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The Story of the Weeping Camel

The Story of the Weeping Camel (2003)

tomatometer

97

Average Rating: 7.6/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 1

Delightful and strangely moving.

audience

84

liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 5,544

My Rating

Movie Info

A nomadic family in Mongolia's Gobi desert faces a problem when a white camel colt is born in a difficult delivery and the mother rejects it. Repeated efforts by the extended family to get the mother to nurse the colt fail. The colt stands alone and cries for its mother. The family worries that the colt will not survive. Finally, Dude (Enkhbulgan Ikhbayar), the older boy, is sent to a nearby town to find a musician who can perform a "Hoos" ceremony. Little Ugna (Uuganbaatar Ikhbayar) begs to go

Jan 25, 2005

$1.3M

ThinkFilm Inc.

All Critics (108) | Top Critics (30) | Fresh (98) | Rotten (7) | DVD (12)

Chances are, if you're susceptible to this movie's gentle charms, you'll weep when the camel does.

August 20, 2004 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The characters are charming, the colours of the carpets in their yurts colourful and the emphasis on family inescapable.

August 20, 2004 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comment
Globe and Mail
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A simple and radiant piece of humanism.

August 7, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Magazine | Comment
New York Magazine
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While it isn't always easy to get used to the slower natural rhythms this film celebrates, its cumulative effect is undeniable.

July 16, 2004 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | Comment
Orlando Sentinel
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A film of simple rigor and heartfelt emotion.

July 16, 2004 Comment
Denver Rocky Mountain News
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The most sincere and heartfelt camel movie in years, maybe ever.

July 16, 2004 Full Review Source: Denver Post | Comment
Denver Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Exudes a subtle spiritual power.

November 13, 2006 Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | Comment
Lessons of Darkness

This quirky docudrama speaks a more universal language: Who does not feel for a child abandoned by his mother?

September 26, 2006 Comment

Un relato extraordinario, revelador de la naturaleza humana (y animal), a medio camino entre el registro documental y el realismo poético.

June 13, 2006 Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | Comment
Uruguay Total

Beautiful and compassionate tale of nomadic peoples that ranks with the best of Robert Flaherty's documentaries.

January 7, 2006 Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | Comment
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Simple yet charming.

April 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | Comment
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Not a lot happens, but it's different and watchable (in a 'day in the life of a nomad... next on the Discovery Channel' sort of way).

February 11, 2005 Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | Comment

As the film unspools at its slow, observational pace, the effect is almost therapeutic, like sinking into a warm bath.

February 7, 2005 Comment
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Don't know how I feel about what the camel's face does on the DVD's interactive menu, but this docu-realist film remains incredibly transfixing.

January 25, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | Comment
Slant Magazine

As unique as the title animal: unrushed as a donkey, shaggy as a llama, sturdy as a horse — and, it turns out, with a sensitive soft spot for music. Who'd'a thunk?

January 21, 2005 Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide | Comment
Decent Films Guide
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Story of the Weeping Camel

interesting documentary about a nomadic family of camel herders in Mongolia. And it's all about them -- no narration, no talking head "experts". Just a camera following these people around as they share meals, socialize and work. The title refers to a particiular camel who gives birth and then refuses to care for her

March 16, 2011
webalina

Super Reviewer

This was really good.

September 22, 2008
dreamfaeries

Super Reviewer

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Latest News for The Story of the Weeping Camel

October 31, 2006:
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With the sale of independent-minded ThinkFilm last week, can indie film distributors survive without...

January 25, 2006:
SUNDANCE: A Buyer Hunts For "Penguins," "Camels"
Adam Lepzig is on the lookout for marching penguins or weeping camels. More to the point, the...

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Foreign Titles

  • Die Geschichte vom weinenden Kamel (DE)
  • The Story of the Weeping Camel (Die Geschichte vom weinenden Kamel) (CA)
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