In Mongol, now playing in selected theaters, the legendary warlord Genghis Khan is portrayed as a sympathetic and noble man, leading many to wonder what the real truth of the man was. Here's a delineation separating fact from fiction from an expert on the subject. We can be fairly certain, however, that he never helped two San Dimas High School kids with their history report.
By Chris-Rachael Oseland
Fancast Movies
Genghis Khan: A Love Story. Yes, really.
Fans of The Daily Show have seen countless ads for Mongol [watch the trailer]. It's won a fistful of awards and a ton of international acclaim. More important, it's a damn good movie. The producers are pimping future DVD sales like mad. If you're lucky enough to live in one of the select cities where it's playing in art houses, go see it on the big screen. Tonight. It's epic. It's pretty. It's worth $10 and 2 hours of your life.
Don't expect pyramids of human heads, men in Fu Manchu mustaches raping half a dozen races of peasants and entire cities razed to the ground. You'll have to wait for the sequel. Mongol follows Temujin's early life, before he became Genghis Khan.
For a good, readable history of the real Temujin's life, go read Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, by Jack Weatherford.
If you want a cheat sheet on what the movie got right versus what director and co-writer Sergei Bodrov made up, I'm here for you. This is your last chance to skip to the next article if you want to avoid spoilers.
Let Them Eat Marmots
Mongol starts with an adorable 10 year old Temujin visiting a neighboring tribe to pick out a bride. Borte picks him as much as he picks her. After the betrothal, Temujin heads back home with his father to wait for puberty to kick in before his wedding night. In reality, he started serving what should've been 2 – 3 years of labor under Borte's father to earn her from him.
Temujin's father really was poisoned shortly after the boy's betrothal – but not the next day. When they got word, Borte's family sent the boy home to claim his rightful place. There's a beautifully evocative scene of him coming home to find social vultures picking over what's left of his family's possessions. Sure, he was an heir, but he was also a 10 year old kid. Might made right, which meant his entire extended family was looted and left to die.
After this, the movie veers away from reality for a few years. We see little Temujin run for his life, battling both his father's rival Targutai and the unforgiving elements. The lonely little boy tugs at the heartstrings, but in reality, he roamed the plains with his mother, sister and elder stepbrothers. They barely survived by eating grass, rodents, and raiding what little they could take from the few people weaker than them.
At the tender age of 13, when he should have been consummating his marriage with Borte, he killed his eldest half brother over a fight over a dead marmot. Maybe I'm brutal, but I would've loved to see that on screen. This is the Genghis Khan most people are expecting. It would've set a nice precedent.
Once is Enough
The next 3 years are kind of vague. The director filled them in with repetitive harrowing scenes of capture and enslavement. He really was captured and enslaved by his father's former allies – once. There was nothing like the character Targutai's obsession with putting Temujin down. Sure, being enslaved was doubtless traumatic at the time, but it wasn't an ongoing theme in his life.
Alas, as cool as it looked on screen, Temujin never spent any time rotting in a prison cell eating live birds and menacing old priests. I forgive the director for throwing this bit in. It was a great excuse to contrast the nomadic Mongols, silk route merchants, and the unevenrefinement found on the outer fringes of China. Plus, it shows Borte off as an irrepressible, strong woman.
Borte
Don't worry. In real life, Borte and Temujin really were that dedicated to one another.
After Temujin failed to work 2 – 3 years for her, she could've chosen another husband. Instead, she waited for him. He must've made a heck of an impression as a 10 year old.
Once he claimed Borte, Temujin didn't keep her for long. Single or desperate Mongols were notorious wifenappers. It was a hell of a lot cheaper than laboring 2 – 3 years for a girl's father. Plus, you never had to worry about in-laws.
In the movie, Borte's kidnapping is retribution for Temujin's father stealing his mother from her first Merkit husband, but in reality, it wasn't that complicated. Borte was pretty. He was weak. The Merkits could take her.
Just as Temujin's mother stayed with his father, Borte could've stayed with her new Merkit husband. By the time Temujin recaptured her 8 months later, she was dubiously pregnant. In both real life and the film, Temujin didn't care. The future bloody world conquorer was madly in love with his wife. In the movie, his fellow warriors judge him for taking her back knocked up, but considering how common wifenapping was, this wouldn't have raised any Mongol eyebrows.
When Temujin grew powerful enough to take additional wives and concubines (he loved the ladies – literally) only Borte's sons inherited his empire – including her eldest, who was of dubious heritage. She not only managed the day to day affairs of his harem (much like becoming mayor of a small city) but actually co-ruled the heartland with Temujin's brother while the Khan was away conquering the rest of the world.
Jamukha
We don't really know how or when Jamuka and Temujin became blood brothers. They were both sons of middling nobility. There were plenty of opportunities for them to meet and develop wholesome platonic man crushes. The movie's version is as good as any other.
What we do know is the two of them grew up to become the major players of their generation. Jamukha and Temujin both understood the Mongols needed laws and order, but Jamukha wanted to impose that through enforcing tradition while Temujin wanted to start from scratch. I completely forgive the historical deviations because the director did such a great job getting this sentiment across.
Yes, Jamukha did help Temujin and his brothers recapture Borte. You like a woman, she gets kidnapped, you and your pals steal her back. No big deal. However, Temujin never ran off with Jamuka's troops. He didn't need to. Jamuka only recruited warriors from the nobility. There weren't that many of them to go around.
Meanwhile, Temujin spurned tradition and recruited from the herders. These guys were normally treated like prey. The idea they could rise up in rank and become equals with a Khan was incredibly powerful. Towards the end of Mongol, this is how Temujin acquired his mysteriously vast army.
In Jamukha's army, a man's position was determined by his birth. Temujin promoted based on skill. Unlike the film version, there was never a single final battle to settle all scores. Instead, Jamukha's own men handed him over to Temujin after several small defeats. Temujin, being an all around nice guy, promptly executed them for betraying their leader. Again, the details of who gets axed are a little different in the movie, but I'm okay with that since the sentiment holds true.
It's nice to think despite being on opposite sides of a war between tradition and progress, Temujin would spare his best friend's life. Instead, he gave him a bloodless "noble" death. This means instead of a nice quick beheading or a fast stab through the heart Jamukha had his back repeatedly broken before being left to die. Hey, no blood was spilled!
Stay Tuned
This is supposed to be the first part of a trilogy. I'm curious how the currently sympathetic Temujin will be portrayed when he's spilling rivers of blood creating the world's largest Empire.
