Die Salzmänner von Tibet

For a modern Westerner, it is hard to imagine that people ever lived this way ... let alone, that some still do. This film reminds me a little of The Fast Runner (about the Inuits) in its foreignness and matter-of-fact superstition. This is probably like how most of our ancestors lived in medieval times.

It's a real eye-opener about a commodity (salt) that we so take for granted. And also about how little of everything it is possible to get by on.

The film moves slowly because the protagonists move slowly. Some of the dialogue is incredibly tedious and mundane, thus winds up being a defect or detraction. On the other hand, the photography is gorgeous, and truly remarkable is the trust and cooperation that the filmmakers received from the saltmen, who shared many of their usually well-hidden cultural secrets.

All in all, well worth watching even if a bit over-long.