Genghis - The Early Years

Illawarra Mercury

Thursday August 14, 2008

KILMENY ADIE

MONGOL (MA)

Starring: Tadanobu Asano

Director: Sergei Bodrov

* * * 1/2

Screening: Greater Union Wollongong

In terms of epic films about celebrated historical figures, Mongol will do for Genghis Khan what Braveheart did for William Wallace.

Mongol takes viewers back to 1191 and the Tangut Kingdom on the Mongolian Steppe.

It is a stark, bleak and harsh existence as those living in the desolate landscape find themselves subject to the attention of other tribal communities.

The film tells the story of the early life of Temudgin (Asano), who goes on to become Mongol leader Genghis Khan. The movie opens with a nine-year-old Temudgin travelling with his father and clan chief, Esugeil, and a band of warriors to select a wife.

From this introduction, the viewer is taken at a steady pace through Temudgin's formative years through to his adulthood when he proved himself an astute strategist.

While history might view Temudgin as a fearsome warrior, Mongol paints a vastly different picture of the man who once ruled an empire which stretched across Asia.

Here we see him as a child willing to learn from his father yet also possessing the confidence to follow his own instincts.

As he grows he develops a strict moral code, which sees him divide his battle spoils with his soldiers, remain loyal to his wife Borte and call the children she had with other men his own.

It is a vastly different view from one which history offers but, if the rumour the film will be followed by two more releases is true, that's a view which may change.

The movie offers insight into his legendary feats by providing motivation - the poisoning of his father, his mother's struggle to look after the family and his own forced departure from the family.

His expulsion brings him in contact with another young warrior Jamukha. Together they become blood brothers and this allegiance leads to one of the film's, and history's, significant battles.

Mongol is an ambitious movie that features unknown and relatively inexperienced actors in most of the lead roles, an extensive cast for the battle scenes and dialogue spoken in Mongol.

All of these aspects work together to create a memorable experience which stays with the viewer.

To get the full impact of the landscape's vast emptiness, this is a film to be watched on the large screen.

Bodrov's direction is understated in this film allowing the scenes to evolve with a consistent pace.

The battle scenes are exciting and, while bloodthirsty, are not overly excessive. The performances, particularly by the younger Temudgin, are terrific and there is a reality to the characterisations lost in other epic movies.

It is unsurprising that Mongol was nominated for an Oscar. It will, without doubt, inspire a new level of interest in the legacy of Genghis Khan.

KILMENY ADIE

© 2008 Illawarra Mercury

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