| First entry in a proposed trilogy, Mongol vividly captures the beauty and brutality of ancient Mongolia. Beginning in 1172 and ending in 1206, Sergei Bodrov's Oscar-nominated epic presents future conqueror Ghengis Khan as more lover--and fighter--than diplomat. Against his father Esegui's wishes, nine-year-old Temudjin chooses his own bride, whom he marries in the years to come. Hopes for the future, however, turns to thoughts of vengeance when the clan forsakes the boy upon Esegui's death. While Temudjin (now played by Zatoichi’s Tadanobu Asano, a quietly commanding presence) makes his way in a cruel world, turncoat Targutai (Amadu Mamadakov) becomes the new khan. When an opposing clan kidnaps Temudjin’s wife, Börte (Khulan Chuluun), he eventually retrieves her, but betrays blood brother Jamukha (Sun Honglei, Seven Swords) in the process, leading to further enslavement and more Kurasawa-style slicing and dicing. Throughout his travails, Temudjin comes to believe that Mongols must unite to share the same language, culture, and set of values. Sustained by his faith in the god Tengri and the devotion of Börte, Temudjin sets out to wrest control of Mongolia from Jamukha and his women and children-killing hordes. Except for an over-reliance on CGI during the climactic battle sequence, Mongol equals the scope and grandeur of historical predecessors, like Braveheart and Hero. If much of the cast is Chinese and Japanese, Bodrov, who directed Prisoner of the Mountains, conjures up authenticity through detailed costumes, Mongolian dialogue, and remote Central Asian locations. --Kathleen C. Fennessy |
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 I can't vouch for the historical accuracy... |
| Review Date: September 10, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Andariel Halo, Phenomynouss@hotmail etc is my e-mail |
...but considering the minimal budget (20 million dollars American) and the genuine Mongolian (some areas so isolated that new roads had to be built to get the film crews there) locations filmed, this was a fantastic movie that was well-paced for an introduction to the life of Temudjin, who would become the Genghis Khan.
Despite the low budget, nothing in the movie looks cheaply filmed; everything looks like that of a big budget film six times more expensive, from costumes to makeup (and the craggly dirt buildup on Temudjin during his time in captivity). I don't speak Mongolian, so I can't tell whether the accents spoken are accurately Mongolian, but for an American audience, it was great for authenticity (rather than having them speak Russian or Kazakh).
The movie excels in two particular aspects which really make this one more than just a casual ancient-world flick; the battles and the people.
While Genghis Khan is demonized in the West as a barbarous conqueror, he is seen like a hero in the East, and this movie serves to show him as both and neither, making him more than just black or white, but a fully fleshed out person with ambitions to uniting all the Mongol tribes as one beneath him. He is utterly believable as a human being, fallible, and seemingly very much driven by his love for his wife and children, whom he nevertheless must leave constantly to fulfill his dream.
There is also Jamukha, who manages to be both a piggish, slothy figure, and a noble, loyal friend to Temudjin, when their dreams conflict and they become enemies, with a very painful and realistic portrayal of just why Jamukha would betray Temudjin, and his lack of joy in facing his opponent on a field of battle.
Then there's the battles. As any Ancient/Medieval war movie to be expected, it is bloody. My only annoyances in a puritanic-historian way were the suits of armor, which seemed not to be made of much metal as they would have been in Mongolian times.
Another minor thing that becomes a little excessive, and arguably rather like a recurring joke is shots of blood, showing them being spilled in thousands of thick drops rather than in fountains or bursts of liquid.
The final battle sequence manages to both utilize the Mongolian expertise in archery and cavalry and innovate with something both insanely risky and never before seen in Medieval battle depictions. Likely seen in the trailer, as Jamukha sends the bulk of his cavalry force at Temudjin's center, he unleashes a very small number of thickly armored cavalry, armed with double curves swords, which then rush through the enemy cavalry, using the swords to slash at the enemy's sides like Scythed Chariots.
The armored cavalry is a kamikaze force, as after brutalizing the enemy cavalry, Temudjin has his archers unleash a flood of arrows on the force, killing the cavalry on both sides down to a man.
Overall a great movie, which doesn't sacrifice the macro-story of Genghis Khan and his dream of a Mongol empire for the micro-story of Temudjin's love life. Of which I wrote virtually nothing about. |
Excellent Flick!
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| Review Date: October 11, 2008 |
| Reviewer: J. Davis, Tulsa,OK |
To say this movie is a historical documentary failure would be a shame. What it was to me was a film that was entertaining to watch, with an epic story that got you into the charactors. The cinematography was huge, with beautiful wide shots.
I went to the theater to see this flick not knowing much about it, and I looked at the audience from time to time, one gentlemen was on the edge of his seat! This movie was far better than any other movie about Khan that I've ever seen (including John Waynes). Nobody seems to care that other actors have played Ghenghis throughout the ages, which is to say that I don't know why people are upset a Japanese actor played the role. I thought he did an outstanding job.
I have recommended this film to friends, which typically I don't do and have'nt done in a long time.
I don't know if the DVD will have over-dubs, but the sub-titles were very easy to read in the theater.
I'm giving this movie 5 stars cause it's like an Asian version of Braveheart, which is'nt historically accurate but highly entertaining! |
Takes a Russian to Make a Movie about a Mongol!
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| Review Date: April 27, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Pavel Somov, Ph.D., Author of Eating the Moment: 141 Mindful Practices to Overcome Overeating One Meal at a Time, Pittsburgh, PA, USA |
Kudos to Bodrov! What a movie: piercing and breathtaking as an invasion of mongols itself!
Having grown up as a Russian, furthermore, in Moscow in the Arbat neighborhood literally a two lane street from Mongol Embassy (on what used to be called Voevodin Lane, across school #69), I have always been fascinated with the Mongol culture. Frankly, what Russian wasn't after the three hundred year Mongol-Tartar yoke?!
This isn't the story of conquest, but a story of love, forgiveness, and detachment from the material. Before the great Khan became the man to take away others' freedom he had to find his own. Bodrov's movie is a close up on an undeviating flight of consciousness powered by personal ethics (operating from Kohlberg's highest stage of moral development, that stage in which a mind makes its own rules, balancing on the brink of enlightenment and sociopathy). Bodrov reveals the spirituality of the motive: "never betray your khan," i.e. the spirituality of integrity (in the sense of being true to your self, with any given "khan" being nothing more than a projection of one's Self with which one later identifies).
In Bodrov's interpretation, Genghis' military success seems to owe more to the integrity of his army and secularity of leadership (that did not impose its religion but only law and taxes) than to military acumen. The Mongol conquest, unlike, say the Crusades, did not seem to attempt to rob people of their psychological sovereignty but only of the attempts to possess that which doesn't belong to anyone anyway, in a kind of bloody spiritual detoxification and re-prioritization.
Who knows?! But what a beautiful interpretation.
Cinematographically, the movie has the best of that Dovzhenkesque (a school of Soviet cinematography) slow-motion focus on detail, exemplified in such visually and metaphorically rich scenes as; falling through the ice, from the snow-white surface of the day, into the murky underwater of the unconscious; the shamanic communion with the wolf essence; Khan's brother's spin-around-and-slide-into-the-sleeves-of-an-offered-sable-coat harmony of uninterrupted physical flow of a relaxed mind; etc, etc.
The cast and characters are amazing: Temujin's psychopathic calmness, Jamukha's face-saving mannerism of throwing back his head in demonstrative acceptance of "what is," Borte's inspiring beauty and non-interference with Temujin's existential trajectory (despite her obvious romantic attachments and preferences).
Bodrov's emphasis on choice - in Brother, in Mongol - reveals an existential commitment of his own, a commitment to finding the humanity of motive behind the inhumanity of action.
Pavel Somov, Ph.D.
[...]
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Watched it two nights in a row...
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| Review Date: April 10, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Sierra Chuck, San Francisco |
This is the best movie I've seen in a long time. Gorgeous cinematography. Compelling and enthralling storyline. I put it in just to see if it looked interesting at 11:30 one night, and ended up unable to go to bed until it was over at 1:30AM. And then watched it again the next night until 12:15AM, it was that good.
The acting was great. The actors and actresses were beautiful, especially the kids. The wardrobes looked authentic to my unknowing eye. All in all I was shocked that I'd never even heard of this movie until a friend recommended it. |
Riveting, Inspiring, Absorbing, Provoking, Just a GREAT All-Around Gift
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| Review Date: November 8, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Robert D. Steele, Oakton, VA United States |
I was going to multi-task as a I usually do, watching a DVD while reading a book (Constitutional History of Secession)--that idea lasted less than 30 seconds.
From the very first visual this movie grabbed me. This was so good that I spent a third of the time standing up in front of the TV (in part to read the subtitles but in part because this is what I do when a movie really grabs me intellectually and spiritually), and a third leaning forward ffrom the sofa in the fireplace room.
The movie ENDS with battle scenes. The build-up is spectacular on all fronts--cinematography, casting, script, acting--there is not a single bit of this movie that is not five-star wake up and smell the roses GREAT.
I am sitting here thinking of what else to say, just shaking my head. At every level, from personal loyalty to personal strength to family ties to blood brothers to brave in battle to the nuances of corruption, I had a RIVETING good time with this movie. I was ABSORBED.
A few other DVDs I admire as much as this one, but each a slightly different kind of absorbtion. This movie (above) is epic in every sense of the word. The first DVD, is an alterantive view of Tibet which is on the other side of China from Mongolia, but in my view equally important as Mongolia, both autonomous cultural zones.
Tibet - Cry of the Snow Lion
Gladiator (Widescreen Edition)
Henry V
Braveheart (Special Collector's Edition)
Lawrence of Arabia (Collector's Edition, 2 discs) - DVD
The Last Samurai (Full Screen Edition)
We Were Soldiers (Widescreen Edition)
The Snow Walker
A Man Called Horse |
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