Mongol (EOTWS)

End Of The Week Shorts #48 extract: Mongol: The Legend Of Genghis Khan (2007)

Pretty spectacular. Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan, as the title suggests, is not about the triumphs of one of the greatest conquerors ever to walk this earth. Rather, this is about the many great failures that preempted the birth of a great ruler. The story is then undeniably powerful - despite the fact that this is not a technical or artistic masterpiece - and so it lies at the heart of this film. 

What Mongol does particularly well is humanise Temudgen (the to-be Great Khan) through his relationship with his wife and children. Moreover, Bodrov shows great understanding of momentous force as he directs his best battle sequences, integrating horse riding perfectly into the narrative. The direction and writing aren't consistently functioning as best as they can with one or two action scenes that don't work and an ending that is maybe a little more subdued than it could have been. Nonetheless, Mongol was a great watch. I highly recommend it.