Cinematography, music (I loved it: mystical and powerful at the same time), story – all the ingredients of a great film are here. One technical piece I really appreciated: the subtitles visually clear - it was an "easy read" so to speak.
Some gaps in the story, for sure, but the power of the story comes through: after his father’s murder, years of suffering and hardship, a mother’s undying love, faith in God, his father’s legacy, a wife forever loyal, to whom he was equally loyal.
Twice, his wife is abducted and raped, giving birth to a boy and girl whom he later declares to be his own, revealing a level of love and kindness beyond the usual boundaries of these virtues.
Is Genghis Khan the fierce bloodthirsty tyrant we hear of in history, or is there more to the story? Likely more, as there always is.
But that may yet come in a sequel.
For now, this is a story of young boy and his formation, the power of a family to love in adverse times, and the power of loyalty and faith.
The film captures the immensity of the Mongolian Steppe – vast, empty, sacred.
As I watched the film unfold, I was touched by “the people” therein – they’re people, not just a race; they want to love and be loved. There was one remarkable moment when the camera plays down a line of girls, prospective wives for the young boy. It was time for him to select a wife, so his father takes him to neighboring clan – being but nine years old, after picking his wife, he’ll return in five years.
As the camera played from face to face, each profoundly different, I found myself reflecting on my “racial” eyes – I can look at someone from another race and see only a race. But as the camera panned over their faces, I saw individuals, each profoundly different, as well are, and that’s the antidote to any form of racism. Everyone’s a person; everyone’s different, but “racial” eyes make it possible for us to see only a race.
Toward the end, something of Genghis Khan’s dream is revealed: he wants to stop Mongols from killing one another; he wants to build a nation. As the film draws to a close, we see Genghis Kahn making his first forays into leadership. He remembers those who were kind to him when he was on the run and imprisoned, and he doesn’t burn a monastery (to find out why, you’ll have to see the film all the way to the end).
Powerful, evocative, well-done.
