Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan
All actors and roles (10)
All team (54)
Short description
Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan follows Temüjin, the boy who would become the ruler known as Genghis Khan, from childhood through his rise to power. Stripped of his standing after his father's death, he endures slavery, betrayal and pursuit before uniting the Mongol tribes. His bond with Borte, his first wife, and his rivalry with his sworn friend Jamukha shape the story alongside the wider struggle for leadership on the steppe.
Sergei Bodrov directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Arif Aliev. The film sits between Bodrov's Nomad: The Warrior and Seventh Son in his directing career. Tadanobu Asano plays Temüjin, with Sun Honglei as Jamukha, Khulan Chuluun as Borte, Aliya as Oelun, Baasanjav Mijid as Esugei and Amadu Mamadakov as Targutai. It was a co-production involving Russia, Kazakhstan, Germany, Hong Kong, China and Mongolia, made for about 18 million USD and earning roughly 27 million USD worldwide.
On IMDb the film holds 7.2 out of 10 from around 51,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 6.8 out of 10 from roughly 800 votes. A critics' rating of 7.2 out of 10 from 102 reviews places it in line with the broader audience response on IMDb. The film was Kazakhstan's submission for consideration in the foreign-language category at the Academy Awards.
What's left behind the scenes
- During breaks in filming, many extras consumed alcohol, which often led to quarrels between representatives of different nationalities. The filmmakers bought several soccer balls in the hope of distracting people from alcohol. This helped for a while, but soon the extras returned to the bottle. After that, the second assistant director came up with the idea of hiring singers and dancers. They were brought to the filming location, where they performed for the extras during breaks between shooting mass scenes. The problem was solved.
- Prior to filming scenes with Temujin, played by Tadanobu Asano, and Borte, played by Khulan Chuluun, director Sergei Bodrov forbade the actors from seeing each other and deliberately kept them apart. Bodrov did not want the actors to feel too comfortable in each other's company, as their characters had lived apart for several years.
- Over 1,500 riders were involved in the final battle scene. Their arrival from Kazakhstan to Inner Mongolia, where filming took place, had to be organized. The riders were not actors, and it took 2 months to train them to work in front of the camera.
- Some of the locations chosen for filming were in such remote areas that roads had to be built to transport the filming equipment.
- Filming took place mostly in Kazakhstan and China. In China, it was organized in Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region in northern China with a larger population of Mongols than Mongolia itself.
- Before appearing on screen as Borte, Khulan Chuluun studied to be a journalist and had never acted in a film before. Gulshat Omarova, responsible for casting, was tasked by director Sergei Bodrov with searching for a suitable actress in Mongolia. Her search for an actress for the role of Borte was unsuccessful. Disappointed, Omarova went to the Chinese embassy to extend her visa to return to China. It was at the embassy that she accidentally came across Chuluun and persuaded her to audition.
- Before filming scenes involving Temujin (Tadanobu Asano) and Börte (Hulan Chuluun), director Sergei Bodrov prevented the actors from seeing each other and kept them apart, so they wouldn't feel too comfortable in each other's company, as their characters had lived apart for several years.
- Film director Sergei Bodrov and artist Dashi Namdakov specifically requested permission from the supreme shaman of Mongolia in the country's capital, Ulaanbaatar, to film a movie about Genghis Khan. He replied that many had spoken about filming such a movie, but they were the first to ask his permission.
- The film is prefaced with the Mongolian proverb, “Do not despise the weak cub, for he may turn out to be the son of a tiger.”
- The film was shot in such a remote location that daily work with the footage was simply impossible. Fresh material had to be sent to Hamburg, Germany for development, and then returned to China for viewing. This process took 3 weeks, whereas usually filmed material is developed and returned to the filmmakers within 24 hours.
- Filming took 14 months. 400 people worked on the film (300 from China and 100 from Russia). Over 1,500 extras were involved. Due to the participation of representatives from so many nationalities (Germans, Mongols, Chinese, Japanese, Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs), a team of 30 translators was constantly present on set.
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