| Overall Grade: |
D |
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| Story: |
F |
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| Acting: |
N/A |
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| Direction: |
C |
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| Visuals: |
A |
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Wanna know the truth?
by Buren-Erdene (movies profile)
Jul 16, 2008
109
of
167 people found this review helpful
Its time to talk about this film, Sergei Bodrov's Mongol. With many examples. Some might find this little off, but here is my two cents.
I’m not a professional critic or something. But I study and do researches on Mongolian history, traditions, cultures, and etc. a lot, since I’m a Mongolian, and I will tell you why we, the Mongols, are so enraged by this film.
Before I start, I want you to know this: readers must know this film is fictional --- but people believe whatever they see on TV …Once it’s depicted wrongfully, it stays that way for a long time and breaks the image of its kind and educate the audience in the “wrong” way. After all, movies are the biggest tools and weapons in Information War Era --- which is now. But audience just seems to forget it.
Here are my opinions of this movie through the Mongol view.
First of all our people: Mongolian people kinda spoke poetically back in the days. Anyone who read the Secret History of the Mongols would know. But in this film they use a modern Mongolian that sometimes sounded too modern and too rude. Just like English slang. For example, In Lord of the Rings we all remember how all those characters spoke in old English style … that sounded more fit to the era described in the film. (BTW, some of you might say “who gives a crap about what they say, we don’t know Mongolian, as long as we can read the subtitles, fine!” But for someone who knows this kind of stuff its disgraceful). But here they all talk in Mongolian slang terms. I’m not even talking about the subtitles that didn’t fit the spoken word in the scenes. Only crude literal translations.
Also, when Bodrov came to our country looking for Mongolian actors to take the role, all of our people protested the project and no professional actor took part. So he had no choice but to look for actors who could speak Mongolian outside of Mongolia. So they ended up with Chinese Mongolians and Russian Mongolians who have heavy accents. And the worst part was that the main characters in the film were Japanese and Chinese actors. Mongolian language is a very difficult language with so many pronounces and sounds. It has so many sounds that are very hard for foreigners to say. Only native Mongols can pronounce them correctly. I’m not bragging here. So there was no way for the Chinese and Japanese actors to pull them off. I can barely hear out a word from the things they are talking about. You all know how Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood sounded like.
The little kid who played Temujin’s childhood was Mongolian, and his first son Juche and his wife Borte was also. But they’re not professional actors. Does anyone remember how Jean Claude van Damme or Steven Seagal looks on many scenes? LOL. It’s just very funny to see and hear all those when the Mongolians in Bodrov’s Mongol start to speak and act.
The way they dressed seemed ok. But since the Russian-ised Northern and China-fied Inner Mongols done all the production design …It just doesn’t have the taste of real Mongol image. Well they did a good job on that. But it was more of like … lets put it this way, what if we show all the English people only by Scottish people or Welsh people? Wouldn’t that be wrong? Wouldn’t it look Crude, even though they are English cultured people? So my point here is to choose the right ethnic people for the right role … even in the helm of production design.
They (the Mongols back then) might have been “barbaric dirty” as all the civilized people described us in that time. But I’m here to tell you nomadic people made a great deal by developing the patterns, decorations and carvings on the things they used. In the movie, all the stuff that they wore just look plain, there weren’t any good looking patterns and decorations to see, it’s safe to say there was none. If u don’t believe me then go and make a little research on how the Persian and Chinese painters have drawn us by that time, they have all shown nice sharp colorful clothes and accessories with tons of decorations (You all know we Mongols invaded them and slaughtered a lot of people back then but they could’ve just shown us hate like hellhounds that Europeans imagine). Man, just look at those hairs … what a mess … Armors of the warriors’ weren’t that correctly shown.
Only thing that I really liked was the fights’ scenes that were greatly choreographed. I would give an “A” on that.
Oh…Borte was more like a woman who makes troubles by talking bad stuff about people around making best buddies break up by it. This seemed very wrong. No honor for a warrior’s wife.
The tradition shown there is totally screwed up. For examples: Temujin and Borte’s fathers never ever met. But they walk up to each other with such a fake smile and laughing when nothing is going on and as if they were buddies for a long time. And in Mongolian tradition, youngsters are not even allowed to freely with their elders in any manner. But here the boy (Temujin) is even teaching his dad what girl to choose or how to handle women and etc. WTF? Is he a Prodical son? He is only 9.
Also at the near end of the film, Chingis Khan is giving his son slice of meat with a hand that is has a knife in hand. This just means “I’ll kill you” as a message. If you do this to Mongol then there sure will be a big problem….
Historical Inaccuracies: Now this is the coolest part! First of all… THIS FILM LACKS EVEN THE BASIC LOGICAL THOUGHT. Chingis Khan was never captured by Chinese. This was the biggest thing and was the cause for the Mongols to protest against Bodrov. And as soon as he escapes China, how in the hell can some slave-4-10-years rally that many troops? LET ALL OF US THINK LOGICALLY. Who would trust and follow a leader who was gone and was put in prison for long long years without a word and came back from nowhere all of sudden? WOW…just wow. Dear, reader, would you trust that kind of leader?
And what happened to the people who helped Chingis Khan to get on that height. I see nobody other than his good old buddy Jamukha. There had to be Wan Khan (Tooril Khan, Chingis Khan’s father’s best friend AKA leader of Hereid Clan), Chingis Khan’s younger brothers and half-brother who all did their best for his older brother Chingis, and etc.? Without them this story just doesn’t make sense, since he can’t do all that just by himself.
Now, Chingis Khan’s wife was stolen by Mergid Clan’s warrior Chilt. And when Chinggis Khan finds his wife his wife is pregnant. Most historians would think that his wife is carrying Chilt’s son. Not, at all. In the original source material, the Secret History of the Mongols, when Chingis Khan goes and asks for help from Wan Khan to help him to get his wife back, he said “I need to get my wife and child back” as Chingis knew Borte was pregnant. Well of course this meeting was tweaked by meeting up with Jamukha instead and asking for help from Wan Khan. Well Jamukha did help him thou.
Now the most disturbing part was that Mongolians were able to speak with Chinese people without any need of interpreter. This gives a message to the world as if Mongolian nomadic culture in whole is part of Chinese culture. Politics. THEN WHY THE CHINESE FRIGGIN BUILT A 3000 MILE WALL TO KEEP US OFF, IF WE WERE CHINESE AND OUR LAND WAS PART OF CHINA? Well, since the some of the shoots were taken in China, I think China politics had something to do with this, just like politics always had a great influence in films.
Remember the craze after the film 300’s release? All the white people were like “Sparta!!!” I felt bad for the Iranian people for how they were depicted in that film…well, I do have the comic book of “300” … but once it goes as film…then it’s a huge f**k up.
The movie can be fine as entertainment…but in the face of truth it is not. |
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