Foreign film / Docudrama
2003 / 87 minutes
RATING: 7/10

This is as much drama as documentary because, as film critic Roger Ebert described it, “It uses real people in real places and essentially has them play themselves in a story inspired by their lives. That makes it a ‘narrative documentary,’ according to the filmmakers.”

What we get is a peek inside a Mongolian nomad family during their camel birthing season. The camel of the title takes three days to give birth and then refuses to suckle her calf. It will die unless she changes her mind so two young brothers go off on a 50-kilometer journey to bring back a musician from the closest village. They hope his music will soothe the mother camel into accepting her offspring. The legend is, if the camel does finally start to feed her calf, then that will cause the mother to weep.

Cautions

At one point a little boy is bathed, and we can briefly see him naked from the front.

If you are watching this with little kids, the camel birthing scene might be a little intense – we see the calf delivered, still covered in the membrane and a little bloodied.

Conclusion

This is for the adventurous… and patient. Weeping Camel is too slow for children, and probably most adults, but if you like learning about other people and countries, and are a fan of documentaries, then this is for you, offering an up-close and fascinating look at such a completely different culture. There’s certainly a reason this got a 2005 Oscar nomination for best documentary.

I could only find a low-rez trailer online, but it’ll give you a good feel for the film.