When A FILM called "Mongol" takes as its story the formative years of Genghis Khan, a conqueror who eventually controlled a fifth of the Earth, you know what you'll be getting. But with this film you'll be getting that and more.
Yes, as directed by Russian veteran Sergei Bodrov, this film is not lacking in violence. Even before he went into full world-domination mode, the great Khan, known as Temudgin in his earlier days, had a habit of involving himself in armed conflicts large and small, events where swinging swords inevitably led to spurts and showers of vivid red blood.
But it wasn't the carnage that earned this project, made with the stately unhurried pace of old Hollywood, one of the five foreign-language Oscar nominations earlier this year. It was its epic imagery and the unexpectedly humanistic attitudes, at least as far as this film is concerned, of its protagonist.
As shot by Sergey Trofimov (who did the electric "Night Watch" for Timur Bekmambetov) and Rogier Stoffers, "Mongol" has a feeling for stunning vistas and wide-screen composition that is really something to see. Photographing in remote and scenic corners of China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, the cinematographers offer gorgeous views of inhospitable deserts, grassy meadows and snowy steppes. Having hoards of determined horsemen cross and recross these expanses -- the Mongols were legendary riders, after all -- doesn't hurt one bit.
After a brief prelude set in the year 1192, which shows Temudgin inexplicably imprisoned in an Asian border town, "Mongol" heads to the past for an extended flashback starting 20 years earlier, when the 9-year-old Temudgin, in the company of his tribal leader father, is off looking for a young girl to be betrothed to.
Though his father has specific plans for this match, Temudgin makes a powerful connection with 10-year-old Borte, and ends up outmaneuvering his dad and getting betrothed to the girl he wants. Terrifically played at this young age by Odnyam Odsuren, Temudgin is already a self-possessed little guy with a strong will of his own.
It's a quality he's going to need, because Temudgin spends most of "Mongol" in a world of trouble. His father dies, a tribal rival spends years trying to kill him and, when he does reunite with Borte, more problems occur. Temudgin seems overmatched, but as the film's opening aphorism succinctly puts it, "Do not scorn a weak cub; he may become a brutal tiger."
