Die Höhle des gelben Hundes (2005)

Director:

Byambasuren Davaa

Writers:

Byambasuren Davaa (writer)
Michael P. Greco (adaptation)

Release Date:

28 July 2005 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The little nomad girl Nansal finds a baby dog in the mongolian veld, who becomes her best friend - against all rejections of her parents...

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Nomad | Fear | Vulture | Family Life

Awards:

6 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Batchuluun Urjindorj	...	Father
Buyandulam Daramdadi	...	Mother
Nansal Batchuluun	...	Oldest daughter
Nansalmaa Batchuluun	...	Youngest daughter
Babbayar Batchuluun	...	Son
Tserenpuntsag Ish	...	Older woman
Scharav Sumiya	...	First hunter
Battur Lhamsuren	...	Second hunter
Batjargal Ulzidelger	...	Driver

Also Known As:

The Cave of the Yellow Dog (International: English title) (Ireland: English title) (UK)
Der mongolische Hund (Germany) (working title)
Die Höhle des gelben Hundes - Eine Geschichte aus der Mongolei (Germany) (long title)

Runtime:

93 min | Argentina:93 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

Germany

Language:

Mongolian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:6 (canton of Zurich) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | France:U | Argentina:Atp | UK:U | Ireland:G | USA:G | Australia:PG | Germany:o.Al.

Filming Locations:

Inner Mongolia, China

Company:

Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München (HFF)

Quotes:

Oldest daughter: Will I be reborn as a person in my next life?
Old Woman: Come here, I'll show you something.
[dropping a palm-full of rice grains onto an upward needle]
Old Woman: [handing the needle to the girl] Tell me when a grain of rice balance on the tip of the needle.
Oldest daughter: [dropping rice onto the needle for a while]
Old Woman: [chuckles]
Oldest daughter: That's impossible!
Old Woman: See, my child? That's how hard it is to be born again as a person. That's why a human life is so valuable.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "At the Movies: (2006-09-27)" (2006)

This is a wonderful film

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.