SWEETGRASS (UK/USA/France 2009) ***1/2
Recorded by Lucien Castaing-Taylor

In the summer of 2003, a group of shepherds took a herd of sheep one final time through the Beartooth Mountains of Montana, in the extreme northwest of the United States. It was a journey of almost 300 kilometers through expansive green valleys, by fields of snow, and across hazardous, narrow ridges - a journey brimming with challenges. The aging shepherds do their very best to keep the hundreds of sheep together; the panoramic high mountains are teeming with hungry wolves and grizzly bears. 

This is the story of man, beast and nature as recorded by Lucien Castaing-Taylor in all its glory, authenticity and honesty.  The documentary has no narration voiceover or talking heads.  It is more of a recording than a direction.  From observation of what is recorded visually and from the dialogue heard from the mouths of the cowboys (one has to listen a bit hard owing to the accent and low recording), one can determine what is going on and the effect can be at times, mesmerizing.