REVIEW: DVD Release: By The Will Of Genghis Khan

Film: By The Will Of Genghis Khan
Release date: 27th September 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 122 mins
Director: Andrei Borissov
Starring: Stepanida Borissova, Sergei Egorov, Gernot Grimm, Orgil Makhaan, Eduard Ondar
Genre: Action/History/War
Studio: Manga
Format: DVD & Blu-ray
Country: Mongolia/Russia/USA

There have many films about the life of Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire and notoriously ruthless warlord of the late 12th and early 13th centuries, and director Andrei Borrisov’s By The Will Of Genghis Khan (2009) followed hot on the heels of Mongol: The Rise To Power Of Genghis Khan (2007), the first of a proposed three-part trilogy directed by Sergey Bodrov. Both films focus on the earlier years of Genghis Khan, but By The Will Of Genghis Khan was made for an estimated $10 million, roughly half the budget of Mongol: The Rise To Power Of Genghis Khan.

By The Will Of Genghis Khan adopts a straightforward, linear approach to its subject, charting Genghis Khan’s life from birth to the point at which he began to build a vast empire that would eventually cover most of Asia and large parts of the Middle East and eastern Europe.

Named Temujin at birth, the boy who would eventually become Genghis Khan endures a difficult childhood, but his early experiences give him a strength and determination that distinguish him in later life.

Temujin’s father, the leader of a minor nomadic Mongolian clan, dies after being poisoned by a rival clan when Temujin is still a young boy. In response, his own clan exile Temujin and his remaining family, regarding him as too young to take over his father’s leadership role. Later still, he is kidnapped and tortured, but eventually he manages to escape and, with guidance from his mother, Hoelun, begins to form important alliances with other clans…


Central to Temujin’s development, and the film’s narrative, are his relationships with the people closest to him: his long-suffering mother, childhood friend and blood brother turned rival Jamuka, and first wife, Borte, who at one point he has to rescue after she too is kidnapped by a rival clan. There is also plenty of action in the form of protracted battle scenes, but By The Will Of Genghis Khan attempts to show something of the man behind the warrior; a man who exercised what, at the time, was a remarkable tolerance for different religions, and a willingness to engage in negotiations before putting his enemies to the sword.


Largely shot on location in Russia and Mongolia, By The Will Of Genghis Khan should be much better to look at than it is. Unfortunately, much of the film appears to have been shot on less than premium quality digital cameras, giving the film a flat, at times almost amateurish quality that negates the effect of some stunning scenery.

It may seem unfair to criticise a film for limitations that are probably due to a restricted budget, but given the ambitious nature of the film, and the director’s obvious desire to shoot an historical epic, there are clearly elements of the film that were compromised by a lack of funds. Some of the battle scenes, for example, come close to looking like the weekend antics of an historical re-enactment society, with just not enough men or horses to do the job. Apparently, the Mongolian army were on hand to help with certain scenes, but it doesn’t really show.

Perhaps even more problematic is the overblown dialogue, overflowing as it is with laboured, quasi-poetic lines that are meant to be profound but border on parody. Some of the performances don’t help either, with too many of the cast engaging in hammy, melodramatic overacting.

On the plus side, By The Will Of Genghis Khan at least attempts to show what motivated Genghis Khan in his conquests, and presents a reasonably balanced view of the effects of his empire building. Eduard Ondar is, for the most part, convincingly stoic as Genghis Khan, and has to be commended for faring so well with a script that doesn’t do him any favours.

There may be a lot wrong with By The Will Of Genghis Khan, but it’s certainly nothing like as bad as The Conqueror, the 1956 turkey starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan, and it’s unlikely to be bettered by an upcoming Hollywood biopic of Genghis Khan with Mickey Rourke in the title role. According to recent reports, Rourke claimed the new film will be directed by John Milius, the Hollywood screenwriter and director who is perhaps best known for writing Apocalypse Now - and for directing Conan The Barbarian. By The Will Of Genghis Khan may be a little flat visually, and curiously dull given the overblown dialogue and acting, but at least its central character doesn’t resemble a punch-drunk plastic surgery victim, and it doesn’t have the overall feel of an extended heavy metal video as filmed by a swords-and-sandals fantasy fanatic.


By The Will Of Genghis Khan fails to really engage, but it’s not without its merits, if you’re prepared to overlook certain shortcomings. With a bigger budget and better writing it could have been so much more impressive, but it’s a flawed historical epic that doesn’t quite achieve what it sets out to do. JG