Feature film
Tsogt Taij
Цогт тайж
Yuri Tarich · 1945
Synopsis
At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Mongol empire has fragmented, and an alliance of Manchus and Tibetans invades the steppes; the latter support the former in return for the promise of making their Buddhist school the state religion. A prince, Khush Khan, rallies to the invaders, while Tsogt, loyal to the last independent khan, Ligden, raises his troops. His son Arslan falls in love with Khulan, the daughter of the prince who has rallied to them, whose men attack Tsogt's castle in his absence.
Context
Produced by Mongol Kino for two million four hundred thousand tugriks, the film runs for one hundred and fifty-two minutes. Its director, appointed artistic director of the Ulaanbaatar studio in 1943, wrote the screenplay with a Mongolian linguist; the camera was operated by a cinematographer from the country, and the music was shared among three composers. Shot less than ten years after the purges that struck the monasteries, the film is hostile to the Buddhist clergy. The Soviet Union distributed it in a shortened version, under the title Chevaliers de la steppe.
Who it is for
A feature film of two and a half hours, in Mongolian; a few points of reference on seventeenth-century Mongolia help in following the alliances.
Prizes and reception
Regarded in Mongolia as the first national feature film, and judged surprisingly ambitious for a country with no cinema tradition.
Sources for this page 5
The pages consulted to check this page.