No sex, no drugs, no violence, no swearing, no hot women, no hot guys (for the ladies of course), no pimping vehicles, no weapons, no architecture, no death. The Story of the Weeping Camel contains none of these, and therefore is not a film for everyone.

The vast majority may prefer to sit back in front of their grand HDTV, while pumping out 5.1 sound from their high spec THX sound system, watching the latest generic DVD blockbuster featuring cool special effects, sex and violence ad nauseum; if this sounds like you, step away from the review now and try something else.

For everyone else, The Story of the Weeping Camel is a plodding, but charming slice of life; the focus being one particular group of nomadic people living away from so-called civilisation. The opening of the film is given to one of the elder people, who gives a short folk tale on how the camel lost it’s antlers. It’s amusing, but endearing.

The Story of the Weeping Camel, quite obviously, contains a lot of camels and farm animals. The weeping itself doesn’t make it’s presence until later on in the film. In the meantime, we’re given a look at how these people live, how they manage their animals, and how they manage without the luxuries that we have. It’s humbling to watch.

What I found intriguing was the manner in which this film was made. Although presented as a documentary, it’s very blatantly rehearsed. The family is very well aware of the camera, and yet tries not to make eye contact. This is mean to give the impression of the camera not being there. It works really well for the most part, but that illusion is broken when everyone else, who are just bystanders do not conform to those rules; staring and trying to get into the camera, curious to understand what it is they’re filming.

There are things that could not have been rehearsed. Most notably the birth of colts (baby camels) during filming. No doubt they practiced what they were going to do, but when the birth does happen, it’s gruesome and amazing in equal measure. The first birth is hardly shown, but the mother and child bond almost immediately. The film focuses around the difficult second birth, where the colt turns out to be white, and the mother completely rejects the child for days on end. What happens in the end is mind bogglingly amazing, if true. I’ve never seen an animal cry before, and it was strange, but really astonishing to see.

Along with the tale of the rejected colt, there is the sub story of the life of the mongols. They reject all but the basic of technological advances; the only thing they seem to have is a radio and a pair of binoculars. Grandpa’s radio needs new batteries, and so he sends the elder child (Dude) to travel for miles on end, on a camel to buy the D class batteries for the radio. The youngest male child (Unga) also wants to go along, He’s a persistent little sod, but I had to smile when I watched this (probably 8 or 9 years old) midget calla camel down and ride it across the harsh, parched land.

There is an interesting contrast and conflict between the values of the old, and the forcing of the new. When the Dude and Unga make a pit stop to get some rest, Unga, the youngest, becomes fascinated with television, to which all the other children seem glued to. It’s incredible to watch how an active child, who liked to play with the farm animals, now wants to sit down and stare into the commercial abyss.

Unga sets out, determined to convince his dad to buy him a television. His brother, Dude, tries make Unga ware of the cost of television, but children being children, Unga wants this pretty little box that shows funny images on it’s glass surface. The elders refer to the television as “the devil”, cementing their strong belief in keeping themselves away from what is created in the outside world. The ending, however, is perhaps a glimpse of the strength of the addiction and pressure of the modern world.

Performance and scenarios in The Story of the Weeping Camel is mostly strong, but sometimes unconvincing due to the directly rehearsed nature of those involved. Still, it takes nothing severely away from the beauty of the film, and it’s dedication to rich cinematography, and capturing the moment.

It’s amazing to watch something that is completely different from what we are so used to seeing, and what often we’re provided are artificial glimpses into someone else’s mind. Here we see a part of the world that most of us are unlikely to experience, and it is, as I’ve said, a humbling piece of film making. This isn’t a Michael “I’m an attention whore” Moore film where he pulls the heart strings for entertainment. This film is relatively pure in what it displays, and the wonderful dilemma that occurs between the adult and infant camel is more mesmerising than any mother child relationship you’ve seen in a fictional movie drama..

Verdict: Honest and touching, rigidly scripted documentary on nomadic life in the Gobi desert. A world away from what you know, and worth every penny