Review of Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan (2007) by Akshay G — 23 Aug 2011

Just rewatched this film and it's still got a bit of everything- its a historical epic, a drama, a touching and beleivable love story, a coming of age story, a cultural/landscape tour and an action film.

Some people may be put off by the fact that this is a Russian-Mongolian film, thinking it'll lack quality, but it really is one of the best made, acted and lavish looking films about that area of the world, so even where the story may get a bit repetative there are gorgeous backdrops of the Mongolian steppe. Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano is very striking as Gengis Khan, who doesn't show an awful lot of emotion but when he does you know he means it, whereas Khulan Chuluun, who plays his wife, is worth seeing the film for alone- both in looks, attitude and range of acting ability; she's a proper tough and self sufficient yet delicate Mongol woman, despite being an untrained actress who was about to join the military. yes, Mogols are tough and their lives and traditions are detailed lovingly in this film for both their strengths and flaws (though I'm not sure if all Mongols are really scared of thunder).

The only off points in this film are firstly that it basically portrays Gengis Khan, one of the most brutal mass murderers in history, as a nice guy who had a strong sense of ethics and was driven by pride and honour- which I have trouble believing is historically accurate. Second that the end is very rushed. I think this was meant to be part of a trilogy but not sure what happened to the other films- perhaps funding was cut before this one was released so they jumbled together an ending, and still it only really covers the first part of his life. It's interesting to see the history in the sequence about the rich, militarily strong Tungot empire, who capture Gengis Khan when he was a downtrodden slave and put him in a cage to die with a sign poking fun at the 'backward' Mongols, saying 'Mongol who wanted to destroy the Tungot Kingdom'. Within a decade, Gengis Khan escaped, built the Mongolian nation and wiped Tungot off the face of the earth; the balance of power changes! (But he left the Tibetan monastery in the capital untouched).

Overall this film certainly makes you want to go to Mongolia, although preferably not in that time period...