The technical quality of the film [The Grasslands] is excellent; these film-makers are skilled and know their craft and their audience well. The sound track is well produced and clear, and the ambience of the place and its people comes through in a pleasantly unobtrusive way. C. Ikels
56 minutes Colour 1988
Film maker: Peter Entell
This two part film focusses on Mongols living in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. Both sections would be excellent as teaching aids, particularly when accompanied by appropriate literature. The cinematography is stunning, evoking a strong mixture of the power of the environment-the expanse of the desert and grasslands-and the will of the people who live there.
PART ONE-THE GRASSLANDS
28 minutes
The Grasslands follows the life of a nomadic Mongol family on their year's journey following their herds across northern China. This section portrays a traditional view of Mongolian life. Catalogue number (VHS): RA/VHS178.
****
PART TWO-THE DESERT
28 minutes
The second part of the film, The Desert, gives a more contemporary view of Mongols attempting to reclaim the desert in the more sedentary lifestyle currently encouraged by the Chinese government. This second section brings in disturbing environmental questions regarding the destruction of these northern grasslands. Catalogue number (VHS): RA/VHS178.
*****
C. Ikels, 1989. Review of the film. American Anthropologist, Vol. 91, pp. 838-39.
S. Jagchid and P. Hyer, 1979. Mongolia's Culture and Society. Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado.
O. Lattimore, 1951. Inner Asian Frontiers of China. American Geographical Society, New York.
O. Lattimore, 1962. Nomads and Commissars: Mongolia Revisited. Oxford University Press.
O. Lattimore, 1975. Mongol Journeys. AMS Press, New York.
H. Schwartz (ed.), 1979. Studies of Mongolia: Proceedings of the First North American Conference on Mongolian Studies. Center for East Asian Studies, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA.
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