SALT MEN OF TIBET

This is a very well-made German/Switzerald-produced documentary about one of the last "saltmen" jouneying to extract heaps of salt on their odyssey. Although different from the portrayals of the fictional Buddha-themed movies such as "7 Years in Tibet" and "Kundan", it's a true story of the relatively rare Tibetans traveling 250-miles from their home for three months to find the holy lake with all rich salts, and based on their tradional culture and religion, they believe the goddess would grant them the huge supply of salt if they were obedient to their gods. Although fascinating, it was mostly tedious because some scenes concentrated on the slow-moving parts such as herds of yaks walking behind a beautiful deserted landscape for a few minutes without even an utter of dialogue. Except for the sky-view camera shot of Tibetans herding the yaks covered by fast-moving cloud shadows, which was absolutely exhilaring to watch. Overall, this is a very good documentary with the rare look at the life and culture of saltmen and a moving tribute to the Tibetans the would would otherwise never see. Documentarian Ulrike Koch said in a post-screening session that she had worked on the documentary for five years and the "saltmen" population has recently declined because of Chinese Communist oppression. Isn't that sad, don't you think?