Mongolia filmed at the height of a child

THE OPINION OF THE “WORLD” – MUST SEE

In the Mongolian steppe, 12-year-old Amra (Bat-Ireedui Batmunkh) goes to school and prepares for the selections of a televised singing competition that, if he wins, would take him to the capital, Ulan Bator. , and would bring him notoriety. Because, at home, we do not ride on gold. Zaya (Enerel Tumen), his mother, takes care of the herd of goats and the making of cheeses. His father, Erdene (Yalalt Namsrai), a mechanic by trade, is the last of the nomads to oppose mining companies that pollute the environment and drive people off their land.

Life, however, is happy, full of ancestral grace. It is hardly if the (absurd) presence of cell phones holds our attention so much, all around, the landscapes are immense and their striking beauty. Motionless and unchanging, they give the film a slow pulse.

Days that pass

The accident does not prevent. It occurs while driving home from school. The car overturned with one turn of the wheel, in a cloud of dust, instantly killing Erdene while, in the passenger seat, Amra survives. Safe and sound except that her childhood is gone, and with it dreams of fame. The young boy believes he can grow up in a day. A little man who does not give up, determined to continue the fight of his father and to provide, from now on, to the needs of his mother and his little sister. The story beats at a different pace, changes tone, laughter and songs are silent.

The story beats at a different pace, changes its tone, the laughter and the songs are silent

After The story of the crying camel (2003), The Mongolian yellow dog (2005) and The Two Horses of Genghis Khan (2009), all awarded many times, Byambasuren Davaa returns to his work on the profession, pushing his exploration of Mongolia through another child’s eyes, another family, just as endearing as the previous ones.

New variation on the days that pass, hanging from a yurt and the good management of a herd as the expansion of the modern world threatens, the feature film The Roots of the World is placed at child’s height, to grasp, in a single gesture, the vastness of the earth and its fragility. The film embraces the infinitely small and the infinitely large, combines sensitivity and beauty, creates vibrations with tiny nuances, the sum of which ends up reviving the beating of the heart.

German and Mongolian film by Byambasuren Davaa. With Bat-Ireedui Batmunkh, Enerel Tumen, Yalalt Namsrai (1 h 37). www.lesfilmsdupreau.com/prog.php?code=rdm