown by the nomadic community living in the desert. There is a great feeling of trust within the community, especially when everyone makes the effort to see to it that the calf gets good care.
Modernization is another theme developed in the movie. The producer focuses some scenes on highlighting the way life has changed over the years. A sharp contrast between ancient lifestyle and the modern way of life is drawn when Ugna and his brother Dude, go to the neighboring village to look for a traditional musician. Ugna shows his astonishment at the kind of life in the town compared to that in their nomadic village. The only source of entertainment in the village was the stories told by their parents and grandparents, while in town people watched television as a source of entertainment. Life in town is more enjoyable and lively, an indication of the effect of modernization on the quality of life.
For example, a report in 2011showed that the mining boom in the country has improved people’s lives through increased accessibility to water. The mining company provides water, especially to people in Gobi desert. Officials of Rio Tinto, which is the lead mining company in the country, have also mobilized people to adopt water conservation strategies. The company also recycles its waste water as a way of regulating pollution.
Technical aspects and the favorable audience for the movie
One of the notable technical aspects of this movie is the good quality of the images. The quality of images plays a crucial role in determining the level of satisfaction achieved by the viewer. Interestingly, Mongolian herders fail to show concern over the presence of cameras in their presence just like the camels do. Another technical aspect of the movie is the patience shown by the producer in allowing the viewer to have a good understanding of the various themes. The scenes are lengthy, thus giving the viewer enough time to understand the story.
Symbolism is another technical aspect that makes this movie to have an interesting and unique effect. Camels are symbolic in this movie, and the producer uses them effectively to develop all the themes. The manner in which the community treasures their camels as their main source of wealth and motivation to hold on in life makes it easy for the viewer to relate the same scenarios with his or her own life. This movie gives an indistinct representation of both a fiction story and a narrative documentary. The producer effectively blended real and unrehearsed content through a delightful story. The viewer gets to understand the whole dynamic nature of the mother-child connection.
The producer of this movie targets a variety of audiences. However, from the manner in which the story is developed and narrated using a young boy, it would be easily enjoyed by children. Intelligent children would find this movie to be highly fascinating, as they can easily relate with the thinking style and interests shown by the little boy. In addition, the producer develops the plot in a manner similar to the way stories told to children are narrated. Children can relate a lot to this movie because the whole family unit consisting of the grandparents, parents, and babies is incorporated throughout the story. The movie basically gives the viewer a first hand experience about the reality of life. The movie serves as an interesting and insubstantial prompt of the innumerable ways in which people live on the planet. The viewer relates the events in the movie to real life situations.