Mongol
Directed by Sergei Bodrov.
"Hello Lisa! I'm Genghis Khan. You'll go where I go! Defile what I defile! Eat who I eat!" — Virtual reality Genghis Khan from the Simpsons episode Marge vs the monorail.
Mongol skips through key moments in the life of Genghis Khan from his childhood to taking his mantle as the leader of the army destined to conquer most of the world.
The film is presented well, with believably presented characters, good acting, scenery, and mostly well choreographed fight scenes. Hence, if you're looking for a well-choreographed, epic tale then Mongol could be for you. If however, you're looking for a historically accurate account of his life, steer clear. This is not a film about Genghis Khan, the bloody, ruthless warlord cannibal who ravaged Europe, and whom is supposed to have raped, pillaged and plundered his fair share of peasant booty.
This film is about "the untold story," the Genghis Khan who grew from humble beginnings, spent most of his life faithfully and romantically fighting to reclaim his childhood bride, whilst growing up to restore law and order to his Mongol brothers, and being merciful to monks plus other do-gooder connotations etc.
In fact today apparently 25% of the world allegedly has blood descended from Genghis Khan's due to his rape activities whist travelling across Europe according to some Discovery Channel documentary I watched once.
I'm no historian, and I'm not going to deny that he might have started out living a nobler life centred around a nigh-celibate crusade to recover his loved one, (before he came to power and went all Darth Vader on the locals..) but it's been said that countries tend to write 'their' version of history that focuses on their own interests, and when an icon synonymous with a country's fame such as the story of Mr. Khan is receiving funding from the Mongolian Cultural coffers, it's not surprising when a film like this turns out the same way. In fact the way the film jumped from one moment in his life to the next, etc. etc, made the film feel even more bias, as if trying to edit and present their version of Genghis Khan: a national hero.
Unfortunately it was just a little to hard to reconcile the Genghis Khan presented in this film as fitting in any way with the Genghis Khan presented in history. For all intents and purposes, Genghis Khan as you know it is not in this film. So don't waste your money.
Michael Hill
