• Directed by Shinichiro Sawai
• Starring Takashi Sorimachi, Mayumi Wakamura, Rei Kikukawa, Yusuke Hirayama
• Reviewed as the opening film of the 5th World Film Festival of Bangkok; limited release on November 22, 2007, at the Scala in Siam Square

By director Shinichiro Sawai’s own admission, Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and the Sea, is meant to show the human side of the legendary Mongol conqueror, as well as focus on the viewpoint of the women in Khan’s life.

While such sentiments are admirable, the result is an emasculated protagonist, an uninspiring story arc, ham-fisted dialogue and laughably melodramatic acting. And hey, the great Mongol warrior speaks Japanese! Arigato.

It looks great though. Costing US$30 million and filmed in Mongolia, with the assistance of tens of thousands of Mongolian extras, this grand historical epic is a piece of old-time movie making. The sight of the sweeping steppes, filled with Mongol hordes, is something that needs the big screen of the cinema to be beheld. It’s because of this visual grandeur that the film was chosen as the opener for the World Film Festival of Bangkok.

The story begins with Hoelan (Mayumi Wakamura), who would become the mother of Genghis. She was abducted from her tribe by Khan’s father, Yesugei, who believes in his heart that the child Hoelan gives birth to nine months later is indeed his – the mythical “blue wolf” who will become a khan and unite the Mongol tribes. Fast forward to when Genghis, then named Temujin, is 14 years old and already an expert archer and horseman. He meets his future wife, Bolte (Rei Kikukawa) and Jamuqa (Yusuke Hirayama), his lifelong friend who, of course, later betrays him.

Moving at a blinding pace without much time for character development, Bolte becomes pregnant, but Temujin isn’t certain the child is his, thus setting up a strained, love-hate relationship between father and son. Temujin also has mistress, Kulan. Portrayed by the Korean actress Ara, she doesn’t say much to her Japanese co-stars, preferring instead to let daggers, thrown at the necks of anyone who gets too close to Genghis, do the talking. The film could have used more characters like her.

Eventually, there’s not much left to but fire one last arrow at the Great Wall of China and make a final charge into history, with everybody screaming “Ahhhhhh!”