Die Höhle des gelben Hundes

I loved this film. The story was slight and simply told but not, as so many people seem to suggest, cutesy, sentimental or manipulative. A little Mongolian girl makes friends with a puppy she finds in a cave; Her father wants her to leave dog where she found it - little girl struggles to keep dog. Dog turns out to be mans best friend after all. Everybody's happy. And Why not?

This film is so beautiful - the rolling steppe, the vast and broody skies, storms, lost children, marauding wolves - lots of excitement - car chases and people screwing and exploding bombs with bits of bodies flying about are not the only excitement available to us thank God.

It is exciting to see a mode of life so totally different to our own and portrayed so honestly and without any moral squint at all. I was enthralled from start to finish. The scene where they take down the yurt and pack up their belongings to move to new grazing - wonderful music by the way - was perfect. And although the film suggested (never preached) that this way of life might not endure for too long I, for one, felt that in spite of the hardships and unrelenting battle with nature involved in their lives, going to work in McDonalds could never be seen as a tempting alternative.

Go and see it.

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.

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.

Following The Story of the Weeping Camel, this is another instalment or chapter documenting a nomadic culture gradually disappearing in Mongolia. By telling the story from a child's perspective, it is very observational, and captures little details that may seem passé to those within the culture, but fascinating to others.

The cinematography and music are both quietly beautiful, creating a nice atmosphere. There is much warmth in the depiction of family life. The film skilfully avoids sentimentality. Like the just-released Offside, the characters are all non-professionals, adding authenticity.

For what it's worth, my five year old son loved it and gave it 10/10 stars.

Its a beautiful, quiet movie about the scenic Mongolian nomad life. It very well befits as, but not only as, a children movie as it doesn't contain any violence or sexual hints. Its above all a praise for a life close to nature and enchants with its depiction of the nomad family life and breathtaking landscape views. The story of the heroine of the movie, a little girl, is quietly told in a manner that Hollywood productions have almost exclusively unlearned. Movies don't need to cost 80 million dollars to be a lasting memory. This little movie has an odd strength to it, probably drawing it from the old Mongolian culture it themes to depict.