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[Production]
The movie was shot in Yakutia, Buryatia and Tuva; in the Pole of Cold, steppes, mountains, and taiga – every place had its own history.
The Verkhoyansk Mountains (Yakutia)
The first shots of the movie were made in April, 2005 in the upper reaches of the Yana River (Verkhoyanye), near the sacred mountains of Kisilyakh, which amazingly resemble stone giants. The legend tells these giants were warriors of Genghis Khan, who reached the distant northern expanses by his order. As if to prove these words the locals breed only horses, though all the surrounding population is known for its reindeer breeding.
These horse breeders and herders took part in some scenes of the movie. Make-up assistants met no difficulties bringing their tanned and weather-worn faces into the movie format.
These men's endurance came in handy during the shooting: the journey to the shooting place took long hours, first on a heavy cross-country truck, then on snowmobiles; at some places where the road was covered with deep snow, they easily carried 40- 50 kg on their backs.
For one of the ‘warriors' the filming almost ended up tragically: he stumbled on an icy slope, fell on the metal-plated back of his costume, and rapidly slid down for 200 metres . He could not slow down even with the help of his spear against the ice. Only sparse bushes growing right on the tip of the slope came to his rescue. That is what the will to live is…
The Great Baikal and the sacred mountain of Erd (Buryatia)
The shooting at the Lake Baikal (June 2005) happened to be during the rain season: the crew spent three sleepless nights waiting for sunrise. And after all it did catch the moment! The sun peeped out from behind the clouds for a split second, but that was enough for cameramen to locate the optimal shooting place. Afterwards specialists awarded the Baikal cuts five points out of five.
The scene of the first consecration of the great empire's future ruler was shot on Mount Erd : young Temuchin becomes Genghis when he reaches the sacred peak.
There is another sacred place near Mount Erd – the Valley of Stone Spirits : as the legend tells, it guards the repose of the Kurykans, predecessors of the Sakha people.
The shooting took place during ethnic cultural festivities named The Mount Erd Games, which were held for the second time after a century-long break. In the old days during these games it was customary to make up a round dance called Yehor: 700 people encircled Mount Erd hand-in-hand. If there were less than 700 people, it was impossible to encircle the mount and that was believed to be a sign of mischief.
During the shooting the game participants and movie actors encircled this sacred place twice…
Maya (Yakutia)
In July 2005 the village of Maya hosted the Manchaary Games, dedicated to the 200 th anniversary of the Sakha national hero Vasiliy Manchaary. Several scenes of the movie were shot during these games. One scene involved archery sportsmen.
The crowd scene involved local horsemen. Here the crew faced a funny problem: horse croups had distinct modern brands, including those made in the Soviet times with sickle and hammer. But fortunately modern computer technologies will not have any difficulties removing the brands.
Tuva
The shooting in Tuva (July to August 2005) proved to be tough: + 40C in the daytime, but at night one could barely walk out of the yurta without a sweater put on. And if one did come out at night, there was another danger – it is so easy to get lost in the steppe if you make a couple of steps away from the building. Though it is also easy to get lost at day: in the beginning of work the crew lost its previously appointed place of shooting.
It was a picturesque scene: endless steppes, dodging roadways, and our cameramen as knights at the crossroads.
But that was not the only problem! The weather changed several times a day: as soon as you uncovered cameras it could start raining, “it thunders, and there is lightning in the dark”…
The Tuva people helped what they could: Ministry of Culture workers, actors of the State Theatre of Music and Drama, local entrepreneurs, herders, shepherds… Need horses? No problem! Here you are, 700 horses. (One of the quadruped “actresses” managed to foal right at the scene of shooting: sign of fortune!) Need people? Sons of the steppe came at the first summons. Everybody considered it to be an honour to take part in the Genghis Khan movie. A great honour.
Ulan-Ude (Buryatia)
Entertainment Centre of Locomotive and Railway Carriage Repair Plant
Andrei Borisov found a semi-desolate building erected in 1936. The shooting took place in this building – the largest hall in the Eastern Siberia . It was heavily damaged by fire and in the recent years it became derelict. It took one and a half months to get the hall ready for shooting.
On October 31, 2005 actors from nine theatres from Yakutia, Buryatia , Mongolia , Tuva, Bashkortostan, Altai, Khakassia, and Kalmykia arrived at the Entertainment Centre to take part in the Sky Kurultai scene. Janitors, not brought up to date by their management, froze at the sight of hundreds of armoured warriors. Peoples, once part of Genghis Khan's empire, were together again…
Yakutsk , Sakhafilm Studios
It is claimed that the most difficult thing in making a movie is filming children and animals. During the studio shooting ( January 26-29, 2006 ) involved both children and animals. Schoolchildren aged 7 to 14 who also acted in the scene near Kyzyl, played Temuchin and his brothers in the childhood, whereas half-year-old falcon Ares (by the way, the falcon was a female, despite its redoubtable name) made its debut in the movie. However, everything went smooth.
There were two actors from Tuva during the shooting: performer of the lead character Eduard Ondar and nine-year-old Ayan Uspun. Apart from filming, Ondar also took part in blacksmithing armour for his “warriors” in mass battle scenes.
YAKUTIA
Location and studio shooting of By The Will Of Genghis Khan continued in Yakutsk from May 16 to June 13, 2006
The most scenic locations were chosen for the shooting.
Firstly, the Tabaga Cape – from the top of this cape one can see the mighty width of the Lena River , one of the top ten longest rivers in the world. The Kidnapping of Ojulun scene was filmed during the period of ice drifting on the river. This scene involved two actors from Tuva: Tadarykbai Ondar (Yesugei – father of Temuchin/Genghis Khan) and Saidash Mongush (Chiledi – Ojulun's bridegroom); and Yakut actress Ilyana Pavlova as young Ozhulun. The Lena River or “Grandmother Lena”, as respectfully called by the Sakha people, greeted the movie crew with a picturesque ice drifting.
Secondly, the crew chose a locality called Buluus in Khangalasskiy District. It is a canyon where solid layer of ice above an underground crystal water spring does not melt in summer even at + 40C . The On Ice scene with elements of mysticism and mystery was shot in Buluus involving kids of 7 to 11 years of age. A Tuva boy Ayan Uspun played Temuchin (Genghis Khan). Yakut kids played roles of Jamukha (future Guhr Khan, sworn brother of Temuchin, played by Mark Timofeyev), Borte (future wife of Temuchin, played by Nyurguyana Vasilieva), Khokhochoi (future shaman and a friend of Temuchin, played by Kolya Vinokurov), Taichar (brother of Jamukha, played by Aisen Solovyev), Hasar (Temuchin's brother, played by Semyon Kirov). Moreover, a little dog called Kara-Ool played its role perfectly. The children involved in the shooting will travel to Tuva this August to continue filming the movie.
Studio shooting of the Taking Monastic Vows scene with the participation of Yakut actress Ilyana Pavlova as Ojulun (Temuchin's Mother) and Ayan Uspun as Temuchin were successful.
The movie crew is getting ready for a substantial one-and-a-half-month long expedition to Tuva in the end of July – beginning of August. |
