A Mongolian Tale

Filmed entirely in Outer Mongolia with Mongolian language dialogue, Chinese director Xie Fei's deeply sentimental portrait of life on the steppes is a gorgeously photographed travelogue of a rarely seen part of the world. But it's rather less successful on a dramatic level. After the death of his mother, Beiyinpalica (Ganghulag) travels to remote Outer Mongolia to live with his foster grandmother, nomadic sheepherder Nai-Nai (Dalarsurong), who is also raising a young girl, Someyer (Bayirtoya). The children grow up best friends, and Nai-Nai encourages them to one day marry, which they promise to do. But when the teenaged Beiyinpalica (Wendillya) returns home from st...