Mongol

Dir: Sergei Bodrov

I watched this with some friends last night, it is the story of Ghengis Khan, before he was Ghengis Khan and still known as Temüjin. Apparently it leans up against the ancient document, known as the 'Secret History of the Mongols' and subsequently it has a lot of vague explanations, some whopping great plot holes and a lot of mumbo-jumbo superstition to fill in the gaps. Frankly it was a bit disapointing. There is no evidence of the master politician or brilliant general, just a taciturn fellow whom every one accepts as Khan for no particular reason. Temüjin himself doesn't do much in the film except get kicked around, enslaved and saved by every one else for no particular reason.

The story is in two halves with the first half following Temüjin as a boy (image above). This part was quite good, Young Odnyam Odsuren played the character perfectly and with just the right amount of subtlety to give the impression of lurking brilliance with a touch of arrogant ambition.

Unfortunately, in the second and longer half of the film an older Temüjin is played by Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano, who has apparently been likened to a cross between Johnny Depp and Toshirô Mifune. All I can say to that is, I saw no evidence of that in this film. Asano played Temüjin as if he were sleep walking for the most part, though whether that is due to poor acting or poor direction, I can't know. What I do know is the film got noticably worse once Asano took over and the character of Temüjin seemed to be reduced to floating along helplessly on the flow of history.

Eventually the film reaches a climactic battle, but the thing is ruined by absurd tactics and divine intervention and Temüjin apparently wins by being the only Mongol not scared of thunder...

Through out this film, I got the sense that Bodrov was awed by who Temüjin was to become. Time and again characters in the film make references to the future as if they've already read about it and Temüjin himself does not demonstrate any reason why he would become Ghengis Khan, he simply sits around and things happen to him until the day comes when he decides its time to put in work and after a brief stop off to pray to the Great Sky God he instantly raises a vast army and goes to war. There is no explanation as to the logistics, not the politics, nor even the social conditions that made Temüjin's rise to power possible. Apparently Bodrov would have us believe that divine intervention and a loyal wife are all thats needed for a slave to become the greatest warlord in all history.