Review of Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan (2007) by Jens T — 30 Sep 2011

Genghis Khan is historically know as the man who concurred half of the world, the biggest empire ever existed. He's often been portrayed as one of the most evil persons in the history, the devil himself. But in Sergei Bodrov's epic Mongol we see an entirely different and more humanly Genghis Khan.

Mongol is a film about the early life of the young mongol, Temujin who later become the great Genghis Khan. His father Yesügei, who was Khan is a respected man in Mongolia, but he's killed, and Temujin escapes. Mongolia is breaking up. The tatar girl, Borte is promised away to Temujin since she was ten-years-old, and their love is still strong after years of multiple separations. And once she is kidnaped by another tribe for over a year. Temujin does every thing to be with her. So you can say that all the bloody battles and concurring is all triggered by one woman, just like William Wallace in Braveheart.

Mongol is a good biographical epic. Very good made, with some amazing battle scenes, which seems realistically, in both choreography and in amount of blood that is spilled. Plus this is probably the only film about Genghis Khan, or should I say, the only "real" film. Because there have been a few failed attempt to make an epic about Genghis Khan. The biggest flop of them all would probably be the 1956 Hollywood film, The Conqueror, with John Wayne as Genghis Khan, where he talks with his thick american accent, that doesn't work outside the U.S.. Mongol is not in the top class of epics, but it's very close. So a big thumbs up from me.