Mongol

I must be getting old. I have really no desire to see the tired comic book hero movies and lame-ass comedies being pushed off on the movie-going public this Summer. And don’t even talk to me about Sex in the City or Mamma Mia. While some of the animated children’s movies seem to be well made, I want a little more substance for my $9.00 ticket.

Finally I got my wish as last night we went to see the film Mongol. It is the story of the rise of Genghis Khan from that of a hunted boy to the ruler of Mongolia. Further films are promised that will cover Khan’s eventual rule from China to central Europe. Although the film falls squarely in the “art film� category, it has plenty of blood and guts to satisfy anyone’s summer testosterone fix.

The star of the film is its epically filmed grand scale. Filmed on location in Mongolia, China, and Kazakhstan, one is overwhelmed by the beauty, scale, and nature that gave rise to the Mongol horde that at one time ruled nearly half world under Genghis Khan and his children. The acting is understated but there is an intensity that boils just under the surface in both Temirdgen (Khan when he was a boy/young man) and Borte his wife and life-long partner.

Although slow at times, the grandeur of what is one the screen overwhelms and propels the story along. The battle scenes are gloriously filmed with a blood-spurting budget that would rival Kill Bill 1. Through Mongol, one gets a better sense of the forces that shaped Genghis Khan how he eventually became a great warrior and leader of men.