The Cave of the Yellow Dog (2005)

Touches You

Highly Overrated But Still Good

A Masterpiece!

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

The director of The Story Of The Weeping Camel takes a different look at life in the Mongolian wilderness, having previously followed a family of nomadic shepherds and their camels to award-winning success.Whether or not you've seen Weeping Camel, this story stands proudly as a parable of life's possibilities and limitations, and how we must all come to terms with them – wherever we live. Yes, the plot is fictional but the family – and their environment – is real. Nansal's natural performance is particularly impressive at such a young age – her resourcefulness and charm bestow an irresistible screen presence. And, for their part, the parents contribute a nicely judged supporting role, revealing just what it takes to bring up a family in the wilderness. And the dog? Oh, yes, he's cute. You can see why Nansal wants to keep him.A delightful, fascinating and thoughtful docu-drama that will stay with you long after those dramatic mountain scenes have faded from view. CS

Byambasuren Davaa, a Mongolian ex-pat filmmaker living in Germany, here follows up his 2004 documentary masterpiece, "The Story of the Weeping Camel," with another tale about the daily lives of a real nomadic shepherd family – the Batchuluuns – that live on the isolated Mongolian veld."Weeping Camel" featured an intense drama, chock full of suspense, when a postpartum camel rejects its albino newborn, thereby threatening its life. "Yellow Dog" offers no comparable crisis or suspense. It is in fact more than anything a sweet children's story. The older daughter, Nansal, who's around 9, finds a stray pup to dote on as a pet. But her father, Urjindorj, wants the dog – Zocher - lost pronto, fearing that it was raised by wolves that might show up and slaughter the family's goats. Will Nansal get to keep her beloved pooch? There is a brief yet dangerous turning point in this story, one that modifies Urjindorj's attitude.The story, which, like "Camel," also provides allusions to the supernatural beliefs of these people, takes place over a summer, and, as autumn draws close, we have the opportunity to witness the step by step dismantling of the family's commodious yurt and its furnishings, as they prepare to migrate to more propitious winter grazing land. It's a far cry from car camping. (In Mongolian & German) My grades: 7/10 (high B). (Seen on 12/09/06)

Quite simply, "The Cave Of The Yellow Dog" is a wonderful film: it is heart-warming, life-affirming. It is simple, touching, unpretentious, with a documentary quality to it (how do people live there); it came as no surprise to see on the closing credits that this is a genuine family. Very probably non-professional actors (how could the small children act?). I saw it twice in two days and on second viewing, one can appreciate its subtle construction, how small details pave the way for slight plot twists: more going on under the surface than it originally looks like. For instance the reason behind the father's reluctance; the mixing of dogs and wolves; the people's economic conditions; the (potentially dangerous) presence of vultures in the background, and so on, all of which get to play a part at some later stage. Just go and see it, this film is an utter breath of fresh air. Beautiful ethnic music as well.

Critics seem to have missed an important underlying message of the film: the life of the nomads is incompatible with the modern world and it is inescapable for this particular family, no matter how much they may want to move on. From the moment the returned child builds up the heap of dried dung to resemble flats we know she longs for the town. The parents talk of moving there when their daughter returns to school, but the father cannot earn enough to support them. His herdsmen friends talk of the number of people already gone. There is a lot of symbolism here, of which the melted scoop is only one, as well as spoken hints of a fate that traps people within it. As the older sibling tells the baby, 'You can't play with God.' (or, apparently, alter fate)The basket becomes a prison - literally, when the girl places it over the dog at one point - and the world of the steppes is dangerous, full of wolves, vultures and even storms. For all it's picturesque scenery and domestic charm, this is a redundant life, for which any political change will come too late; only the children will have a chance to leave - the symbolic yellow dog(s) of the wise woman's story, which the parents will need to sacrifice.