By the Will of Genghis Khan   Starring: Eduard Ondar, Sergei Egorov, Ayan Ouspun, Suzanna Oorzhak and Stepanida Borisova Manga Entertainment RRP: £15.99 MVD2198 Certificate: 15 Available 27 September 2010

Genghis Khan (1162-1227), born Temüjin, created one of the largest continuous empires the world has ever seen, stretching from china to Russia and the Balkans.

By the Will of Genghis Khan (2009 - 2 hr, 01 min, 42 sec) is a historical film by debut Russian director Andrei Borissov. The film is based on the novel Chyngys Khaan Yiagynan by Nikolay Alekseevich Luginov. Filming took place across Russia.

It’s odd but often more than one director will have the same idea, like an asteroid on a collision course for earth, and then you get two very similar films. Following on closely behind Sergei Bodrov’s excellent film Mongol, By the Will of Genghis Khan was only going to suffer in comparison.

This version of Genghis Khan's life follows closely what is known about his early life and its scope is epic, even if its budget is not. The story is related by John, a Christian missionary, played by German actor Gernot Grimm, which may seem odd, but the Mongol Empire recognised religious freedom. Three actors play Khan at different times of his life Ayan Ouspun (child), Sergei Egorov (young man) and Eduard Ondar (the mature Genghis). Although each brings something to the role Ondar is able to portray Genghis’s power over men. The cast is huge and includes Suzanna Oorzhak as Borte.

I say that it suffers in comparison to Mongol and this is for various reasons. Firstly the film looks like it was created with a digital camera, or some pretty lousy lenses, so whilst the vistas are stunning, the harshness of the picture does not do them justice. The picture also has a soft look to it - presumably due to how it was shot.

The acting can be variable, though this is doubly difficult to determine, the soundtrack is in Russian, but this does not appear to be the language in which the film was shot, either that or the soundtrack is slightly out of synch with the picture. I can only presume that the subtitles are a true reflection of the actors words. Either way the combination makes the film somewhat difficult to watch with apparently three things going on at the same time.

On the plus side the battles are impressively realistic, from the authentic armour to the non-CGI’d riding stunts.

The film comes with options for either a 2.0 or 5.1 audio tracks, with optional English subtitles. There are two extras on the disc, the Making of Feature (15 min, 33 sec) with contributions from the director, who talks about his vision for the film, as well as cast and crew. The only other extra is the original trailer (1 min, 53 sec).

Whilst there is some impressive imagery and action, the film is ultimately let down by its lack of a good camera.

6

Charles Packer