Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan
This 2007 Film is rated R and runs 125 minutes
This was and has been one of my favorite movies of all time. So I am kicking off my new post as Featured Movie Contributor with it. No spoilers here unless you know a bit about history or have seen it. Yes, many people have seen this film but if you are among the few that haven’t seen it, I highly urge you to rent it. It’s also available now on Netflix Streaming and at many libraries. [I can’t begin to tell you how well spent my mere nine dollars a month is on Netflix Streaming. As a disabled and impoverished writer this is a luxury that I choose not to live without- I’d rather wear five sweaters all winter and lay under the fan all summer than to be without it.] But I digress.
Mongol is nothing short of a love story if not for all its war and violence; perhaps that is why I enjoyed it so much. It’s a man’s movie, a woman’s movie and definitely not a child’s movie though the movie starts with just that, two children, a boy and a girl from different villages; betrothed.
As to the historical accuracy of the film, it stays true to the main historical points of this time of Khan but also like so many movies that I find appealing, veers into a realm of creative genius.
And in thinking about it, I believe this is my favorite genre, historically based works as true to the facts as possible with some great talent of a creative mind filling in the blanks to make it not only informative but also, entertaining. In this case I’m referring to writer- director Sergei Bodrov,Academy Award-nominated for this epic film and trilogy based on the 12th century life of Genghis Khan. Khan was born an orphan and enslaved, at that time his name was Temudjin, played by young Tadanobu Asano- a fantastic actor in his own right.
Netflix describes this movie as, ‘heartfelt, gritty, dark’ and I couldn’t agree more. With the love and betrayal of two brothers, ever close even to death and the undying love of Kahn’s wife as she goes to lengths beyond reason to retrieve her one and only love, Kahn, (even if it meant giving herself to another to make it happen.) Kahn was a hero one day and a cursed felon the next. This movie has layers upon layers of depth.
I give it six stars out of five. You’ll rarely see this rating from me.
Movie Details:
This movie is available on Netflix in Blu-Ray, DVD and Streaming- Now available at some libraries.
Director: Sergie Bodrov
Language: Mongolian- with subtitles
Genres: Foreign Action Adventure Drama Love Story
Cast: Tadanobu Asano, Honglei Sun, Khulan Chuluun, Amadu Mamadakov, Ying Bai, Deng Ba Te Er, Ba Yin Qi Qi Ge, Ba Tu, Odnyam Odsuren
