By the Will of Genghis Khan (Tayna Chingis Khaana) (2009)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	Trailer-x 5 but not for this film
Rating
Year Of Production	2009
Running Time	121:57 (Case: 83)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (63:33)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Andrei Borissov
Studio Distributor	Eagle Entertainment	Starring	Nikolay Luginov Stepanida Borissova Sergei Egorov Gernot Grimm Orgil Makhaan Eduard Ondar Susanna Orzhak Efim Stepanov Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Oleg Taktarov
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$29.95	Music	Albert Kuvezin

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Russian Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.05:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	Unknown	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English (Burned In)	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     By the Will of Genghis Khan (original title Tayna Chingis Khaana, in the US known as By the Will of Chinghis Khan), is Russian director Andrei Borissov’s take on the early life of Genghis Khan (born Temujin), one of the greatest, and most bloodthirsty, conquerors in history. The sub-heading is “the legend of a conqueror” and the film covers the life of Temujin from his birth, the death of his father, his marriage to Borte and his exile through to his unification of the Mongol tribes and becoming Genghis Khan.

     The DVD cover states “discover the true story of the legendary conqueror” and it may be that the film sticks relatively close to known facts, but that does not mean it is reliable history. Great conquerors frequently reinvent their early years (Alexander the Great being a prime example) and the film, in trying to cover the events of 30 odd years is very episodic and fragmentary. It assumes audience knowledge of the events of the life of Genghis Khan, but even so it seldom comes to grips with the subject or the vast array of characters. Temujin himself (Sergei Egorov) is steely and hardly charismatic and Borte (Susanna Orzhak) gets little screen time. One of the very few characters who make an impact is Temujin’s childhood friend and blood brother Jamuka (Orgil Makhaan), but otherwise characters come and go with little explanation; we don’t know who these people are, their motivations, their allegiances or their political alliances. Even the shaman Khokhochoi (Efim Stepanov), supposedly a major character, is seldom seem while further complicating the story is the insertion of Brother John (Gernot Grimm), a Christian missionary, who according to the film interceded in the climactic battle. This seems extremely doubtful.

     The film is not all bad; the Mongolian landscapes look spectacular and images of massed horsemen galloping across the steppe can never be dull. This was director Andrei Borissov’s first feature and he overuses the sweeping camera crane moves, seeking an epic feel (rather like Peter Jackson’s camera moves in Lord of the Rings or any Tony Scott film) when nothing is actually happening. The camera moves call attention to themselves and can be distracting. Even the battles are confused and fragmentary, with jerky hand held cameras up close to the action, giving us little sense of who is doing what to whom. This is not helped by the amour and costumes, as both sides in battle look similar.

     There is an inevitable comparison to be made between By the Will of Genghis Khan and Mongol, Soviet director Sergei Bodrov’s 2007 take on the same material but on a bigger budget. However, it is not necessarily the bigger budget that makes Mongol a more interesting film. Mongol faces the problem of the same fragmentary events by creating a more intimate story that concentrates on Temujin, his wife Borte, and Jamuka. While in By the Will of Genghis Khan Borte is pretty much marginalised, in Mongol she is a life force, a major player and the catalyst behind much of the action and it is this fact which gives Mongol its heart amid the grandeur of its visuals. Mongol, while indeed epic filmmaking with wonderful sets and spectacular visuals, is more interested in delivering the myth than the history. In comparison By the Will of Genghis Khan is more dry history, covering far more characters and recreating events. .

     While By the Will of Genghis Khan has some spectacular visuals of the Mongolian steppe and snow covered landscapes, and stirring scenes of massed horseman, it tries to tell far too much history, cover too many people and events, and ends up too dry. We don’t know who all these people are, so we are not involved.

Video

     By the Will of Genghis Khan is presented in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.05:1 and is 16x9 enhanced. The IMDb does not give the original aspect ratio, but it is interesting to note that the Region 1 US release is reported to be 1.77:1 while the UK Region B Blu-ray (which I own) is 1.85:1.

     Either way, this is a disappointing print for a recent film. Colours are often muted and dull, although skin tones are natural. However, there are a range of issues with some macro-blocking, noise reduction grain and edge enhancement at various times producing a sometimes hazy, soft looking print. There were no dirt marks or scratches, although aliasing did occur on ice flows and grasslands.

     Burnt in English subtitles are in a clear white font. They are in US spelling but also contain a number of clumsy translations and such statements as “we must chine him” (61:58). I’m not sure what that means.

    The layer change at 63:33 resulted in a slight pause.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio is a good track providing a nice enveloping surround experience. Dialogue is clear, the effects have nice separation, although they are on the thin side with swords sounding tinny, and the surrounds are constantly in use for weather, horse and battle effects and music. The sub woofer supports the horse hooves and music.

     The score by Albert Kuvzin sounded suitably epic and Central Asian, with voice and instruments.

     Lip synchronisation was often very poor. The dialogue for the various actors was obviously recorded in their native languages then re-recorded into Russian. The miss sync was frequently obvious.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     There are no extras as such, although this is another disc with annoying forced trailers. These trailers can also be selected form the extras menu. The trailers are: Brotherhood (2:25), Every Day (2:37), Blood Out (2:11), Everyman’s War (1:57) and Group Sex (2:29).

     The Region 1 US release is reported to be in an aspect ratio of 1.77:1 without extras. The Region 2 UK releases (as well as the UK Region B Blu-ray) are in 1.85:1 and include a making of featurette (15:33) plus trailers. They seem to be the best choice, although reviews I have read of the Region 2 DVD also are critical of the video.

     By the Will of Genghis Khan has some spectacular visuals of the Mongolian steppe and stirring scenes of massed horseman but it tries to tell far too much history, cover too many people and events. It ends up too dry and seldom comes to grips with the subject or the vast array of characters. .

     The video is disappointing for a recent film, the audio is fine and there are no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall