It’s a whole different animal

When you have international success with a film starring a camel, it’s a hard act to follow, but Mongolian filmmaker Byambasuren Davaa, co-director of the Academy Award-nominated “The Story of the Weeping Camel,” makes the most of her follow-up, “The Cave of the Yellow Dog.” Returning to the same blend of fiction and nonfiction that struck a chord with audiences of “Camel,” Davaa has made a sweetly meditative film that follows a young nomad couple and their three children through their daily lives.

Set in the Altai region of northwestern Mongolia, the ostensible plot of the film involves the family’s oldest daughter, Nansaa, who looks to be about 5 or 6, and the little dog she finds when she’s out collecting firewood. Nansaa would like to keep the dog, whom she names Zochor (Mongolian for colorful), as a pet but comes into conflict with her father, who suspects Zochor is part wolf and is responsible for losses to his livestock.

It’s a classic family dilemma made fresh by the setting and the realistic circumstances. Davaa patiently records the family’s rituals of subsistence, such as making cheese and herding sheep, underlining them with Buddhist precepts of reincarnation and interdependence. Visually, the films’ easy pace benefits from the vast landscapes, which never overwhelm the figures in the foreground. The depiction of the family packing up its yurt, a round, tent-like home, and belongings into a series of wagons with the coming of winter is masterful.

Despite the minimalist storytelling, Davaa hints at other themes on the film’s periphery. She is interested in a society that is by nature constantly in flux, but also alludes to encroaching urbanization and modernization that threaten to change the nomads’ way of life. As with “The Story of the Weeping Camel,” there is an uneasy alliance between humans and nature. Although the synopsis sounds like a Disney film, there are very real threats present to the children. Wolves and vultures pose a danger that has a significant impact on the family.

The family is played by nonprofessionals and Davaa is wise enough not to push them beyond their capabilities. The kids are suitably adorable and the parents heroic in the way they carve out a hardscrabble living.

Because we’ve already been exposed to “Weeping Camel” there’s no way for “The Cave of the Yellow Dog” to have the same impact -- Davaa has already introduced us to Mongolian culture and her style of dramatic documentary.

And the dog is cute but he’s no camel when it comes to performing.

kevin.crust@latimes.com

MPAA rating: unrated. Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes. In Mongolian with English subtitles. In limited release.