Sweetgrass
Director: Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor
Year Released: 2009
Rating: 2.5
Barbash and Castaing-Taylor record the 'final trip' Montana sheepherders take with their flock through miles and miles of agonizing and frustrating terrain - it's an ages-old practice that's been (presumably) phased-out by more modern techniques (like, for example, shoving the sheep in the schoolbus and driving their asses to where they need to go). The filmmakers provide no commentary - and the shepherds keep mostly quiet (until one breaks down on the phone, saying the work is too difficult) - in order to leave the 'message' to the viewer, who is presumably to conclude that 'old methods' of doing things aren't always for the best (which seems obvious at least half-way through). The scenery is lovely (I've been to Montana several times via cross-country driving trips with my outdoorsy parents) and cinematic minimalism can be rewarding ... except when it drifts into intellectual laziness.
