frenchmills's Blog

I was first introduced to Genghis Khan by my high school English teacher Mr. Gundlach. He would stand in front of the class and recount the ways of the Mongols, saying, "He would ride across the steppes of Mongolia and, when he got thirsty, he would get down off his horse, cut the jugular and drink the blood, then get back on his horse and yell, 'CHARGE!'" He recomended the Genghis Khan biography, THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S. I read it with enthusiasm and was fascinated by this man who roise from a slave to become the greatest single ruler the world has ever known.

The Mongol Empire has been a fascination to the entire world -- barbarians, to many standards, that, had it not been for the death of one of Genghis' successors, might have conquered Europe, who, in the person of Kublai Khan, prompted trade with the Far East and spurred Columbus' discovery of the New World. All this from this young child, Temudgin.

The movie, MONGOL, per the movie description, "Recounts the early life of Genghis Khan who was a slave, born as Temudgin in 1162, before going on to conquer half the world, including Russia, in 1206."

Possibly we could call it, an "Eastern Western".

It's hard figuring where to start here in ascribing excellence in this movie: whether with Odnyam Odsuren as the stoic young Temudgin and the plain brown paper scenes against the harsh environment, or with Tadanobu Asano as the equally stoic adult Temudgin against the equally harsh environment, natural and human.  

Or with the story itself, which is no more than basic journalism, no opinion, no embellishing, no favoritism, just telling a story. The sparseness fits. The use of I guess native language, with English subtitles, also adds to the sparseness of the story. The impression is of a rugged people in a rugged landscape, against the equally unforgiving forces of nature and other humans, attempting to survive, maybe thrive and, on the remote chance that a great leader arises, conquer. This sparse telling of the story of a simple, plain individual among a simple plain people, finding simple plain solutions to problems echoes the stories of indigenous Americans, relatives, whose lives were quite similar.

It's easy to understand how a harsh environment and warfare among neighboring tribes shaped the personality that became the feared Genghis Khan.

Excellence marks this movie, from the story-line to the directing to the cinemetography, both close up and landscape, to the acting. In particular, we should note Temudgin's bloodbrother, who brought a contrasting presence in this stoic landscape.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone.