Sweetgrass (2009)

96% of critics liked it
(56 reviews)
68% of users liked it
(447 ratings)

Filmmakers Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor continue their work capturing the stark beauty and danger of the Western landscape with this documentary. With only a soundtrack as narration, Sweetgrass tracks shepherds through Montana as they take their flocks on the long trek to the Beartooth… More Filmmakers Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor continue their work capturing the stark beauty and danger of the Western landscape with this documentary. With only a soundtrack as narration, Sweetgrass tracks shepherds through Montana as they take their flocks on the long trek to the Beartooth Mountains. ~ Kimber Myers, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 45 min.
Directed By: Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Castaing-Taylor
Genres: Documentary, Western, Special Interest

In Theaters: Sep 26, 2009 Wide
On DVD: Aug 3, 2010
Studio: Cinema Guild

Critic Reviews

Jason Anderson, Toronto Star
If there's anything we can learn from the creatures here, it's that any day in which you don't get stripped of your coat or eaten by a bear is probably a good one.
Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail
There are audience rewards for sticking with the herd and its lonesome cowboys.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
It's a gorgeous and, believe it or not, riveting documentary...about sheep.
Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News
It may not be your thing, but Sweetgrass is unlike anything you'll see in a theater this year. It bravely strays from the flock.
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Filmmakers Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor rigorously follow the cinema-verité creed: no sonorous Morgan Freeman voiceovers, no explanatory intertitles until the finale, just carefully observed reality.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
If you're used to the ADD pace of modern filmmaking, Sweetgrass will probably drive you crazy. If you can adjust, it could widen your soul.
Alistair Harkness, Scotsman
As it progresses it begins to strike a subtly elegiac, unsentimental tone...
, Total Film
Unadorned by narrative or score, it's an unsentimental portrayal of a fading way of life and the peaceful creatures under its charge.
Sukhdev Sandhu, Daily Telegraph
A tenaciously observed and a quietly absorbing ethnography about a pair of shepherds leading some 3,000 sheep on a 150-mile journey up into Montana's Absaroka-Beartooth Mountains for summer pasture.
Philip French, Guardian [UK]
The images, including sheep on the move up near vertical hills, are remarkable, the landscape spectacular, the unsentimental account of back-breaking, backside-aching work impressive.
David Edwards, Daily Mirror [UK]
If Avatar was last year's best-looking film, 2011's award may well go to a documentary shot for small change concerning sheep. No, really.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
This beautiful and hypnotic documentary shows the agony and the ecstasy of herding sheep up into Montana's Beartooth mountains for the summer pasture.
Dominic Radcliffe, Little White Lies
It would be foolish not to experience this film.
Derek Malcolm, This is London
I have no doubt that, come the end of the year, Sweetgrass will be on the "10 Best" lists. It is that memorable for pictorial, cultural and even moral reasons.
Antonia Quirke, Financial Times
Sweetgrass is probably the definition of niche, but one dedicated to some of the highest ideals of film: it brings us information from a place we've never been, and with a rapturous innocence.
Jeffrey Chen, Window to the Movies
The movie is decidedly no frills, and it both lives and dies by this strict adherence to its protocol.
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
A documentary of uncommon elegance and abstract expression... What always impresses about the movie is its here-and-nowness.
Jennifer Merin, About.com
Sweetgrass is a film of record about the American West. It documents, pays tribute to a fast-fading way of life. You want 'True Grit?' This is it!
Robert Roten, Laramie Movie Scope
Entertaining, despite its slow pace and general lack of dialogue and music. It is plain, but strong.
Christopher Long, Movie Metropolis
An intoxicating audiovisual experience and a sprawling story that encompasses nothing less than the seasons, birth and death.

Read all 22 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Walter M

"Sweetgrass" is a stunningly photographed documentary about the process of sheep farming in Montana. The movie keeps the human subjects at a distance, giving us little chance to really get to know any of them. Instead, the natural scenery and the sheep are the true stars… More
"Sweetgrass" is a stunningly photographed documentary about the process of sheep farming in Montana. The movie keeps the human subjects at a distance, giving us little chance to really get to know any of them. Instead, the natural scenery and the sheep are the true stars here and the one who looks directly into the camera knows that. In fact, he would like to file a complaint with his union representative about the working conditions. Yeah about that. Not much has changed in this profession since the 19th century. The cowboys still ride horses, camp out under the stars and rely on dogs for a lot of help in keeping the sheep in line. Cell phones are about the only indication that this is now the 21st century. And I should warn those of you expecting lots and lots of footage of cute sheep roaming around the mountains that there is a gruesome shot of an eviscerated sheep which speaks to the difficulty and frustration for the cowboys which is expressed in the most colorful language heard since "Deadwood" went off the air.