A thrilling and painstakingly researched story combined with the best costumes imaginable and superb performances makes this a biopic to see
Award winning Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov (“Prisoner of the Mountains”) creates a scholarly and superbly executed story of the first thirty years of the life of the man who would become the Khan of Mongolians. Nominated for the 2008 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year by Kazakhstan, this is the best film out there of the early years of the life of the man who would become Genghis Khan.
Born as Temudjin in 1162 AD, the young man was the son of a warrior chieftain who lost his life to the poison of an enemy tribe. After that the young man went through several viscerally displayed attempts at his life. As a boy of eight years he chose his bride, a woman who would stick with him through the most incredible series of events. As he defies all odds, Temudjin not only survives but defines modern warfare in the grand battle that begins the ruling phase of his life.
Depicted as a man with a combination of Native American survival instinct and Buddhist self knowledge, Temudjin takes each day one at a time. He bears no particular grudges to those who shot him with arrows, stole his wife and displayed him as an animal in a zoo. Instead, he learns from each day and simply pursues his fate as it is played out.
The future Khan is played by Tadanobu Asano in a performance that is as close to perfect as one could imagine. Screenwriters Arif Aliyev and Bodrov wisely chose to forego a comprehensive retelling of the most famous years of the Khan’s life and focused instead on the years that made him what he was.
In the course of telling the story of the man they tell the story of the Mongolian people, a rough and ready people of complex tribal loyalties and customs surviving in the unforgiving arid plains of Asia. The people lacked the sophistication of their neighbors the Chinese but they knew the land and they knew how to survive under the harshest of conditions. Through it all they maintained the most devout of Buddhist philosophies of taking each day as it is presented and never failing to think outside the box.
Asano's performance is accented by the super high quality work of newcomer Khulan Chuluun as Temudgin's uber-wife Borte, and the Chinese actor Honglei Sun (“The Road Home”) as chieftain Jamukha, once Temudgin's dearest friend and later his deadliest enemy.
In terms of photography, costumes and set design this film is one in a million. The costumes, especially, are a thrill to behold. Ranging from rags to the garments of kings, they are precisely and flawlessly reproduced down to the braided hair styles. The costumes alone are worth the price of admission.
The sound track is entirely in Mongolian with a bit of Chinese and English sub-titles. The language itself is magically transformed from the most foreign of languages to an ongoing poem. Each word is said with such clarity and accompanied by such accurate acting that the audience feels they don’t need the sub-titles at all (in fact, they do).
Films such as this have to walk a fine line between being a National Geographic documentary and being too farfetched to believe. This film combines the most studied approach to one of the most famous figures of history with a fascinating screenplay.
Release: June 6, 2008
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