Genghis: The Legend of the Ten

Almost every film about the Mongols is centered around either Genghis or Kulai Khan. This one is not. It is centered around what would be the equivalent of an elite corps of warriors; the Aravt.

This completely Mongolian production has many positive aspects, but it does have a few weaknesses as well. One major weakness is the script. The storyline is solid, but the lines of the actors and actresses are a bit stilted and unnatural. The direction of the film is also, at times, a bit uneven. Other than that, this is a very fine production. The photography is outstanding, and the battle sequences are authentic and believable. The film is violent at times, but then again, we are talking about the greatest warriors in the history of the world.

Mongolian culture is one of the most misunderstood cultures of anyplace on earth, but this film helps us to understand Mongols a bit better than we did before we viewed this film. I also noted a bit of Japanese (Kurosawa?) influence in some of the scenes. There is nothing wrong in using a master of film as a guideline for your own production. There is also a nice Shakespearean twist in one of the subplots within the film. Really worthy of your time.

It was about the great Genghis' ten legendary soldiers called Aravt who are assigned to find the physician (doctor) and bring back safely. This is a travel based story where most of it takes place in horse riding and temporary tents. There's no forts and palace or a war with thousands of soldiers. In fact they won't even show Genghis. So if you are expecting it like the one from Russian movie you will be dissatisfied.

Soon theirs general assign them a task the ten Genghis soldiers travel to the forest to locate the skilled physician. On their journey they encounter the village that ruined by the enemy soldiers. They find an alive baby in the wreck and puts under their protection without knowing it is a child of their enemy. So finally the clash between these two small units of soldiers commence and what happens and who will be victorious is the remaining story.

It was a simple story with pure Mongolian actors in it. What bothers is it feels like the movie is not demonstrating exact history. Makes us think something missing that requires a qualify to be a movie. I found many scenes were boring, to say in other word it lacks with proper directional execution. Both the directors were new, it was theirs first movie so it is understandable without further denoting their mistakes. Go for it only if you are interested to know about the history of this part of the earth.

6.5/10

Firstly this is an excellent film from Mongolia, with Mongol actors, crew from Mongolia and totally filmed in the wilds of Mongolia and differs so much from the average USA made film. There is no CGI or glamorous highly paid actors here, no PC acting, the men are men and the women are women, gone are the obligatory female heroines, the ten year old child who knows more that the adults and formulaic story-lines. The Mongols are known to be superb horsemen and here it shows, the country is wild and unforgiving, and again here it is shown, the acting is on the weak side but this is made up for in the story-line, which is full of warriors doing there duty to Genghis Khan, even if it does mean the ultimate sacrifice. There is much character development, as we learn about each warrior and care for them,and much skullduggery as the story evolves. On the downside as I said earlier the acting could have been stronger and the end perhaps stronger, but I was very impressed with the film overall and would recommend it, there is some gore but nothing which is going to frighten the average young adult, and there is no nudity, sexual innuendo or foul language. In the UK it is classed as 15 but really should be a 12.

This film is a little gem as I thought it was yet another movie about Genghis Khan but instead it was a pleasant surprise. The cinematography and local scenery and acting is superb and I guess it was all shot in Mongolia but feels like a very seasoned director. The story was a little confusing in the middle as to who is on whose side but it's a rather simple story so it all falls into place yet it almost reminds me of a Sergio Leone or Kurosawa type of film the way it was shit and the wonderful music score.

The horsemanship and fighting sequences are top notch and give one a true glimpse of how skillful the armies of Genghis Khan were in the height of their fighting day las esp riding sideways on a horse. And I also enjoyed the cultural myths of the fighters esp the Elder leaders with lots of side words and proverbs instead of just senseless fighting. A solid 8 and looking forward to more films from the directors.