Mongol

“Mongol”
Sergei Bodrov, 2007

The effects of Genghis Kahn, the man who formed the world's largest empire, before or since, can still be felt to this day. At a recent dinner with some of my family's relatives, who emigrated from Russia, all of them, who are not film buffs by any means, expressed interest in the new film on Genghis' life. I'm not entirely sure what that entails, nor am I an expert on this area of history, but I think that the fact that the Russians had a good deal of knowledge of the man, who did conquer all of Russia, is interesting nonetheless.

“Mongol,” a new film by the Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov, attempts to capture both the epic and personal aspects of Genghis Khan's early life. Most of the film's plot stems from an older Genghis' reflection, from within a prison, on his past experiences, starting with the day he, as the 9-year-old son of a minor khan, or lord, chose a bride. On that same day – the day that “changed my life forever,” says Genghis, who the film refers to as “Temudjin,” which is presumably his original name - they run into a group of enemy clan members. After running through a traditional ritual of exchanging drinks with one another, Temudjin's father falls from his horse, dying from his poisoned drink.

The film concentrates on the power of tradition, and on how these people's implementation of and breaking of these unstated rules could change the distribution of power in the region almost instantaneously. This is certainly an interesting topic, and is by far the film's most fascinating and well-developed. It is unfortunate, and surprising, that many other aspects of “Mongol” are poorly executed.

Bodrov presents his narrative in a fluid manner, yet the sequences feel episodic in nature. The film has to cover a lot of ground, and the entire narrative has a disjointed feel. After the khan's death, a rival within Temudjin's clan takes over and threatens to kill the boy, only to release him when he realizes that he is not big enough to be killed “legitimately.” Much of the film's first hour focuses, to a frustratingly repetitive extent, on how this rival recaptures Temudjin, and then sets him free when the boy still isn't big enough, or when he manages to escape imprisonment. A clan member named Oelen, who is to become one of the most powerful kahns in Mongolia, comes across Temudjin, and they become blood brothers for an unspecified reason. Eventually, Temudjin finds his bride, named Borte, at an encampment and, in a laughably hackneyed sequence, love each other on first sight.

This love story reveals all of the script's major weaknesses. The dialogue is trite and the relationship does not feel genuine – it feels like we are watching actors, not real people, delivering lines from a melodramatic historical reenactment. The battles, an important aspect of Genghis' life, are poorly-staged sequences whose style, through a combination of alternating between slow-motion and fast shutter-speed shots, bares some semblance to last year's “300,” a decision that proves to be just as gimmicky and muddled. And a sequence in which the rival ambushes Temudjin at night is simply amateurish in its choreography and photography.

Worst of all, we never truly come to understand what made Temudjin such a magnetic personality, a charismatic leader who managed to unite all Mongolians into an unstoppable force. Sure, the film shows how he wasn't afraid of lightning in the middle of battle, which inspires his troops, and how he gave his warriors a good deal of loot, but the character's genuine humanity, and our interest in his character, is severely lacking. Hopefully, the reported sequels will address these shortcomings and focus on this aspect of this potentially fascinating man.

Rating: 5

First Viewed: 6/21/08
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