Sweetgrass

At one point in this wonderful work, the camera is high in the Montana Beartooths above the cowboys with their 3000 sheep coming up the mountain for some good-weather grazing. The woolies are getting to be all over the place and you see a lone cowboy in the saddle with the help of a few sheepdogs corraling the herd purely by the way he moves his horse around and by the calls he makes. Gracefully and neatly he tightens up the herd and turns it in the direction he wants the little bleaters to go. He creates a fence invisible 'round his woolies.

It's that kind of skill, no, art that is so evident in these guys: keeping order in the herd, whittling rough branches for the spines of their tents, sleeping with one ear open for sounds of bear and wolverine, sharpshooting in the night aided only by lamp. These guys do it all and well. They can also midwife a ewe in the crisis of giving birth, find an udder for an orphaned lamb and cleanly, expertly fleece these critters when the wool is heavy.

These cowboys never get rich inspite of a bagful of skills and talents that leave the viewer in respectful admiration. Watching the travail of these guys makes you realize you have never in your life known the true meaning of "hard work."

This is a documentary without any taped-on background music and without any warm-toned narrator telling you what you're seeing. Not even Morgan Freeman. The footage tells the story without extraneous aids. The absence of other noise is welcome. This piece is awesome but it's also funny, not just in the humanity of the cowboys. There's some real comic talent among those woolies, too. Jim Smith

This is like slipping into a pastoral dream. The wind. The constant braying of sheep. The idle bits of conversation between the mostly stoic herders. The crack of guns at hungry bears in the middle of the night. That's all the soundtrack offers. These things bleed together and lay over one stunning image after another, meticulously documenting every stage of the caring for and herding of sheep. From birthing new ones to sheering to feeding and then, eventually, to herding a seaming ocean of the creatures across an epic, punishing mountain range. Through it all we witness the exchange between man and animal as horse, dog, bear, sheep and human play out a slow symbiotic struggle to be and do. In its execution and honesty it's literally on a par with the Maysles Grey Gardens. A true document, artfully done and completely free of artifice.

Sweetgrass is a documentary, literally: a document of a particular place, time and events. There's no narration, no host or guide, and seemingly no attempt to edit the footage to tell a story. Each scene appears to be chosen because it illuminates the subject, rather than for drama.

The camera records a group of sheep farmers and herders preparing a flock and getting them across the mountains. The focus is on everyday details of animal tending and herding, straightforward and unsentimental. The people working with the sheep seem mostly unconscious of the cameras, just going about their business. It's like seeing into another life.

Of course, it's another life that's centered around sheep. If that sounds boring, this probably isn't the film for you, because that's all there is to it, and it's slow-paced. It's very different from Discovery Channel style documentaries that try to teach and entertain. There's no Mike Rowe here to relate everything he's doing to you so that you can understand what's going on.

But there's something to be said for just watching things happen.

The movie isn't trying to reach out and explain itself to you, and that enables it to draw you in, if you're willing to go along for the ride.

and call it beautiful, then I can see enjoying this film. Yes, it is well done....The camera work is really wonderful. What I'm not seeing is how this is anything but what it should be, an anti wool clothing piece. Good god, they abuse the sheep with shears and send them stripped into the snowy winter. Not a single scene where these guys treat any of these animals with respect.

Sorry, I'm actually watching it right now, and I understand there is ignorance at play, but these are horrible human beings.

Enjoy the "Magnificent... Wonderful... Astonishingly beautiful..." "Nature overwhelms the screen and even minds."

Really?

Though at the time it seemed a bit slow in parts, I thoroughly am reliving wonderful moments in this film. It is simply about a season of sheep herding. Very little dialog - no fill-in music or annoying narration. Just sheep, and their ranchers. The scenery is beautiful. I would love to see this movie on a huge screen with HD to truly enjoy the Montana mountains. But it is grand. There are a few squeamish moments - but it's all in the life cycle of a sheep. We get to share in the boredom, excitement, and frustration of the sheep herders in a very personal way that I'm sure has never been shown before. It is a jewel of a movie and definitely worth the time if you have a chance to see it.