Although Genghis Khan barely survived the laughable 1956 Hollywood misfire The Conqueror( (in which he was played by John Wayne!), the Mongol leader who built an empire encompassing most of Asia and Eastern Europe fares far better in this old-fashioned, Oscar-nominated epic—the first of a proposed trilogy—directed with a real flair for wide vistas and gargantuan crowd scenes by Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov. Employing a somewhat confusing flash-back-and-forward structure, Mongol rhapsodically covers the first part of Temudgin's (Tadanobu Asano) life, opening in 1192 with the future Khan incarcerated in a gloomy fortress cell, and then zooming back 20 years to the time when as a nine-year-old boy, he loses his father. Falling in with the prince of another tribe, Temudgin later experiences adventure, romance, and betrayal before he's eventually captured and imprisoned. But with the help of his resourceful wife (Khulan Chuluun), Temudgin escapes and ultimately starts to unite all of the tribes under his leadership, imposing a code of conduct that mandates, first and foremost, loyalty to one's lord. Although the chronologically fractured narrative is occasionally difficult to follow, and the oversized performances are almost operatic, Mongol is big (if also slightly wacky) entertainment that doesn't puncture the mythic quality of its subject so much as simply perpetuate it. Recommended, overall. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras are absent, except for a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a disappointing extras—or non-extras—package to say the least for this entertaining film.] (F. Swietek)
Mongol
New Line, 125 min., in Mongolian w/English subtitles, R, DVD: $27.99, Blu-ray: $35.99, Oct. 14 Volume 23, Issue 6
Mongol
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