Review of Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan (2007) by Campbell W — 27 Sep 2009

I really dig the historical epic genre and period movies. Mongol is essentially a Russian movie, by that I mean financed and produced by Russians, not Mongolians or Chinese. From a 'behind-the-scenes' point of view this is quite interesting as the movie has a Mongolian language track and (obviously) features an asian cast.

I was also relieved to see that the North American DVD release of Mongol was subtitled instead of dubbed, thank god! Nobody wants to see another great Asian film called "Crouching Tiger, Hidden English Language Track.

" So hats off to the Russians who are cultivated enough to not ruin a good movie with the wrong language. Mongol the film is about the lesser known origins of Genghis Khan through his rise to power.

In literary terms it is a very simple narrative that is well developed and entertaining. Cinematically however it is very powerful and conveys lots of deep emotion and sensitivity. This is of course due to fine acting, but the performances are accentuated by flawless camera composition and lighting to make sure you feel this movie in your bones.