By Tom Elce • Feb 20th, 2008 • Filed under: Film Review, Movies, World Cinema, featured

Tom Elce reviews Mongol, the Kazakh film on the life of Genghis Khan that has been nominated for Oscar in the foreign film category

Recounting the early life Genghis Khan, Russian director Sergei Bodrov achieves, with “Mongol,” nothing entirely memorable. An Oscar nominee ahead of countless superior pictures, “Mongol” surely only got there in the Best Foreign Language Film category because of Oscar’s apparent rebellion against viewers pushing for better films like “Persepolis,” “The Band’s Visit,” “4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days,” “The Orphanage” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” - the latter ommitted because it wanted to compete for Best Picture. There’s little of illumination in Bodrov’s bland version of events, which takes some creative licensing in Bodrov and Arif Aliyev’s, and then pairs it with relatively unexpressive actors without screen presence. An epic biopic? Sadly not.

There’s nothing more of resonance about the film than a regular television biopic doesn’t have as we first follow a 9-year-old Temudjin (Odnyam Odsuren), in 1162, as he rides on horseback alongside father, khan, Esugie (Ba Sen) and his followers, headed towards the Merkits tribe, whom Esugei crossed years before. Esugei once kidnapped a Merkits warrior’s wife, basically, and now he’s trying to make amends by taking Temudjin to the tribe to select himself a Merkit wife. Naturally, things don’t go according to Esugie’s plan when Esugie and tribe make a stop at a friendly clan. Temudjin meets 10-year-old Borte (Bayartsetseg Erdenebat), a confident young girl who encourages Temudjin to select her as his wife instead of any other girl at his tribe’s planned destination. As such, Temudjin convinces father Esugei to allow him to choose a bride from this clan. Of course, he chooses Borte.

From there, events lead rapidly downhill. Esugie is poisoned and dies in his son’s arms, the result of a rival tribe’s leader. In his dying breaths, Esugie asserts to Temudjin that he shall now take the position of khan, but resentful, treacherous Targutai (Amadu Mamadakov) has other ideas, seizing with his men the dead khan’s livestock and looting his camp. Cursed by Esugie’s wife Oleun (Aliya), Temudjin’s mother, for the betrayal, Targutai then threatens to murder Temudjin by the time he is grown. The rest is history, Temudjin (played as an adult by Tadanobu Asano) famously rising through whatever ranks to become a legendary conqueror, a former slave boy not willing to be walked over.

Lest I succumb from sounding bitter that better films were left out of the running so that “Mongol” could get its undeserved Oscar nomination, I’ll be sure to list the positives now. The cinematography, for one thing, is next to flawless, Rogier Stoffers and Sergei Trofimov outdoing themselves by making “Mongol,” dense though it is, a beautiful and picturesque sight to behold. The landscapes are captured magnificently, each one wonderous in its perfectly captured beauty. Also worth mentioning is a scene in which a young Temudjin makes his bridal selection, decision already made in his mind. The scene, boasting a line-up of prospective future partners, is humorous and well-made, so it is a shame the rest of the film isn’t so winsome.

The obligatory battle scenes have their few-and-far-between moments but are predominately devoid of reality. Everyone reacts nonchalantly to the death and bloodshed around them either because almost every character is written as if cardboard or the acting talent isn’t of a very high standard. Indeed, the reaction of a grown Borte (Khulan Chuluun) is heavily implied by the way that the scene is shot, but Chuluun’s expressions praying the part simply paint a picture of confusion above anything else. Her life love has just been shot and potentially injured to a fatal extent and her freedom has been lost as vengeful warriors capture her while Temudjin rides unconsciously into the distance, yet she just looks perplexed as opposed to worried or scared.

Historical inaccuracies, unimpressive acting (nobody, even the leads, makes a lasting impression) and an almost total lack of individuality as a cinematic biopic, “Mongol” falls into the same category as, yes, any historical Biography channel outing. That the film, told awkwardly by screenwriters Aliyev and Bodrov, and directed blandly by the latter is supposedly the future recipient of high praise is something lost upon me. Maybe everyone else will love it and I’ll be in a minority, or maybe not. One thing’s for sure, if “Mongol” somehow takes home Best Foreign Language Film for its efforts, it shall be something of an injustice, to put it mildly.

Director: Sergei Bodrov
Cast: Aliya, Honglai Sun, Tegen Ao, Tadanobu Asano, Ying Bai, Khulan Chuluun, Bao Di, Bayertsetseg Erdenebat, Deng Ba Te Er, You Er, Sai Xing Ga, Ba Yin Qi Qi Ce, Ba De Rong Gue, Sun Ben Hon, Zhang Jiong, Amadu Mamadakov, Odnyam Odsuren, He Qi, Li Jia Qi, Bu Ren, Su Ya La Su Rong, Amarbold Tuvshinbayar

My Rating:

Your Rating

Recommended...

It’s No Country for Old Men and Counterfeiters

And the Oscar Doesn’t Go To…

UTV World Movies to screen 2008 foreign category Oscar Winner The Counterfeiter

Eyes turn to Cannes

Oscar Winning Director Anthony Minghella dies at 54