MONGOL

 

SHOWTIMES

Award-winning Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov (Prisoner of the Mountains) stunningly illuminates the life and legend of Genghis Khan. Based on scholarly accounts, Mongol delves into the dramatic and harrowing early years of the ruler, born as Temudgin, in 1162. As it follows Temudgin from his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed his destiny, the film paints a multidimensional portrait of the future conqueror, revealing him not as the evil brute, but as an inspiring and visionary leader. Filmed in the very lands that gave birth to Genghis Khan, Mongol transports us to an exotic past; to a nomad’s landscape of endless space, climatic extremes and ever-present danger. In a performance of powerful subtlety, celebrated Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano (Zatoichi, Last Life in the Universe) captures the inner fire that enabled a hunted boy to become a conqueror. Masterfully blending action and emotion against some of the most arresting terrain on earth, Bodrov delivers an exciting and awe-inspiring tale of survival and triumph, and a love story for the ages. Australia/China, 2008, 125 min.