I was very interested to see how Ghenghis Khan was portrayed in the 2007 movie Mongols, as opposed to uncensored historical records. So I focused my research on finding out the culture of Ghenghis Khan’s time. I then used that information to historically critique the film. My findings were plentiful. The movie Mongols shows the story of Tedmujin as a young boy and his growth to a man, on the path to his universally known, conquering of mass parts of the eastern world. It focuses mainly on Tedmujin’s relationship with his wife Borte, his family, and his extended family. In the film he picks his bride at 9 and must come back to her in five years for the marriage ceremony.
Within those five years his father is poisoned and he is betrayed by his Uncle Targutai. Targutai decides to kill him, but his mother intervenes, reminding Targutai that Mongol’s customs state that it is shameful to kill a child or woman. Targutai agrees and vows to kill Tedmuji when he becomes a man. This gives Tedmujin enough time to escape as a child and meet his new brother Jamukha. Jamukha is his greatest ally and becomes his worst enemy. When Tedmujin grows up he goes and finds his wife, but as quickly as he can find her she is taken away from him by the Merkits. Temudjins father Esugei stole the wife of a Merkit, and so they repaid the favor. They were said to have the most beautiful women in all the clans.
Within those five years his father is poisoned and he is betrayed by his Uncle Targutai. Targutai decides to kill him, but his mother intervenes, reminding Targutai that Mongol’s customs state that it is shameful to kill a child or woman. Targutai agrees and vows to kill Tedmuji when he becomes a man. This gives Tedmujin enough time to escape as a child and meet his new brother Jamukha. Jamukha is his greatest ally and becomes his worst enemy. When Tedmujin grows up he goes and finds his wife, but as quickly as he can find her she is taken away from him by the Merkits. Temudjins father Esugei stole the wife of a Merkit, and so they repaid the favor. They were said to have the most beautiful women in all the clans.
He asks his new brother Jamukha to then help him get her back by going to war with this clan. Jamukha hesitantly agrees and asks Tedmujin for secrecy of the fact that he was taking his people to war over a woman. Tedmujin and Jamukha, as brothers, fights the Merkit clan and retrieves his wife back. This is where the main conflict comes to fruition. After the war Tedmujin then splits the bounty equally amongst Jamukha’s people as his second in command. They then comes to see Tedmujin as a generous leader. Meanwhile, Horte convinces Tedmujin that he could never be leader as long as him and Jamukha resided in the same camp.
Tedmujin then decides to leave and many of Jamukha’s clan decides to go with him, including two of Jamukha’s brothers. This creates the main conflict of the movie as these two battle up until the climax in which shortly after the movie ends. The film is pretty authentic and pays great attention to detail in cultural occurrences. The film is shot using the Mongolian language. The director shows the mare milk often drank by Mongols in this time as the chosen drink in this film, as see it drank a lot through out the film. It was thought to give great strength to the rider. These are only a few of the authenticities present in this film. We will talk about some more later.
Tedmujin then decides to leave and many of Jamukha’s clan decides to go with him, including two of Jamukha’s brothers. This creates the main conflict of the movie as these two battle up until the climax in which shortly after the movie ends. The film is pretty authentic and pays great attention to detail in cultural occurrences. The film is shot using the Mongolian language. The director shows the mare milk often drank by Mongols in this time as the chosen drink in this film, as see it drank a lot through out the film. It was thought to give great strength to the rider. These are only a few of the authenticities present in this film. We will talk about some more later.
Temudjin was known for many things. For example, his strategical movements in war. He was known to be very adept in battle maneuvers and often attacked with less military forces than the enemy, but often managed to prevail. The director shows this in the movie within two battles. Both of these battles are up against his brother Jamukha. The first is immediately after Tedmujin runs off with a large chunk of Jamukha’s army, therefore leaving Jamukha with no choice but to come after him. Greatly outnumbered Tedmujin decides to find a high hill to be used as a bunker in which his archers can engage the massive forces approaching giving the women and children a chance to get away. Jamukha praises Tedmujin’s strategy in battle, but eventually defeats him and takes him captive. The second is in the final major battle of the film, which is the massive forces of Jamukha against Tedmujin’s highly out numbered warriors. Once again it is his strategy that wins out. He decides to send in his best swordsmen against Jamukha’s first wave.
Temudjin sends out his deadliest men on horse back with two swords out to meet them, with intentions to thin the numbers of the warriors in the wave. They do a great job at doing as much, but are over powered and forced to retreat, in which they lead the rest of the first wave into a trap filled with archers and sharp arrow tips. Sadly the story then takes a mystical turn in which as the the two armies are engaging it begins to thunder and all of the Monguls are afraid and thrown from their horses. This storm does not affect Tedmujin and so he is then praised by the soldiers on both side, thereby winning the war. I sadly because it was an ideal ending. It seemed like a disney movie, where evil is always beat out by some freak accident of nature. The moment just seemed to suck some of the life out of the film, but not enough to deem it a bad film.
Snapshots of Tedmujin and Borte’s relationship can be found all throughout the film. The director then romanticizes certain aspects of their life and omits others. For example, there is a scene where Tedmujin and Borte are running from Merkit warriors. Temudjin is then hit in the back with an arrow. Borte then makes the decision for him to flee, by slapping his horse on the rear and staying behind to be collected by the Merkit clan. This is all in order to save his life. This segment is highly romanticized, due to the fact that legend has it, Temudjin’s camp was attacked by Merkits that out numbered his group greatly.
He then chooses to leave behind his wife and take his horse because of two reasons. The first was that a horse was regarded as a great spiritual significance in Mongol beliefs. The second was that it was believed that you could win wars with out a wife, but you could not win a war without a horse. he then decides to run away and then return, when he is strong enough to defeat his enemies. In knowing this part of the story it could be understood why the director decides to go with the more romantic approach instead. A hollywood audience would find the actual decision of Tedmujin a lot less great.
He then chooses to leave behind his wife and take his horse because of two reasons. The first was that a horse was regarded as a great spiritual significance in Mongol beliefs. The second was that it was believed that you could win wars with out a wife, but you could not win a war without a horse. he then decides to run away and then return, when he is strong enough to defeat his enemies. In knowing this part of the story it could be understood why the director decides to go with the more romantic approach instead. A hollywood audience would find the actual decision of Tedmujin a lot less great.
While on the topic of Tedmujin’s and Borte’s relationship, another thing that stuck out to me was the fact that the director didn’t really talk much about the children during Horte and Tedmujin’s relationship. Legend has it that When the Merkits took Borte away from Tedmujin the night he fled, That his father’s enemy took to bed with Borte. It was said that she was pregnant by the time Tedmujin got her back, and that the baby was in fact his father’s enemies. Tedmujin still claims the child as his own. The director kind of hints at this fact by showing Tedmujin and Borte in a tent after he has found her again. She is pregnant and the Merkits throat is slit. Jamukha stands at the door and looks in on the scene, looking first at Tedmujin, then at Borte, then at the man with the slit throat. He smiles as an underlying understanding that they had fought and risked their lives to save the girl, and she is now pregnant with the enemies baby.
Legend has it that everyone knew about the fact that Borte’s first born child was not Tedmujin’s. In fact, this idea was used, later, to strip away any chance of the first son’s claim to the Khan position succeeding Tedmujin. The director gives us hope by showing the two together for just a little while before she is captured. This hints at the fact that they did in fact have time to consummate. Immediately upon arrival of Tedmujin into Borte’s tent he claims the baby as his own to Jamukha. He seems to try and fight off obvious reasonable doubt for romantic sake, substituting the truth for a romantic storyline.
Legend has it that everyone knew about the fact that Borte’s first born child was not Tedmujin’s. In fact, this idea was used, later, to strip away any chance of the first son’s claim to the Khan position succeeding Tedmujin. The director gives us hope by showing the two together for just a little while before she is captured. This hints at the fact that they did in fact have time to consummate. Immediately upon arrival of Tedmujin into Borte’s tent he claims the baby as his own to Jamukha. He seems to try and fight off obvious reasonable doubt for romantic sake, substituting the truth for a romantic storyline.
The film stays true to the architecture, clothing, weapons, and religions of the Mongolians in the 13th century time period that is being portrayed. Many yurts can be seen throughout the film as the home of the chief, or his honoraries. For example, we often see Jamukha and Temudjin conversing in a traditional yurt throughout the first half of the film. A yurt is a nomadic mongolian dwelling. It’s circular and is erected by using collapsible wooden frames, and often uses wool felt to be placed on the wooden frames. The Mongolian weapons, often associated with the mongols of Temudjin’s times, are the curved sword, the spear, the battle axe, and the bow. All of these can be seen throughout the film in the many, amazing, gory battle scenes.
These would actually be carried on their horses as they rode. Mongolians were said to have usually had about four horses, for one man, in which they could ride on their journeys to make sure no horse was overworked. This is not shown in the film, but an interesting fact none-the-less. The director chooses to show weapons, if present, always in hand when his characters are on horse back. Three major items of clothing worn by the Mongols in the 13th century are their hats, Dels, and Boots. All of these are seen throughout the film to create this epic period, but in 2007.
These would actually be carried on their horses as they rode. Mongolians were said to have usually had about four horses, for one man, in which they could ride on their journeys to make sure no horse was overworked. This is not shown in the film, but an interesting fact none-the-less. The director chooses to show weapons, if present, always in hand when his characters are on horse back. Three major items of clothing worn by the Mongols in the 13th century are their hats, Dels, and Boots. All of these are seen throughout the film to create this epic period, but in 2007.
If you take a look at younger or older Tedmujin, or Jamukha you will see a traditional display of these items. Young Tedmujin and Jamukha wear a circular fur headdress that were made for children to wear, while the older two wear hats made for chiefs and Mongolian men in a position of power. They can also be seen wearing a Del, at their boy stages in the film. A Del is a loose, one piece, calf-lengthed tunic. It has buttons on the right shoulder, long sleeves, and a high collar. As men they wear a Del as well, but with more colors and decoration inlayed. Lastly, although boots were said as having the toe turned up, the boots used in the film were made flat.
Some say that the boots were curled at the toe in order to keep a man from falling from his horse, but that was just a theory. I imagine the director didn’t really have to worry about that much, as he gives us these nearly close up third person, and first person, views. If you look closely you will see he uses flat boots for his characters. I guess you win some and you lose some. These elements; the architecture, the clothing, and the weapon portrayal, are a big part of what brings us into the scene of Ghengis Khans time. Through these elements we get a glimpse of what the director wants us to believe Mongol life was like in the 13th century. I believe the film team really did their research on the artistries present in that time, whether it was the yurts for the chiefs, or the hats for the children, the detail was excellently executed there.
Some say that the boots were curled at the toe in order to keep a man from falling from his horse, but that was just a theory. I imagine the director didn’t really have to worry about that much, as he gives us these nearly close up third person, and first person, views. If you look closely you will see he uses flat boots for his characters. I guess you win some and you lose some. These elements; the architecture, the clothing, and the weapon portrayal, are a big part of what brings us into the scene of Ghengis Khans time. Through these elements we get a glimpse of what the director wants us to believe Mongol life was like in the 13th century. I believe the film team really did their research on the artistries present in that time, whether it was the yurts for the chiefs, or the hats for the children, the detail was excellently executed there.
I think the director beautifully foretold many of the events to come through Temudjin’s subtle interaction with characters who would have a big impact on him becoming the legend that we know today. When Temudjin is captured by his Uncle Targutai the first time the decision is made for Tedmujin to be killed at an older age; or when he becomes “a man”. Targutai then asks for a Shaman witch doctor to watch over Tedmujin, to feed him and make sure he grows up quickly so that Targutai may kill him. Although the Shaman believes that Tedmujin will never forgive him. Tedmujin, in the end, actually does. Tedmujin then has a yurt for the priest built right next to his. Legend has it that a Shaman priest actually gave Tedmujin the name Ghengis Khan. Ghengis Khan means The ruler of all. The film ties the priest to Ghengis Khan through out. Through the last gesture of Ghengis Khan to the priest, the director hints at the fact that this could in fact be the priest who gives Tedmujin the name he’s most famous for.
Another example is when Tedmujin is taken captive by Jamukha and is made a slave and is sent to Xi Xia to be sold. Here he meets the emperor who he in fact plagued and vexed for many battles. Ghengis Khan faced the army of Xi Xia many times outnumbered and came out victorious. The emperor comes across Tedmujin in the market and is told by his priest that Tedmujin will kill many of his men with a vast army. The emperor laughs it off, buys Tedmujin, and throws him in a cage. This leaves us with that sensational feeling that you get when you know someone great’s future. After researching Ghengis Khan for some time now I find this film very clever indeed , when it comes to depicting the story of Temudjin. I would recommend it to all who wants to know anything about the early life of Ghengis Khan.
In conclusion, through my research and watching the film numerous times I was able to historically break down this film and actually see why it is so genius. Through the use of Tedmujin and some of the key characters in his life the director was able to establish a brilliant plot based strongly on Tedmujin’s relationship with his uncle, mother, wife, and best friend/brother. There is this struggle between two great men who are capable of ruling, but there can only be one to rule as Khan. The plot has no choice but to thicken, because not only are they men fighting for their right to lead, they are also close “brothers” as well.
The director shows us then, the inevitability of their closeness by showing us their will to rule and light attempt at trying to coexist. It is said that when it came to making all the biggest decisions in life Mongols listened to the women of the tribe. History tells us that Tedmujin had a strong relationship with his mom and heeded her words. She’s placed in the movie almost as a home base, she keeps him grounded with a mother’s love. Then we have the Uncle, who almost forces Tedmujin to fight to be Khan by threatening his life. This pushes Tedmujin into the relationship with Jamukha, the brother he becomes so fond of, but cannot keep peace with. In addition to this, the film seeks out authenticity in the showing of where these events would have taken place, the type of architecture that would have been lived in, what kind of clothes they would be wearing, and even the kind of animals they would come to interact with. Masterly mixed together, these components make up this brilliant movie that is Mongol.
The director shows us then, the inevitability of their closeness by showing us their will to rule and light attempt at trying to coexist. It is said that when it came to making all the biggest decisions in life Mongols listened to the women of the tribe. History tells us that Tedmujin had a strong relationship with his mom and heeded her words. She’s placed in the movie almost as a home base, she keeps him grounded with a mother’s love. Then we have the Uncle, who almost forces Tedmujin to fight to be Khan by threatening his life. This pushes Tedmujin into the relationship with Jamukha, the brother he becomes so fond of, but cannot keep peace with. In addition to this, the film seeks out authenticity in the showing of where these events would have taken place, the type of architecture that would have been lived in, what kind of clothes they would be wearing, and even the kind of animals they would come to interact with. Masterly mixed together, these components make up this brilliant movie that is Mongol.
Bibliography
“All the Khan’s Horses” by Morris Rossabi, Natural History,, October 11th
“Land of Ghengis Khan. The rise and fall of nations.” by Hong-Key, Yoon, New Zealand Geographer, 1997,Vol 53(1), pp.57-58
“Mongolian Traditional Clothes” Last updated Apr. 2013,
“Ghengis Khan” Last updated Dec. 2013, http://www.history.com/topics/genghis-khan
Mongol, Directed by Sergei Brodrov, Live Action,
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