Mongol (2007)

The story recounts the early life of Genghis Khan who was a slave before going on to conquer half the world including Russia in 1206.

Director:

Sergey Bodrov

Writers:

Arif Aliev, Sergey Bodrov

Stars:

Tadanobu Asano, Amadu Mamadakov, Khulan Chuluun

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 12 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tadanobu Asano	...	Temudjin
Honglei Sun	...	Jamukha
Khulan Chuluun	...	Börte
Aliya	...	Oelun - Temudjin's Mother
Ba Sen	...	Esugei - Temudjin's Father
Amadu Mamadakov	...	Targutai
He Qi	...	Dai-Sechen
Ben Hon Sun	...	Monk
Ji Ri Mu Tu	...	Boorchu
You Er	...	Sorgan-Shira (as A You Er)
Huntun Batu	...	Altan (as Hong Jong Ba Tu)
Deng Ba Te Er	...	Daritai (as E Er Deng Ba Te Er)
Bao Di	...	Todoen
Su Ya La Su Rong	...	Girkhai (as Su You Le Si Ren)
Sai Xing Ga	...	Chiledu

Storyline

The movie is an epic story of a young Genghis Khan and how events in his early life lead him to become a legendary conqueror. The 9-year-old Temüjin is taken on a trip by his father to select a girl as his future wife. He meets Börte, who says she would like to be chosen, which he does. He promises to return after five years to marry her. Temüjin's father is poisoned on the trip, and dies. As a boy Temüjin passes through starvation, humiliations and even slavery, but later with the help of Börte he overcomes all of his childhood hardships to become one of the greatest conquerors the world has ever known.

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Plot Keywords:

genghis khan | slave | epic | starving | one word title | 

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Taglines:

Greatness comes to those who take it.

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | History | War

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Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

CTB Film Company/Kinofabrika Official site [Japan]

Country:

Russia Germany Kazakhstan Mongolia

Language:

Mongolian Mandarin

Release Date:

20 September 2007 (Russia)

Also Known As:

Монгол

Filming Locations:

China

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£185,364 (UK) (6 June 2008)

Gross:

$5,701,643 (USA) (5 September 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

CTB Film Company, Andreevsky Flag Film Company, X-Filme Creative Pool

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kazakhstan's official submission in the Foreign Language Film category for the 80th Academy Awards (2008).

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Goofs

Non-Mongolian characters in this movie speak modern standard Mandarin Chinese. This would be incorrect because, this language as the standard Chinese language originates with the Qing Dynasty hundreds of years later, the regions depicted in the movie appear to be central and western China where they would speak a different dialect and several characters speaking Chinese don't appear to be Chinese and all and would most likely be speaking a Turkic dialect.

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Quotes

Temudjin: Mongols need laws.
Temudjin: I will make them obey...
Temudjin: ...even if I have to kill half of them.
Temudjin: Our laws will be simple.
Temudjin: Don't kill women or children.
Temudjin: Don't forget your debts.
Temudjin: Fight enemies to the end.
Temudjin: And never betray your khan.

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Connections

Referenced in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Episode #7.12 (2008)

User Reviews

Weak on writing, but gorgeous to watch

The first installment of a prospective trilogy, Mongol chronicles the early life of Temudjin, from his childhood on the Asian steppe to his ascension to Khan in 1206.

The performances are passable – with special thanks to Honglei Sun, with an engaging turn as Temudjin's long-time friend and ally Jamukha – but the film has a rushed quality to it that is predominantly the fault of the screenplay. We jump too quickly from one scene to the next, the tension is constantly disrupted, and the characters are, for the most part, one-dimensional, void of quirks and personal histories and any of the other qualities that might make them relatable. I'm not asking for anything fancy: theirs was a tribal culture constantly engaged in the act of survival, and any philosophical rants or emotive confessionals would feel forced and inorganic, but none of that pardons the film for the simple crime of not giving its characters enough to do. The needs of the plot seem to dictate their actions, rather than the needs of the characters driving the plot.

The biggest casualty, as always, is the love story. Ironically enough, Temudjin and Borte generate the most chemistry when they meet as children, Borte commanding him – with a freeness of spirit that gets less and less visible as the movie progresses – to pick her as his bride. Unfortunately, their subsequent romance is more about desperate rescues and long-winded goodbyes than it is the simple moments of intimacy that make a relationship believable.

That said, the cinematography is tremendous and the costumes top-notch, and the casting department deserves a couple extra bushels of brownie points for picking actors who – unlike many a Hollywood ensemble – look like they could actually survive the conditions they supposedly inhabit. The combat scenes are captivating and cleverly shot, and despite the inevitable comparison to such battle-heavy epics as Lord of the Rings and Gladiator, Bodrov keeps a handle on things, never letting any of the battles run beyond the five minute mark, endowing the film with an element of realism and restraint where many of the other so-called epics go completely over the top. True, the movie relies a bit more heavily on CGI than I would prefer, but the Mongolian landscape, the real star of the show, is so gorgeous, so demanding, so jaw-droppingly authentic that we quickly forget our visual grievances and get lost in the rudimentary act of watching.

A pity we can never lose ourselves completely.