{"id":18394,"date":"2018-10-05T03:21:33","date_gmt":"2018-10-05T07:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=18394"},"modified":"2018-10-05T03:47:29","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T07:47:29","slug":"br-genghis-khan-1965","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=18394","title":{"rendered":"BR: Genghis Khan (1965)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Film<\/strong>: Very Good<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0Excellent<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: Good<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong> Twilight Time<\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a0All<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0 July 17, 2018<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0 Action \/ Romance \/ Historical \/ Epic<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0After losing his family and being enslaved by Tartars, young Temujin escapes and launches a savvy conquest strategy, during which he becomes the infamous & influential Genghis Khan.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Isolated Mono Music & Effects Track \/ Theatrical Trailer \/ 8-page colour booklet with liner notes by film historian Julie Kirgo \/ Limited to 3000 copies \/ Available exclusively from Screen Archives Entertainment<\/a> and www.twilighttimemovies.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Between 1944-1980, Henry Levin directed a multitude of B and A-level films in various genres, and yet he\u2019s among the least-known if not least appreciated filmmakers whose work was solid and highly entertaining. Where the Boys Are<\/strong><\/a> (1960) was a hit with the youth market, Journey to the Center of the Earth<\/strong><\/a> (1959) remains a family-friendly, fantasy-adventure classic, and Genghis Khan<\/strong> shows he could transcend a completely workmanlike script by focusing on visual spectacle, mine the strong charisma of his cast, and deliver kinetic action sequences – all mandatory elements for a good historical epic.<\/p>\n

The 1960s was the decade where epics bloomed and ballooned, as increasingly costly super-productions were cranked out by studios. As another widescreen production with a pack of internationally recognized actors, Khan<\/strong>\u00a0was designed to ride the wave furthered by maverick indie producer Samuel Bronston during the first half of the decade.<\/p>\n

The casting alone is especially clever: Stephen Boyd (Ben-Hur<\/strong>, Bronston’s The Fall of the Roman Empire<\/strong><\/a>) as the villain, and Omar Sharif (Lawrence of Arabia<\/strong>, Fall of the Roman Empire<\/strong>) as the brutal but visionary hero. Genghis Khan<\/strong> was sold using an art campaign blatantly mimicing Sam Zimbalist’s Ben-Hur<\/strong> and Bronston\u2019s El Cid<\/strong><\/a> (1961).<\/p>\n

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BEN-HUR (1959) – the original title-as-logo-behemoth!<\/p><\/div>\n

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KING OF KINGS (1961) French poster.<\/p><\/div>\n

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EL CID (1961) – the mighty title continues!<\/p><\/div>\n

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And GENGHIS KHAN (1965), carrying on the tradition of Sam Zimbalist’s production of BEN-HUR, and the standard for virtually all of Samuel Bronston’s KING OF KINGS and EL CID super-productions.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The straightforward script chronicles young Temujin as a boy who witnesses his father\u2019s quartering after an unsuccessful battle against rival Mongol tribe leader Jamuga (Boyd). He’s forced to wear a wooden chang (stock) necklace throughout his teens until a chance encounter with Jamuga\u2019s young bride-to-be Bortei (Francoise Dorleac) enables an escape.<\/p>\n

Roaming the hills with loyal lieutenants Shan (Telly Savalas) and Sengal (Spartacus<\/strong>\u2019s Woody Strode), plus sage mentor Geen (Michael Hordern), and roughly 200 men, the group free several concubines headed for the Persian Shah of Khwarezm (Eli Wallach), and make camp close to Jamuga, allowing Khan to abduct Bortai one evening.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a back & forth nature to the rivalry between Khan and Jamuga \u2013 after the former consummates his love with Bortai, she\u2019s re-snatched by the latter, brutally raped & branded, and rescued again by the former \u2013 but once Khan and his tribe head south and reach China, things become more interesting.<\/p>\n

After aiding a stranded trio of dignitaries led by Kam Ling (James Mason) and taking them to the edge of the Great Wall, Khan & Co. are welcomed by the Emperor (Robert Morley) but prevented from leaving. Sealed behind a velvet royal wall, the group design a clever escape plot, exact revenge on Jamuga, and establish the beginnings of a massive empire that stretched from Russia to China, India, and Persia.<\/p>\n

Khan<\/strong> shouldn\u2019t work as well as it does \u2013 the script by its mostly TV-based writers is flat, and the jealousy between Khan and Jamuga takes away from any deep political examinations and culture clashes \u2013 but Boyd delivers one of his best performances as a mean, savvy, vengeful, frank brute, and Sharif and his glassy eyes channel a special intensity that almost allows us to forget some preposterous prose (\u201cA wise man doesn\u2019t judge its horse by its saddle markings,\u201d and lest we forget “Overfed bear be no match for wolves. Remember that!<\/em>\u201d).<\/p>\n

Alas, Dorleac, sporting a very fashionable 60s hairstyle, has few scenes where she isn\u2019t dragged, bedded, or stands poised; Savalas\u2019 few lines likely disappeared in the cutting room to keep the film lean at 125 mins.; Strode\u2019s character is a mute; and Yvonne Mitchell as Khan\u2019s childhood friend seems to have befallen the same whittled status as Savalas. As for upper-billed Wallach, the actor has two scenes<\/em> at the very end; perhaps he too appeared in an early deleted scene where his ministers return sans concubines, and he learns of Khan as a potential threat in the film’s first half.<\/p>\n

The convention of the era in casting non-Asians in lead Asian roles really affects the scenes in China. Morley is fine, drawing on his screen persona of fussy, pouty do-nothings, but Mason tried to deepen his character with obvious eye makeup and a wide toothy grin. He also attempts an accent which makes his effort even more painful to watch. Playing a tartar, Dorleac\u2019s fettered French accent often escapes whenever Bortai\u2019s temperament shifts into the red zone.<\/p>\n

Producer Irving Allen had just made The Long Ships<\/strong> (1964), a sister epic similarly shot in the former Yugoslavia, and scored by composer Dusan Radic. Cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth did a letter-perfect job in conveying the story\u2019s geography with beautifully composed Panavision shots of mountains, streams, steppes, and battle scenes. Perhaps due to Allen\u2019s own background as an editor, the battles are very in your face, with sharper cuts to intimate combat, and brief doses of slight gore. The finale in which Jamuga and Khan partake in a Mongol duel is especially thrilling and bloody.<\/p>\n

In the late 1960s, Yugoslavia\u2019s film industry had become especially adept in crafting epic war films; Khan<\/strong> isn\u2019t as big as the Oscar nominated The Battle of Neretva<\/strong> (1969), but there\u2019s a shared standard in high production value with massing armies, and arduous journeys through barren, rocky terrains, and snaking rivers.<\/p>\n

After a weird and jarringly contemporary Main Title sequence, Khan<\/strong>\u2019s opening in which the boy \/ hero witnesses a family slaughter oddly echoes the epic intro of John Milius\u2019 Conan the Barbarian<\/strong> 1982). The connection seems especially strong in Temuhin’s tormented childhood that\u2019s a mix of physical & emotional torture; also of note is the young boy learning combat from mentor and friends which will enable him to not only escape, but win battles against challenging odds.<\/p>\n

The screenwriters have the adult Khan remain a cautious and savvy figure. He’s well aware any stay behind the Great Wall will make his group fat, weak, and useless for the great goal of empire building; he\u2019s the intractable disciplinarian whose words are harsh but true, and respected by all, including Bortai\u2019s three brothers, one of whom seems poised for rebellion.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the sole glaring flaw is the aforementioned convention of having Bortai and Jamuga go back & forth between locations to push the story forward; most of the time it works, but Jamuga\u2019s escape from behind the Great Wall is awfully contrived.<\/p>\n

As for accuracy,\u00a0Khan<\/strong> is no more faithful to history than John Wayne’s serious career misstep,\u00a0The Conqueror<\/strong><\/a> (1956), the Howard Hughes-produced idiocy. Historically, Temujin’s father was poisoned by the Tartars instead of being equine quadra-sected; he did<\/em> wed Bortai who was abducted by another tribe, but ’twas Temujin who had three brothers, not<\/em> Bortai.<\/p>\n

Jamukha becomes Jamuga, and is the slimy overlord who orders his father killed and torments Temujin until the finale; the real Jamukha was Temujin’s friend, but became a rival in later years. Perhaps this narrative was altered because it resembled the Ben Hur-Messala friendship-betrayal in Ben-Hur<\/strong> too closely?<\/p>\n

Somewhat factually retained is the paternity of the prodigal son – he’s either Khan’s kid or the product of Jamuka’s rape – and lastly, unlike the real Genghis Khan who lived into his 60s, in the film a supposedly thirtysomething Temujin is wounded from his duel with Jamuga and dies eloquently, but lives long enough to witness his unified people migrating en mass to lands conquered and soon to be absorbed into his massive Mongol empire. Just as in The Conqueror<\/strong>, Genghis Khan is transformed into a benevolent and insightful disciplinarian.<\/p>\n

Twilight Time\u2019s Blu-ray features a crisp HD transfer from a decent print. The sound mix is rather pinched, but the isolated music & effects track \u2013 a nice special feature that improves upon the repetitive soundtrack album – has better fidelity.<\/p>\n

Boyd\u2019s career would take a dip the following year with the laughable The Oscar<\/strong><\/a>, and Shalako<\/strong> (1968) signaled the end of further blockbuster productions. Sharif would achieve special silver screen immortality playing the eponymous Doctor Zhivago<\/strong><\/a> (1965) and drift quite successfully between traditional genres, including war (The Night of the Generals<\/strong><\/a>), musicals (Funny Girl<\/strong>), and westerns (Mackenna\u2019s Gold<\/strong>). Mason (another Fall of the Roman Empire<\/strong> alumnus) would recover his dignity in the grim but engaging The Blue Max<\/strong><\/a> (1966), and co-star with Sharif in Mayerling<\/strong> (1968).<\/p>\n

Dorleac\u2019s career would continue to ascend via Roman Polanski\u2019s Cul-De-Sac<\/strong> (1966) and Les demoiselles de Rochfort<\/strong> (1967), and she’d make her last appearance in Billion Dollar Brain<\/strong> (1967) before dying in a car accident at the age of 25. Strode returned to speaking roles in The Professionals<\/strong> (1966), and would co-star with Boyd in Shalako<\/strong> and later with Sharif in Che!<\/strong><\/a> (1969).<\/p>\n

Producer Allen would shift to the spy and espionage genres via the Matt Helm series and more budget-conscious Hammerhead<\/strong> (1968), and his final epic was the period biopic Cromwell<\/strong> (1970).<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2018 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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