by Monty Cliff

Created on: October 27, 2008

"Mongol", the 2007 movie chronicling the early life of Genghis Khan, when he was still known as Temudjin. The film starts off with a seven year old Temudjin and his father and his men going to another tribe so Temudjin can pick his bride. When Temudjin gets there, he meets Borte. Borte is the type of girl/woman that seems to pop up a lot in stories dealing with by-gone eras: one who is both strong willed and refuses to bow down to the place she is expected to fill. I'm sure women like that existed, but how they always have an air of impunityin these stories is something for another tanget. Anyway, Borte tells Temudjin to pick her as his future wife, he does and thus sets up the relationship that the entire movie rests upon.

After the wife picking, Temudjin and clan head back to their tribe. Along the way, Temudjin's father dies and Temudjin is betrayed by his father's right hand man and is imprisoned when the group returns to the tribe. It's here that begins the imprisonment/escape motif that continues throughout the movie.

First, let's start with the good. The film looks gorgeous, a testament to director Sergei Bodrov and cinematographers Rogier Stoffers and Sergei Trofimov. The battle sequences are extremely well done, ranging from skirmishes between tribes in an field to two massive armies battling it out in an open field. The battles are bloody, but it's economic, that's to say the blood is used to enhance the cuts and slashes on screen and not dominate it.

Also, the driving heart of this movie is the relationship between Temudjin and Borte. The two love each other more than anything in the world, and it shines through every scene they have together. No matter what trials or tribulations the two go through, they always stick together out of a fierce loyalty to and love for each other.

However, the film has a major flaw, and that is quite simply, its story is extremely weak. Not all the blame can go to the filmmakers in this sense, very little is known about Genghis Khan's early life other than his original name and his capture early on in his life, so naturally they'll have to fill in some details. The only problem is, they use the same detail over and over and over again. There are many shots of Temudjin being imprisoned, escaping, being chased around Mongolia, being captured again and then eventually gaining his freedom. After he meets Borte, this formula gets the addition of Borte having kids from other men, either from kidnapping or having to make her way across the desert. The point is, it's hard to feel a story arc or get emotionally attached to these characters when they are going through the exact situations and hardships they went through twenty minutes before hand.

Overall, "Mongol" is another example of how brilliant cinematogrophy can't make up for the weak story it's showing. 2.5/5

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