Ok, You probably won't get a chance to see this in a theater near you. It's playing in a total of 94 theaters nationwide, up from 5 last week. it's Friday take jumped as well, making it the number 13 grossing film on Friday. So maybe you will be seeing it near you after all.
Then again its got subtitles so maybe not.

The only name that you are likely to recognize(or not)is Russian director, Sergei Bodrov. He filmed Mongol in Kazakhstan and China, sometimes in locations so remote that the crew had to build roads to access them. It features no names that will ring any bells in the US(or at least with me)but plenty of fine performances. Most notably, Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano plays Temudjin(Genghis Khan)gives a nuanced performance that touches subtly on many often contradictory aspects of one of the most notorious conquerors in History. Will there be times when you say "this guy seems awfully progressive for a Mongolian Warlord" yes, but if you can get past that you will enjoy the performance.

The film opens with Kahn in a cell. It is difficult(again at least for me)to tell his age at this point, but the remainder the film upspools as a series of recollections of his life leading up to this point.

Odnyam Odsuren plays young Khan for a significant portion of the film. He has some memorable scenes and does a good job of bringing a gravity to the role not often matched by young American actors.

The cinematography is first rate and the best of it is every bit as good as anything in this year's Oscar winning No Country for old men. In an age where digital enhancement produces so much memorable cinema, Bordov filmed a scene with 1500 horsemen who required two months training, not in hormanship but in acting. Oh yes, there is also enough blood and gore in the battle scenes to satisfy the blood and gore guys.

This Epic(can you call it that at two hours) is well worth a look if you can catch it in the theater or the the video store.

Labels: Bordov, Mongol