No Where Near The Depth of Weeping Camel

I'm sure it's possible that other work by this amazing director is better. I've never seen weeping camel but put it on my rental queue as soon as I read your post. Having said that, I haven't seen as good a film as yellow dog in a very long time and I think it would be difficult to out-do it by 'much' as you say

I loved this movie but agree with your remark. When I Netflixed this and watched an interview with the director she explained how they had to let the family dictate the story since she didn't want to force them to do anything they normally wouldn't do. The little actress who played the daughter told the director that "I don't want to play with you anymore (meaning the film crew) and to leave her alone! They had to shoot around her until she presumedly came around.

I agree. Plus I would have liked the movie a whole better if they hadn't left that poor little dog tied up all alone to be eaten by vultures. Luckily that didn't happen, but it could well have.

It also blows me away that they could leave their little boy behind like something out of a Chevy Chase movie. That also brings to mind last year's real-life incident of Mitt Romney going on vacation and driving down the freeways with his dog packed in a crate on top of his SUV. Oi.

I thought it was as powerful as Weeping Camel because it demonstrated that there are no differences between Westernized, modernized, industrialized societies and nomadic societies.

Yellow Dog reminds people that people everywhere are essentially the same, experiencing the same exact trials and tribulations, all our experiences are common and shared.

An obvious observation that too many people conveniently ignore when they wish to denigrate other groups of people for cultural/political/religious/unsavoury/invalid reasons.

I loved both films equally, but I do admit the denouément of Weeping Camel was deeply emotional, whereas the ending of Yellow Dog evoked basic relief.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

Let me preface this minor complaint by saying I did like this movie. It was good, but could've been great, IMO.

I have yet to see "Weeping Camel," but I really do hope that it is better than "The Cave of the Yellow Dog." I was really looking forward to the latter, and for the first two-thirds of the film, I was more than pleased with what I had seen. But then came the fish-out-of-water, unnecessary "dramatic" rescue of the boy (and the dog). It was an awkward stretch--an dramatic device that, for me, betrayed the realism that was on display for the majority of the picture--that should never have been included. The film would have been better served by axing the Lassie-esque climax and simply ending the film with the family pulling away in their wagons from the former campsite and the tied-up dog; a much more likely conclusion in nomadic Mongolia than a tiny pooch fending off a horde of hungry vultures who have decided to make a meal out of the family's youngest child (well, fending off the pack of nasty birds just long enough till Ulaan-Bataar Jones/Papa comes flying in to the rescue on his trusty steed). After all, this is "The Cave of the Yellow Dog," and as the old woman relayed to us midway through the film, the legendary yellow dog had to be separated--for good--from the family so that the young girl could recover and move on with her life(and find happiness). Leaving the dog behind would have been truer to reality, truer to the legend for which the film is titled, and, depending on how you view things, could have represented a nice lesson on "the need to sometimes let things go and move on."
Overall, it was a good film (7/10 from me), I just feel that the director had something really special in her grasp and let it slide away with the film's conclusion. Still, my complaints aside, this film was better than 90+% of what you will find out there, so it is worth a watch.

I agree the Weeping Camel is a better film, but this one is still very good.