Mongol Review

Mongol

Hey there guys.  Thanks for checking out our Mongol review from the SXSW film festival.  This is a film that Doug has been looking forward to seeing for a while now.  Did it measure up to his expectations?  Yeah… it sure did.

The General Idea

Plot outline from IMDB: The story recounts the early life of Genghis Khan who was a slave before going on to conquer half the world including Russia in 1206

The Good

The Mongolian steppes are open grasslands untouched by the filthy hands of humans, and they are breathtaking. The wide open plain gives the illusion that the sky is within your reach. There is something incredibly freeing about seeing so much space, as inspiring as it was on film – I can only imagine how overwhelming it would be in real life. When I was 17, I had the chance to live and eat with a Mongolian and he would often tell me tales about his land and his love for goat meat. He missed his home more than most; and it is easy to see why. Most everywhere else seems like a chicken cage in comparison. The landscapes were used to great effect in this film and the ancient lands served as narrators with much to tell.

The horse warfare of the Mongols is legendary. From shooting a bow while riding, to the use of long reaching, curved slashing blades – enemies were decimated with speed and strategy from the centaur-like mongol warrior. In this film we see the evolution of the Khan’s strategy one encounter at a time; and it delighted me. Strategy

When doing a biopic you are hard pressed to find a better subject than Genghis Khan. Much of his history has been passed on via oral tradition; and often the lines between fact and fiction can get a bit shady – but even if 1/100 of the stories are true – this man is still among the greatest who have ever lived. I was overjoyed to see a film recount his tale on the silver screen. Sergei Bodrov did an outstanding job and delivered an epic movie that showcases the journey of this man from boy to legend.

The Bad

In the vast myth of Genghis Khan it may be possible that he was captured 3 times in his life, but to show them all in one movie may have been a mistake. The film dragged the most when Genghis was captured and by the third time I was staring to whisper “not again” to myself. I would have preferred if they slimmed down the amount of “capture time” from the film. That being said this is a fairly minor complaint.

Overall

This was a legendary epic that paid tribute to a man that conquered and plundered using strategy, charisma and force of will. I was delighted throughout this film and consider it my favorite of the SXSW film festival. Whenever you get a chance to see this film – please do so. Out of 10, I give Mongol a 9.

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18 thoughts on “Mongol Review

  1. Gotta agree with most of what Jason although I thought the fight scenes were actually relatively tame. I don’t know about the historial accuracy but I did read a book a year or so ago about Genghis Khan which was supposedly based on scholarly articles and I guess is meant as a truthful biography. I make comparisons between the movie and this book.
    http://www.amazon.ca/Genghis-Khan-Making-Modern-World/dp/0609809644/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218440121&sr=8-1

    Quite frankly the repetition of capture and escape was exactly as described in the book and what really happened in his life. The other thing I did notice about the book was Mongolians could recognize their individual enemies from other tribes so quickly and easily even after years of never seeing them. Maybe Mongolians have very good eyes and memories due to holding really long grudges.

    Again I can’t vouch for the authenticity of the spoken Mongolian language in the film only having seen its written form (look kind of like arabic but going vertically).

    The strength of the movie lied in the portrayal of the relationship between Borte and Temudjin. It also did a fair job of portraying Temudjin’s beliefs and the innovations of laws that he created although the film itself doesn’t necessarily show how events in his life shaped and developed these beliefs.

    The main weakness was how seemingly abruptly and quickly it went from Borte helping him escape Chinese prison to suddenly becoming a leader of a large number of Mongolian tribes. You do see hints of Temudjin’s fighting and strategic prowess early on but not enough of it to convey to the audience that the intelligent tactics he did use in battle didn’t come out of nowhere.

    One thing in the book that the movie never emphasized was the importance of the sense of smell. As far as I remember nowhere in the book did they mention Mongolians feared thunder/lighting. I don’t think that’s how Temudjin beat his childhood friend/rival in that battle. It almost seems silly to imply that the weather was the turning point in that battle. Temudjin was a smarter tactician than that to rely on something as unpredictable as weather.

    In fact according to the book there was an older khan, forget his name whom Temudjin aligned himself with that I don’t believe ever appears in this movie which helped him. That was another of his strengths, knowing who to ally himself with at which times.

    Overall it was a solid effort, not perfect but a movie that I think those unfamiliar with it could possibly appreciate and learn something from even if they won’t end up necessarily liking it.

  2. Fantastic visual expirence. Belivable acting. Average 2 above average story line.But what about the take over of China, korea ect.
    At least they should have shown a map of the territories that was conquered to show the viewers the extent of his reign.
    The lifestyle of the Mongols were showcased which was excellent.
    Id give it a 7/10.

  3. I have to agree with the minority opinion is saying that this was a little weak. Life is good, then he gets captured and is going to be killed. Then he escapes, life is good, then he gets captured and is going to be killed. Then he escapes, life is good, then is captured and is going to be killed. His enemies are able to identify him from a mile away and catch him with no problem, but then they leave him alone (repeatedly) to easily escape.
    The scenery was beautiful, and the acting was pretty good (especially the wife, child and adult). The fight scenes were a little gratuitous with all the spattering blood and they were a little grainy and not smooth. I read several glowing reviews and maybe my expectations were too high, but I thought it dragged and was a little weak.

  4. (Type your comment here. Make sure you’ve read the commenting rules before doing so)i could help someone who needs help on mongolian history i m mongolian nd th movie was ok one thing is that the acters wernt real mongolians and many people believe that the name is gengis it is Chingis khaan

  5. This film is an example of an extremely strong narrative accompanied by excellent cinematography and superbly executed war scenes… reminds me of Saving Pvt Ryan without all the bangs and clatter. The acting is also commendable. There seems to be a great deal of research that has gone into the subject and is a great eduction on the early life of Chengiz Khan. I wish there was more, but for the integrity of the subject I think the makers have done justice to the story. Would really appreciate if this made into a trilogy, but I don’t think the film makers have left any scope to stretch it further. They have compressed a epic life tale into a little more than an hour and a half and with great flair and ease which is calls for a standing ovation. Lesson to Indian Film makers!!!

  6. I saw the film last night, Even though (to my knowledge) its not historically correct it still a very good film. creating a historically accurate film of his life would be movie sucide. I Really enjoyed the battle scenes. I ve been waiting to see a genghis Khan film since I could remember and i wasnt disappointed.

  7. this movie was bad, 1.bad at the mongolian they were speaking(because the actors were mostly chinese, japanese, kazakh, and one mongolian( who plays burte( chingiss khan’s wife), they couldnt get any mongolian actors to play because the plot and history was historically inaccurate, and no mongolian wanted to get involved with the movie, they showed it in mongolia, they started to get angry and most of the viewers walked out. there for this movie is, i dont know why kazakh’s are supporting this film, yet they say they are our (mongolians) brothers and sisters. THIS MOVIE IS A HOAX

  8. One sign of a strong movie for me is that after the movie ends is that the story engaged that I want to understand more about the characters. This did it for me. I’m ready to research and read more about Mongolia’s history.

  9. are you guys reviewing Doomsday?

    That movie seems like it would fit the profile of what Movie Blog is interested in. namely Sci-fi, action movies. My thought on it was that it was boring and did nothing interesting.

  10. Glad to hear you liked this great film, which earns part of its greatness by completely defying expectations.

    Of course, it’s hard to beat the great Tadanobu Asano in the lead role. Hey, he’s better than John Wayne!

  11. I have been waiting to see this movie a long long time, sadly I live in Newfoundland and become well behind the flow of normal movie productions. That being said, great to see it wasnt a pile of poopie. I plan on seeing this whenever it hits our little island.

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