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Alexander Nevsky (1938)

Genre : Epic, Historical, War, Drama.
Language : Russian
Country : Soviet Union (USSR)
Cast : Nikolai Cherkasov, Nikolai Okhlopkov, Andrei Abrikosov.
Directed by : Sergei Eisenstein
Run Time : 112 min
Release Date : 1st December, 1938

Synopsis :
“Alexander Nevsky” (Russian: Александр Невский) is a 1938 historical epic drama film directed by Russian master Sergei Eisenstein, made at a time when tensions between the Soviet Union and Germany were high, the film has heavy political overtones and propagandas. ‘Alexander Nevsky’ was the most popular of Eisenstein's three sound films. In 1941 Eisenstein, Pavlenko, Cherkasov and Abrikosov were awarded the Stalin Prize for the film.

This film depicts the attempted invasion of Novgorod in the 13th century by the Teutonic Knights of the Holy Roman Empire and their defeat by the Russian people, led by Prince Alexander, known popularly as ‘Alexander Nevsky’.

Plot :
The film opens in a rural setting, with Prince Alexander toiling away in an implausible fashion among the fishermen. "Hack their ships we did nigh to smithereens", they sing, referring to the teenage Alexander's earlier triumph over a Swedish invasion at the River Neva (which lent him the commemorative surname ‘Nevsky’). A Mongol emissary from the Golden Horde appears and offers Alexander a job as commander in his army, but he refuses.

Back in Novgorod, news arrives of the crusading Teutonic knights' capture of nearby city of Pskov with the help of the traitor Tverdilo and brutal massacre of the population (including a scene in which the knights casually drop children into a fire), which adds fuel to Nevsky’s cause.

Prince Alexander is sent for to lead the troops because he’s well known for his bravery and intelligence and for his ability to rally the people. He devises a plan to lure the knights into a fight on the ice, reasoning that their heavy armour will eventually lead them to catastrophe.

In the face of resistance by the boyars and merchants of Novgorod (urged on by the monk Ananias), Nevsky rallies the common people of Novgorod in a decisive Battle of the Ice, on the surface of the frozen Lake Chudskoe on 5th April, 1242.

Running parallel to Nevsky’s story is a subplot involving two soldiers, Vasili Buslai and Gavrilo Oleksich, two famous warriors from Novgorod and friends, who have used the war as the pretence for a wager. Whichever shows the most courage and skill during the Battle on the Ice will win the right to marry Olga Danilovna, a Novgorod maiden whom both of them are courting. After both of them have been seriously wounded, Buslai publicly states that neither he nor Gavrilo was the bravest in battle: that honor goes to Vasilisa, the daughter of a boyar of Pskov killed by the Germans who had joined the Novgorod forces as a front-line soldier; and that after her came Gavrilo. Thus Gavrilo and Olga are united, while Buslai chooses Vasilisa as his bride-to-be (with her unspoken consent)!

“Eisenstein doesn’t get terrifically experimental with this film – it’s pretty straight forward narratively, though there is a lot of visual symbolism. It can be a difficult story to engage with at times because the characters are so thin, but I can see how it would have worked as a rallying piece at the time it was made and especially at the time of its re-release in 1941. The Battle on the Ice is the film’s big set piece and is one of the best and most memorable large scale hand-to-hand combat sequences I’ve ever seen. The story can be a bit plodding as it wades through layers of political commentary, but this battle sequence makes the film worth watching!“

Cast :
■ Prince Aleksandr Nevsky (Nikolai Cherkasov)
■ Vasili Buslaev (Nikolai Okhlopkov)
■ Gavrilo Oleksich (Andrei Abrikosov)
■ Ignat, the Master Armourer (Dmitri Orlov)
■ Pavsha, a Voivode of Pskov (Vasili Novikov)
■ Domash Tverdislavich, a Novgorod Boyar (Nikolai Arsky)
■ Amelfa Timoferevna, Buslay's Mother (Varvara Massalitinova)
■ Olga Danilovna, a Maid of Novgorod (Vera Ivashova)
■ Vasilisa, a Maid of Pskov (Aleksandra Danilova)
■ Hermann Von Balk, the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (Vladimir Yershov)
■ Tverdilo, the Traitor of Pskov (Sergei Blinnikov)
■ Anani, a Monk (Ivan Lagutin)
■ The Archbishop (Lev Fenin)
■ The Black-Hooded Monk (Naum Rogozhin)

Awards :
1. In 1941, Eisenstein, Pavlenko, Cherkasov and Abrikosov were awarded the Stalin Prize for this film.
2. In 1939, it was nominated for the Best Foreign Film in the National Board of Review.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.8/10; AllMovie.com = 4.5/5
[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, AllMovie, Criterion, RussiaBlog]

Gallery :

Mongol (2007)

Genre : Historical Epic, Biography, War Drama, Romance.
Language : Mongolian, Mandarin.
Country : Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Germany.
Cast : Tadanobu Asano, Sun Hong-Lei, Khulan Chuluun, Odnyam Odsuren.
Directed by : Sergei Bodrov
Run Time : 126 min
Release Date : 20th September, 2007

Synopsis :
“Mongol” is a semi-historical epic film based on the early life of Temüjin, the young Genghis Khan and the events which led him to become a legendary conqueror. Contradicting the Western (and Russian) image of Genghis Khan as the monstrous and cruel conqueror, Bodrov's work is influenced by Lev Gumilev's "The Legend of the Black Arrow" and is based on "The Secret History of the Mongols", the 13th century Mongolian account, unknown until its re-emergence in China 700 years later. Shooting took place, for the most part, in the People's Republic of China, mainly Inner Mongolia, and in Kazakhstan.

‘Mongol’ illuminates the life and legend of Genghis Khan. It shows the dramatic and harrowing early years of the ruler who was born as Temüjin in 1162. As it follows Temüjin from his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed his destiny, the film paints a multi-dimensional portrait of the future conqueror, revealing him not as the evil brute of hoary stereotype, but as an inspiring, fearless and visionary leader. ‘Mongol’ shows us the making of an extraordinary man, and the foundation on which so much of his greatness rested - his unique relationship with his wife, Borte, his lifelong love and most trusted advisor!

Plot :
The movie quotes an old Mongolian proverb - "Do not scorn a weak cub; He may become a brutal tiger!” The film opens with Temüjin (Tadanobu Asano) as a prisoner in the Tangut Kingdom, and narrates his earlier life through flashbacks. Nine-year-old young Temüjin (Odnyam Odsuren) is travelling with his father, Esugei (Ba Sen), a tribal chieftain (Khan), to select a girl as his bride. On the way, he meets young Börte (Bayertsetseg Erdenebat), the daughter of his father’s friend, who says she would like to be chosen and asserts she would make an excellent wife. While his father wishes him to choose a wife from the ‘Merkit’ tribe, Temüjin convinces his father to allow him to choose Börte. He promises to return after five years to marry her.

On their way home, Temüjin's father is poisoned by an enemy tribe. As he lies dying, he tells Temüjin he is now the new khan. However one of his father's warriors, Targutai, orders the other tribesmen to loot the dead khan's camp, taking the horses and livestock. Targutai spares Temüjin's life, declaring “a Mongol does not kill children!”

After falling through the ice on a frozen lake, Temüjin is found lying down in the snow by a young boy, Jamukha (Amarbold Tuvshinbayar). The two quickly become friends and perform a traditional ceremony declaring themselves ‘blood brothers’. Targutai, however, catches up with Temüjin and he is captured and locked in a cangue. Temüjin escapes late one night and continues to roam in the countryside.

We do not see Temüjin again until 1186 where he is a young man. He once again is caught by Targutai, who wishes to kill him now as he is grown up. Temüjin escapes again, this time taking one of the tribe's horses. He goes to find Börte (Khulan Chuluun) and brings her back to his family. Later that night they are attacked by the ‘Merkit’ tribe led by Chiledu to take revenge, because Temüjin's father had years before stolen his wife from one of their tribesmen. While being chased on horseback, Temüjin is shot with an arrow. Börte whips Temüjin’s horse, telling it to go home. Börte is captured and told by the Merkit leader that she is now his. Temüjin returns to his family weakened but determined to get his wife back.

Temüjin goes to his childhood friend, Jamukha (Sun Hong-Lei) who is now a khan himself. Jamukha agrees to help him attack the Merkit tribe and get his wife back, though only after a year passes. The attack on the Merkit tribe is a success, and Temüjin finds Börte alive and Chiledu dead with his throat slit. However, just as he feared, Bortë has been raped and left pregnant with Chiledu's son, whom Temüjin accepts as his own. Against Jamukha’s wish to stay, Temüjin and his men leave early the next morning, and two of Jamukha's soldiers also joined Temüjin because he takes better care of his warriors than Jamukha. Jamukha chases down Temüjin, but Temüjin refuses to send back Jamukha's warriors because a Mongol warrior is free to choose his lord, and Jamukha's warriors chose Temüjin. Jamukha warns him that his actions will lead to war.

Taichar, Jamukha's brother, is later killed while attempting to steal Temüjin's horses and this brings Jamukha and Temüjin go to war. When their armies face off, Temüjin sends some of his men to protect the families, while those remaining continue to fight. Being outnumbered, the army is quickly over-run. Jamukha decides to make Temüjin a slave rather than kill him.

Temüjin is sold to a rich garrison chief (Zhang Jiong) of the Tangut kingdom despite the dire warning given by a Buddhist monk (Ben Hon Sun) acting as his advisor. While imprisoned, the monk pleads Temüjin to forgive his monastery when he is free, and Temujin agrees in exchange for delivering a wish bone to Borte indicating he is still alive. The determined old monk finally manages to deliver his message to Börte. To get to Tangut, the faithful Börte becomes a merchant's concubine, bearing a daughter along the way. Once Börte arrives in Tangut, she abandons the merchant and pays the guard for the key to Temüjin's cage.

After his escape from Tangut, Temüjin gathers an army to unite all Mongol tribes and made some basic rules to live by. By using special war tactics, Temüjin defeats Jamukha to unite all the tribes. He then lets Jamukha leave alive. With the united army of Mongols, Temüjin wiped out the Tangut kingdom from the face of the Earth but the monastery survived. After his victory, Temüjin is named the ‘Khan of all Mongols - Genghis Khan’!

Reviews :
■ Peter Rainer of Christian Science Monitor states that “Mongol is a throwback to a more respectable tradition. The largeness of its scope arises naturally from the material, not the budget. The movie earns its stature.”
■ A O Scott of The New York Times describes Mongol as "a big, ponderous epic, its beautifully composed landscape shots punctuated by thundering hooves and bloody, slow-motion battle sequences."
■ Joe Neumaier of New York Daily News praised the performance of Chinese actor Sun Hong-Lie as - "Sun Hong-Lei, who, as Jamukha, gives so many neck-cracks, guttural howls and conspiratorial smiles he's like a Chinese Marlon Brando."
■ The Globe and Mail states - "As an epic action movie, Mongol is satisfying enough. Think Brave Heart. Think 300. Just don't think too much."

Cast :
■ Temüjin / Genghis Khan (Tadanobu Asano)
■ Jamukha (Sun Hong-Lei)
■ Börte - Temüjin's Wife (Khulan Chuluun)
■ Monk (Ben Hon Sun)
■ Esugei - Temüjin's Father (Ba Sen)
■ Oelun - Temüjin's Mother (Aliya)
■ Chiledu - Oelun’s First Husband (Sai Xing Ga)
■ Targutai (Amadu Mamadakov)
■ Taichar - Jamukha's Brother (Ba Ren)
■ Young Temüjin (Odnyam Odsuren)
■ Young Borte (Bayertsetseg Erdenebat)
■ Young Jamukha (Amarbold Tuvshinbayar)
■ Tangut Garrison Chief (Zhang Jiong)

Awards :
1. It won the 2007 Golden Eagle Awards for Best Costume and Best Sound Design.
2. It won the 2007 Nika Awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematographer, Best Production Designer, Best Costume Designer, and Best Sound.
3. It won the 2007 Asian Film Award for Best Supporting Actor - Sun Hong-Lei.
4. It won the 2008 Houston Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
5. It won the 2008 Las Vegas Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
6. It was nominated for the 2007 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (from Kazakhstan).
7. It was nominated for the 2007 Asia Pacific Screen Awards for Achievement in Cinematography.
8. It was nominated for the 2008 Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Ratings : IMDB.com = 7.4/10; AllMovie.com = 4/5; MetaCritic.com = 7.4/10; RottenTomatoes.com = 7.1/10
[Source : Wikipedia, IMDB, AllMovie, RottenTomatoes, MetaCritic]

Gallery :