SWEETGRASS (Ilisa Barbash/Lucien Castaing-Taylor) Rating: NNN
This Doc Soup entry begins with a one-minute take of a sheep snacking on grass and then bleating for the camera. Except for a fascinating early sequence in which sheep get shorn industrial-style and a few lambs are birthed, the opening shot reflects what you can expect from this doc tracking the last time a mammoth flock of sheep was herded across the mountains of Montana. The animals are, well, sheep, eating, nursing and following along the sometimes not so clear trail.
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Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor are only slightly interested in the experience of the herders, a fairly dim crew with apparently no personal relationships except with their dogs, who really do all the work.
Sweetgrass is a hypnotically gorgeous thing, though. Too bad there’s a little dip in the last half-hour, despite the fact that it features the film’s only tense moment – the appearance of hungry bears. Screens Wednesday (April 14) at the Bloor.
