24 June 2008

Mongol -- Film Review

This seems like it is a film that I would enjoy watching based on this review. It is a foreign language film and was nominated for an Oscar this past year in the Best Foreign Language film category. I do not know why, but I have been watching foreign language films since I was a kid. Generally, I watch films in languages that I do not speak but that seems to be no hindrance to my enjoyment of the spectacle of film.

It might also be the reason that I have an affinity for languages and pick them up so easily. I am very lucky that way. I once enrolled to learn Vietnamese at the Bankstown Community College and after a couple of classes the teacher wanted to move me to the intermediate class because he did not believe me that I had not studied the language before. Unfortunately, I have forgotten most of the language for the purposes of being able to use it in an immediate setting. However, I do find that after only a couple of hours listening to it, it starts to come back...

Back to the film.

The film is a work of fiction but apparently draws on a number of sources including the epic poem, The Secret History Of The Moguls, which was written about Genghis Khan shortly after his death in 1227. The film was shot on the steppes of China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan. This along with the fact that the cast resembles in physical appearance the people of whom the story is about should give it a great deal of authenticity.

I do not know if the film will get into theatres in Jakarta, but with a bit of luck I might be able to pick it up of DVD.

Here's looking forward to a good flick!

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