Film Review

A characteristically personal scene from a movie that is supposed to be depicting the story of a globe-spanning conqueror .

Mongol: A Film With Limited Appeal

If for no other reason than that people around the globe tend to like certain categories of story, there are several straightforward and standard ways of making a movie about a great conqueror.

The first would be as a full spectrum historical biopic, spinning together any and all of the dramatic elements of so notable a figure's life. The second would be to make a historical romance, using real or imaginary events and characters to make a conventional romantic story, with the conqueror's adventurous life adding spice and extra drama. The third would be to make a story of trial and triumph, with the protagonist overcoming incredible odds. Fourth, and finally, one could make a story of villainy, tragedy and moral decay, with a driven protagonist falling due to his moral flaws, or inflicting misery and suffering on the world. Any one of these narratives would have broad appeal to people around the globe.

'Mongol' however, is not so straightforward. While I do not know enough about Genghis Khan's life to definitively rule out most specific incidents or subplots in the movie, Mongol is clearly not a full biopic, covering only the early portion of Temudjin's life, having a distinctly personal focus (the protagonist goes from family and retainers, to an army of thousands with almost no exposition), and emphasizing monogamous and faithful love in a man who (albeit he might well have been loyal to his family), it is well established, entertained a wide variety of relationships with more than one woman. The one thing that Mongol takes away from the historical biopic is a somewhat grim and serious tone.

Mongol does have the man-woman relationship emphasis of the historical romance, but the story is not built into a smooth and sleek narrative around this. Rather than being a historical romance, the romantic element seems to have been added to establish the humanity of the conqueror, and to anchor the personal emphasis of the film. The romantic narrative of 'Mongol' is too choppy, and the tone of the film too dour to be a successful historical romance on the genre's own terms.

'Mongol' does contain many ingredients of the trial and triumph story, but likewise, would not be a very good movie by the standards of this genre because the adventurous tension, action, and triumph are all very incompletely developed if these elements are what the film entirely rests upon.

Finally, so far as a narrative of tragedy and moral decay are concerned, there is little of this in the film*,and this absence points to the motivations and understandings behind its creation. Mongol is a film that attempts to present the character of Genghis Khan in a reasonably sympathetic, but not quite celebratory light. The conqueror Temudjin is something of a hero, or at least is respected in the steppes where the film is set, but is likely to be seen in a grim light by many Russians (a disproportionate number of whom are involved in the production) and much of the world at large. In its selective coverage of Genghis Khan's life, the film can avoid confronting the beliefs of people who have widely varying opinions of him. Any film that deals with so notable a character is going to have a certain amount of appeal to people living in lands directly impacted by him, but the peculiar mix of plot ingredients is likely to limit its appeal elsewhere.

This is not to say that the film is specifically bad, and certain elements; much of the acting for example (particularly Honglei Sun as Jamukha), are very good. The costumes, photography and soundtrack are all well done and give the film an authentic appearance (while liberties appear to have been taken with some historical events and the battle tactics, absolute accuracy does not necessarily define good and bad in film). The natural environment in which the film is set is quite beautiful, and is likely to be even more striking to those people who are less accustomed to such an environment (the climate and terrain are actually very similar to parts of Western Nebraska).

Good acting, cinematography, and some interesting costumes however, are not enough to make the film one I would recommend to everyone. These elements of craft combine to put flesh on the disparate themes I mentioned earlier, and you would be justified if you liked this movie, but you would not be wrong or unsophisticated if its thematic mix did not leave you impressed.

*

'Mongol' is apparently, the first installment of a planned trilogy, and it is very possible that such themes will show up in sequels, possibly providing a more balanced, albeit six hour long trilogy experience.


Film Also Known As (AKA)

Монгол	Russia
Cengiz Han	Turkey
Czyngis-Chan	Poland
Der Mongole	Germany
Mongol: The Rise to Power of Genghis Khan	UK
Mongol: The Untold Story of Genghis Khan	Netherlands