Movie Minded

Movie by Mongolian filmmaker Byambasuren Davaa about a little girl and her desire to keep a new-found dog.

The movie follows the life of the Mongolian nomad Batchuluun family of five people: Father (Urjindorjyn Batchuluun), mother (Daramdadi Buyandulam), oldest daughter Nansal (Nansal Batchuluun), youngest daughter Nansalmaa and young son Babbayar.

The story starts when five-year old Nansal returns from boarding school to her family. The family lives in a yurt, a portable tent, and keeps livestock including sheep and goats. Father is worried because a few sheep have been killed by wolves.

While collecting dung Nansal discovers a cave in which she finds a young dog. She brings the dog home and names it “Zochor”. Her father is afraid the scent of the dog may attract wolves and leads them from the cave to their livestock.

When the father leaves to the near town to sell sheep pelts, he asks his wife to get rid of the dog. Her mother sends Nansal to graze the herd, but gets lost when she follows Zochor, who has walked away. When the herd returns without Nansal, her mother goes out looking for her.

In the meantime Nansal and Zochor find shelter from the storm in the yurt of a nice old woman, who feeds her and tell her the tale of the Cave of the Yellow Dog. In this story a yellow dog is trapped in a cave with no exit by a man to cure his daughter’s illness. Soon, her mother finds her and Nansal is taken home.

The father is angry when the dog is still with the family. When it’s time to move on, all family members help to dismantle the yurt and pack their belongings onto five carts. The father ties the dog so it won’t follow them.

Nansal, supposed to watch her little brother, but is distracted by Zochor, making the family leave without him. After a while his disappearance is noticed and the father immediately returns on his horse, finding his son just saved from a group of vultures by Zochor who has managed to break free.

The movie has a simple, almost non-present storyline. We just see a glimpse of a Mongolian nomad family living their life. This is all compensated by the beautiful Mongolian scenery and the cuteness factor of Nansal. It’s actually a relief to see a movie where so little happens giving us the opportunity to pay extra attention to the cinematographic details and photography.

Knowing the family playing the characters actually is a family and most shots aren’t scripted or planned adds to the beauty of the movie. I read a comment on the IMDB Board the filmmakers just waited for things to happen. Big thumbs up for the director and crew transforming this raw material into an enjoyable movie.

Little girl Nansal is so adorable and cute in this movie. I want one!