Mongol (2007)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Sergei Bodrov

Writers:

Arif Aliyev (writer) &
Sergei Bodrov (writer)

Release Date:

20 September 2007 (Russia)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

Greatness comes to those who take it.

Plot:

The story recounts the early life of Genghis Khan who was a slave before going on to conquer half the world including Russia in 1206. |

Plot Keywords:

Slave | Genghis Khan | Thunderstorm | Poison | Mongol

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 11 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Tadanobu Asano	...	Temudjin
Honglei Sun	...	Jamukha
Khulan Chuluun	...	Börte
Aliya	...	Oelun - Temudjin's Mother
Ba Sen	...	Esugei - Temudjin's Father
Amadu Mamadakov	...	Targutai
He Qi	...	Dai-Sechen
Ben Hon Sun	...	Monk
Ji Ri Mu Tu	...	Boorchu
You Er	...	Sorgan-Shira (as A You Er)
Ba Tu	...	Altan (as Hong Jong Ba Tu)
Deng Ba Te Er	...	Daritai (as E Er Deng Ba Te Er)
Bao Di	...	Todoen
Su Ya La Su Rong	...	Girkhai (as Su You Le Si Ren)
Sai Xing Ga	...	Chiledu

Also Known As:

Монгол (Russia)
Der Mongole (Germany)
Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan (USA)
Mongol: The Rise to Power of Genghis Khan (UK)

MPAA:

Rated R for sequences of bloody warfare.

Runtime:

126 min

Country:

Kazakhstan | Russia | Mongolia | Germany

Language:

Mongolian | Mandarin

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:14A | Germany:12 | Ireland:15A | Italy:T | UK:15 | Australia:MA | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

China

Company:

Andreevsky Flag Film Company

Trivia:

The film took 14 months to shoot, and had a crew of 400 people (300 Chinese and 100 Russians), and over 1500 extras. Because there were so many different nationalities working on the film (Germans, Mongols, Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakhstanis), a team of over 30 interpreters were on set at all times.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Non-Mongolian characters in this movie speak modern standard Mandarin Chinese. This would be incorrect because, this language as the standard Chinese language originates with the Qing Dynasty hundreds of years later, the regions depicted in the movie appear to be central and western China where they would speak a different dialect and several characters speaking Chinese don't appear to be Chinese and all and would most likely be speaking a Turkic dialect.

Quotes:

Jamukha: Don't tell anyone we went to war over a woman.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: (#7.12)" (2008)

Great film

I saw this last week at the Toronto film festival and loved it. Many of the people in my group did not want to see it because they were not interested in the subject matter and ended up loving the film. It seemed to be the overall favorite of the group (we saw 12 films in Toronto). There is a fair amount of blood so if one is bothered by violence, you may not enjoy it. In some ways it reminded me of Braveheart because you learned about the history, but there was also beautiful cinematography, landscapes, and very well done battle scenes. This film could possibly be in the running for the best foreign film Oscar.