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Nomad, the Warrior

16 posts2008live thread
jack farrell
I finally got to see Nomad last night. this is the movie filmed in Kazakhstan, performed entirely in Kazakh language and sub-titled in English. It was everything I was hoping it would be; a pure action swashbuckler. Plenty of swordplay scenes intersperced all out battle scenes. A love interest contributes to the complexity of the plot.

The action takes place in the mid 1700s when guns are still apparently rare in Kazakhstan. Supposedly styled after historic events, a particularly talented young man takes charge of a squabbling Kazakh army and drives other nomadic invaders from the homeland.

My favorite part was where the defenders gather round an ancient tree to make a vow to the ancestors to stick together. This agrees perfectly with information that I found while researching my article on Belomancy, which was published in TB magazine in Germany.

Belomancy is divination by arrows, fortelling the future and determining the truth by manipulating arrows. First in history came veneration of trees. There is a reference in the Old Testament to going to the hills to venerate the Turpentine tree. A Turkic tribe of the Kyrgyz were said to worship trees. Then came veneration for walking staffs. Two examples are how Moses was to turn his staff into a snake and how he was to discover water by striking a rock with his staff. Then came veneration for sticks and wands. The Roman Litus and Scythians in Herodotus come to mind. And then came veneration for the powers of an arrow to determine truth. There are many, many examples of how ancients did this.

This was the subject by which Stephen was able to invite me to Korea to speak in 2007. I would like for everyone to be able to read this strange but verifiable story. I'll try to work on it but I do not have it on electronic format any longer, it died with my old computer.

Don't miss Korea this year. It changed me. And go find Nomad. The one archery scene will make your day. Jack
Redbow
Very interesting Jack.
Who is the director of this movie ?
This may not be released in Europe, but who knows ?
jack farrell
Hail Jerome; long time no see. Sergei Bordrov and Ivan Passer direct. Found it on Amazon. -j-
jonR
What was the name of the Korean movie about the slave turned warrior?
Fighting the Mongols and defending a diplomatic(?) mission to China.
Was that "The Warrior"?
Jon R.
jsachers
My dear friend Jack,

in case you're (still) in need of an electronic copy of your belomancy-manuscript: just ask your good auld companion and German translator

Jan

;-)
Puzio
the movie Mongol is available with eng-sub title
Alam ed Din, Adnan

jonR wrote:

What was the name of the Korean movie about the slave turned warrior?
Fighting the Mongols and defending a diplomatic(?) mission to China.
Was that "The Warrior"?
Jon R.

Did you mean " Warriors of Heaven and Earth" ?

Jack I also saw that movie - its not a bad one, after I've seen it though I thought, they shoudn't have taken that Mexican actor to play the role of Abylai Khan - they should have taken a Kazakh or at least a Japanese actor instead.....Its interesting because it tells the History of Oirat/Kalmyk people as well, though they are the bad guys in this movie.But look at those furs on their bows, do really think people used that kind of decoration?

[Images removed for copyright compliance reasons.]

I have got this movie you can pm me.....oops
jack farrell
Alam, The bows and arrows are poor. The art guys usually win out over the historically correct guys on set.

I was also disappointed about the lead casting but many people of Uzbekistan look just like Mexicans. When I went there I asked people if they thought the star was well cast and everyone said yes. Brown hair and blue or green eyes are not uncommon in the area.

Lots of Mongol types in Kz have freckles. -j-
Alam ed Din, Adnan

Puzio wrote:

the movie Mongol is available with eng-sub title

Yep, its now also available without the nasty Russian overdub, they use the Gung style bow in that movie. Its not so bad. Did the Tanguts actually speak Mandarin in everyday life? In the Movie they do speak a Mongol/Mandarin mixture.I changed my avatar btw, too many people were using my old one.
robno

Alam ed Din, Adnan wrote:

Yep, its now also available without the nasty Russian overdub

Finally! Now I can get through it.
Dusan
Sorry boys , but very stupid movie... (I mean Nomad )Its like payfull Nursultan Nazarbaev. Big shame for Milo? Forman produktion. I still vait for fine movie from this area.
Orda Khan
I watched 'Mongol'.
Only thing I can say is enjoy it as a movie, that is as good as it gets. Any traces of historical accuracy barely exist.
Dusan
Mongol is from the same group infantil mouvies. Who give money for that sh... work ? This is secret for me. :roll:
gt1cm2

Orda Khan wrote:

I watched 'Mongol'.
Only thing I can say is enjoy it as a movie, that is as good as it gets. Any traces of historical accuracy barely exist.

We watched this a couple of weeks ago, yay, it was finally released over here in little old New Zealand. I don't really know the accuracy of this movie as I know hardly any Mongol history, so my question is can you please point out what parts aren't correct? The whole storyline or the costumes etc
Alam ed Din, Adnan
Common these are just movies. Its entertainment! The real Ghengis didn't have Japanese features.Nobody wants to see the massacre of Merv and other cities because that would be nauseating. There is another movie dealing with the same episode of Ghengis Khans live, shot in the same year with the actor of Japanese Taiga Drama "Yoshitsune" in the role of Ghengis Khan. (Yoshitsune is a divine Taiga Drama fashioned after the Heike Monogatari - I loved it) The Japanese actually, believe when Yoshitsune died after being let down by his brother Yoritomo, he re-incarnated himself as Ghengis Khan to rule the world.....funny isn't it?
I love Taiga Dramas - I am a true addict....its because they are well made, with good music in a cinematic style
If you know to read Chinese subs, the full 49 episodes are streaming here:

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http://www.youku.com/playlist_show/id_758918.html
Just click on the blue button on the top left and watch the opening..
Let it buffer if you're outside China, because this host's connections are slow to US and Europe..
For English speakers, you can watch the opening here:

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http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x70sqo_ichinotamiopening
Yoshitsune (Ushiwaka) meets Benkei for the first time:

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http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x70tf0
Last years Taiga Dorama "Fuurin Kazan" was also pretty good...(turn your volume up a bit)

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http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3gidj_fk1apart1

So this Temudjin - the Blue Wolf is really the last episode to Yoshitsune to the Japanese - its even got the Yoshitsune music theme in it....
Some screenshots from:
Temudjin -The Blue Wolf -Aoki Okami -Ghengis Khan
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It still better then some of the Chinese Ghengis Khan films.


Of all the Ghengis Khan movies I like the BBC Documentary best:

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http://www.youtube.com/user/safeourtradarchery
Also this user has a nice song from Kalmykia, its got a nice Tibetan style tune:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSDlkXi09Ec


Note: please purchase the official DVD's and don't go for the bootlegs