Mongol - B-

On DVD. Rated R, 124 minutes. Trailer.

Genghis Khan is a fascinating historical figure, yet prior to watching Mongol, my knowledge of him was not much more than his character in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (gotta love his romp through the San Dimas mall). The film was nominated for Best Foreign Film earlier this year so I figured it would be good and fill in a gaping hole in my Eurasian steppes historical knowledge at the same time. Click below for more on a beautiful but less than great film.

The film starts with Khan at 10 years old picking out his wife and roaming the steppes with his father. After his father dies, his family is treated poorly and he is persecuted multiple ways until he finally ends up victorious and the ruler of the steppes. There are some interesting angles at play during the film, but its basically a boring slave to king story without much interesting dialogue or thoughts to process. The battle scenes are GORY and cool in spite of that, but it is the steppes and the beautiful cinematography that landed this film an Oscar nomination.

In some limited spots it reminded my of Days of Heaven, with the expansive grasses and foreshadowing nature (particularly birds) scenes. There are probably 20 beautiful shots/scenes throughout the film, which I wish I had seen on the big screen for that reason.

Kind of interesting and really beautiful, but only for Mongol maniacs or cinematography geeks (I'm looking at you, Doc).