Hola all. Massawyrm here.
One of my biggest beefs with the film 300 was that I so loved the comic it was adapted from. But not only did I love the comic, I loved the original historical story. The reason I not only tolerated but embraced so many historical inconsistencies in Miller's original work was his unique take on Leonidas and his 300 Spartans. You're not supposed to like them. Not at first. Despite being some of histories greatest heroes, Miller presented them – Leonidas especially – as a bloodthirsty pack of assholes. When first we meet them we watch as a soldier trips over a rock. No big deal, right? His captain sure seems to think so. The captain walks up and mercilessly begins to pummel the shit out of him. That's when we meet Leonidas. He strides up and with a single punch to the back of the skull knocks his captain out cold. He looks down at the punished soldier and grumbles out the unforgettable phrase "Your Captain sleeps. You will carry him on your back." Then he says "And no food until journey's end. For any of us."
It stuns you. What a prick, you think and continue reading. Leonidas does little to win you back. He's not a nice guy. He's not a killer with a heart of gold. He's a badass. An unrelenting force of nature. But as the book moves along you begin to like him more and more. Not because he's revealed some deep, softer side, but because you understand him. You realize that in order to do what he and his men are about to do, you must be the coldest, toughest, orneriest bastard that ever walked the earth. And he is.
My problem with Zach Snyder's screen adaptation is that he left that element out almost completely. His Leonidas has a heart; he can be tender. He loves his wife. He smiles a lot. He's a badass because the movie says he is. He just turned out that way. They'll gladly show you in slow motion just how badass he is. Just watch. But that philosophy that drives Leonidas? It's more modern and likable. Where Miller's comic was about putting you in the head of a totally alien culture and mindset, Snyder's version is about getting the look of the comic right.
What I love about the film Mongol is that it takes the same approach to telling the story of Genghis Khan as Miller did to telling that of Leonidas. There is no attempt to make apologies for him. No attempt to try to modernize the philosophies of the culture to make it more palpable to audiences. Genghis Khan, or as he is called throughout this film by his given name Temujin, lives in a rather lawless despotism. And for all intents and purposes, he is himself a local despot.
Now don't get me wrong, Temujin has a heart. A big one. He loves his wife, his family, his children. But it is that love, and the cruelty of the separation from them he keeps suffering that drives him to become the man we know as one of histories greatest conquerors. Mongol takes you step by step through his life, giving each victory and each loss equal weight, so that by the time we reach the climax, by the time he is awarded the title Genghis Khan, you understand things from his point of view. When he executes people for a crime that we in our culture would probably not even consider a crime, you don't even flinch. By that point you really see his side of things. Temujin MUST unite the Mongols. He must go to war. Blood must be spilled or this utter lawlessness will continue and his people will be crushed under the boot of foreign aggressors.
And that's the beauty of Mongol. Through the language of film, complete with action, adventure, love and longing, it presents to you an entirely different perspective on a historical figure more often lumped in with Adolph Hitler than he is the likes of Alexander the Great. And it does so without attempting to white wash things. You see that what he's doing doesn't jive with modern sensibilities. But it certainly makes sense to you in context of his time and place.
But how is it apart from philosophical and historical perspectives? Fucking awesome. The battles are brutal and bloody, the action seething and tense. And despite the fact that this film details Temujin's life from childhood to the beginning of his days as supreme ruler of Mongolia, there's almost no fat at all. It is a lean, tightly paced film that is as much a love story as it is a bloody historical epic. This has all the hallmarks of films like Braveheart or Ridley Scott's directors cut of Kingdom of Heaven. Perfect in execution, despite being part 1 of a 3 part trilogy, it doesn't feel like it. It is complete. It feels like Temujin's arc has run its course. And really, it has. He becomes Genghis Khan, and what Genghis Khan does is another story entirely. But there isn't this overwhelming sense of emptiness at the end like there is with most deliberately made part 1's (I'm looking at you Golden Compass and Fellowship.)
The cinematography is epic, the story profound and rich, and every single action beat delivers 100%. Sweeping, majestic, and entertaining every step of the way. This is one of the best things I've seen all year. There are those who were at BNAT that felt thatCharlie Wilson's War was the best thing that played. And I was one of them. Then there were those that felt that this was. And honestly, I have a very hard time arguing with those folks. This film is perfect, and it all really comes down to aesthetics. Either way, this film is a visual masterpiece and will readily top a large number of next years Top 10 lists. If you've ever enjoyed a foreign film, you have no reason whatsoever not to put this on your radar immediately. Mongol is currently slated for a summer release and that cannot come soon enough so I can dig in and enjoy this again. This comes with The Highest of Recommendations.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
Massawyrm
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