Review of Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan (2007) by Alison G — 11 Jun 2009

"Mongol" is a strikingly shot, yet dramatically flawed movie about the early years of Genghis Khan, ne Temudjin(Tadanobu Asano). Along with being more a bloody action flick than history, it also feels like it is just getting started as the movie ends. It is only apt that the movie appears to go in circles as Temudjin seeks to correct the mistakes of the past by introducing a consistent set of laws(no killing women and children, for example) to the Mongol people instead of inconsistently followed customs which only serve to divide the people and which indirectly lead to the death of his father(Ba Jen), the local khan.

Temudjin(Odnyam Odsuren) is nine-years old when his father brings him to a Merkit camp to choose a bride in order to make up for the much less polite way he stole his bride from them. However, in a friendly camp along the way, Temudjin meets Borte(Bayertsetseg Erdenebat) and chooses her.(Their romance becomes the heart of the movie which is good because as an adult, Borte(Khulan Chuluun) is such a strong character but it is also something of a distraction from the main plotline.) On their return, his father is apparently poisoned and the khanate is broken up, leaving Temudjin to fend for himself. Targutai(Amadu Mamadakov) wants to kill the boy, so he will not get revenge on the usurpers but is told to wait at least a year when he will have grown closer to being an adult.