Cave of the Yellow Dog - Nansalmaa Batchuluun

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Die Höhle des gelben Hundes" )

directed by Byambasuren Davaa
Germany 2005

The nomadic Batchuluun family cross the country with their flock of sheep, settling down temporarily in grazing areas. The mother (Buyandulam Daramdadi) takes care of the yurt, the father (Batchuluun Urjindorj) obtains supplies and sells off the skin of his sheep that have been killed by wolves, eldest daughter (6 year old Nansal Batchuluun) watches the sheep, while the two younger children play. Their traditional way of life is becoming more difficult to maintain (the father tells some fellow travelers that he is losing his flock to the wolves and that more and more nomads are giving up their way of life moving to the cities). When Nansal finds a dog in a cave, she takes it home as a pet, but her father tells her to get rid of it (dogs abandoned by nomadic families are believed to take up hunting along with the wolves). Nansal hides the dog - which she names Zochor - and takes him along when they move on to another grazing spot. When Zochor runs away, Nansal goes in search of the dog and meets an old woman who tells her the story of a dog reincarnated as a human. When Zochor and Nansal return to the family, the father ties up the dog to leave it behind. When their youngest child goes missing on the trek, will Zochor be able to save her from other hunting and scavenging animals? Somewhat of a Mongolian (although German-produced) GODS MUST BE CRAZY, THE CAVE OF THE YELLOW DOG is less overtly funny, but it is often similarly affecting (although the somewhat live-action Disney-fied ending seems contrived compared to the flow of the rest of the film). Director Byambasuren Davaa had previously co-directed the docudrama THE STORY OF THE WEEPING CAMEL.

Eric Cotenas

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Theatrical Release: 28 July 2005 (Germany)

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DVD Comparison:

Palisades Tartan - Region 2 - PAL vs. Tartan Video - Region 1 - NTSC

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for all the Screen Caps!

(Palisades Tartan - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT vs. Tartan Video - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Palisades Tartan Region 2 - PAL	Tartan Video Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime	1:29:45 (4% PAL speedup)	1:30:15 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.77:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 8.64 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 8.35 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Palisades Tartan
Bitrate: Tartan Video
Audio	Mongolian DTS 5.1, Mongolian Dolby Digital 5.1, Mongolian Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo	Mongolian DTS-ES 6.1; English DTS 5.0; Mongolian Dolby Digital 5.1; Mongolian Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
Subtitles	English, none	English, Spanish, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Palisades Tartan Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.77:1 Edition Details: • Interview with Byambasuren Davaa (16:9; 12:44) DVD Release Date: 5 July 2010 Amaray Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: Tartan Video Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Interview with Byambasuren Davaa (16:9; 12:44) • Theatrical Trailer (4:3; 3:11) DVD Release Date: 13 February 2007 Amaray Chapters 14

Comments

Although the film is spoken in Mongolian, it is a German production, so the provided master was in PAL and Palisades Tartan gives us a progressive, dual-layer, anamorphic transfer (the OOP Tartan UK 2006 DVD is presumably the same transfer). Both transfers of this 16mm blow-up feature minor edge enhancement but Tartan Video's R1 release is also a PAL-NTSC conversion. The US release features same director's interview as an extra, but also adds a trailer for the feature.

The Mongolian DTS track is a 6.1 DTS-ES track while the DTS on the UK is only 5.1. An optional 5.0 English dub (mislabeled 5.1) is exclusive to the US DVD, but it is DTS-encoded only, meaning - for better or worse - that viewers without a DTS setup cannot access this track. Although the English track is half-bitrate, it still takes a chunk out of the bitrate available for the picture (but the disc is dual-layer and there is only one significant extra). Overall, the Palisades Tartan UK disc is preferred.

- Eric Cotenas

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(Palisades Tartan - Region 2 - PAL - LEFT vs. Tartan Video - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)