A beautiful and ambitious film flawed by its dogged determination to cast Genghis Khan in a new light, the best that can be hoped is that Mongol provides a stage for better things in the forthcoming films.
Mongol (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:8
Fresh:7
Rotten:1
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: The sweeping Mongol mixes romance, family drama, and enough flesh-ripping battle scenes to make sense of Ghenghis Khan's legendary stature.
Theatrical Release:06-06-2008
Synopsis:
Award-winning Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov (Prisoner of the Mountains) illuminates the life and legend of Genghis Khan in his stunning historical epic, Mongol. Based on leading scholarly...
Award-winning Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov (Prisoner of the Mountains) illuminates the life and legend of Genghis Khan in his stunning historical epic, Mongol. Based on leading scholarly accounts and written by Bodrov and Arif Aliyev, Mongol delves into the dramatic and harrowing early years of the ruler who was born as Temudgin in 1162. As it follows Temudgin from his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed his destiny, the film paints a multidimensional portrait of the future conqueror, revealing him not as the evil brute of hoary stereotype, but as an inspiring, fearless and visionary leader. Mongol shows us the making of an extraordinary man, and the foundation on which so much of his greatness rested: his relationship with his wife, Borte, his lifelong love and most trusted advisor.
Filmed in the very lands that gave birth to Genghis Khan, Mongol transports us back to a distant and exotic period in world history; to a nomad's landscape of endless space, climatic extremes and ever-present danger. In a performance of powerful stillness and subtlety, celebrated young Japanese actor Asano Tadanobu (Zatoichi, Last Life in the Universe) captures the inner fire that enabled a hunted boy to become a legendary conqueror. Asano's achievement is matched by those of his co-stars, including the radiant newcomer Khulan Chuluun as Temudgin's courageous, spirited wife Borte, and the Chinese actor Honglei Sun (The Road Home) as the Mongol chieftain Jamukha, Temudgin's dearest friend and deadliest enemy. Masterfully blending action and emotion against some of the most arresting terrain on earth, Bodrov delivers an exciting and awe-inspiring tale of survival and triumph, and a love story for the ages.
--© Picturehouse
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Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Honglei Sun, Khulan Chuluun, Odnyam Odsuren
Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Honglei Sun, Khulan Chuluun, Odnyam Odsuren, Aliy A, Ba Sen, Amadu Mamadakov, Ba Yin, He Qi, Sun Ben Hou, Ji Ri Mu Tu
Director: Sergei Bodrov
Director: Sergei Bodrov
Screenwriter: Arif Aliyev, Sergei Bodrov
Producer: Sergey Selyanov, Sergei Bodrov, Anton Melnik
Composer: Tuomas Kantelinen
Studio: Picturehouse
Reviews for Mongol
A gracefully mounted, stunningly photographed historical account, fascinating in its attention to detail if somewhat unengaging in its story and characters.
With its breathtaking landscapes, bloody battles, bitter betrayals and an aching love story, Mongol is a sumptuously crafted epic
A ferocious film, blood-soaked, pausing occasionally for passionate romance and more frequently for torture. As a visual spectacle, it is all but overwhelming, putting to shame some of the recent historical epics from Hollywood.
Relates the story of Genghis Khan's early years in a plodding, uninspired fashion that doesn't bode well for the next two entries in a planned trilogy.
Having Bodrov, who directed the excellent The Prisoner of the Mountains, in charge here is an advantage. Though there is only so much any director can do with characters who are next door to mythic, Bodrov can do more than most, and it helps.
Mongol is a big, ponderous epic, its beautifully composed landscape shots punctuated by thundering hooves and bloody, slow-motion battle sequences.
Latest News for Mongol
January 08, 2009:
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October 22, 2008:
More impressed with its own olden days ready-to-rumble, flesh-ripping Far Eastern beatdowns, than fleshing out with any depth just who these characters were and how they struggled to exist back then. History as a scenic but dramatically sparse travelogue. ![]()
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June 05, 2008:
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March 30, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
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