Myn Bala: Warriors of the Steppe (2012)

An interesting movie but longer it goes more boring it gets.During the Mongolian invasion of Kazakhstan, young little Sartai lose his mom. He grows up in the montain and learned with other young people to become assassins and fight back for their country. After a few successful missions, Sartai becomes a folk hero and legend. Which makes their leader jealous, specially when one of the female assassin shows interest for Sartai.It's an interesting story but the problem is that the story is not long enough for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Most of the scenes end up being fillers, and the quality is not strong enough for that filler and the acting isn't strong enough for a 2 hours movie.If the movie was 1 hour and 30 minutes then it could have been a remembered movie but it is over 2 hours and is just a forgotten filler movie.

I'm a sucker for nation-building mythos films, and this one totally fulfills this criteria. I have to admit that this was the first Kazakh language film I've ever watched. The costumery and landscapes were amazing (note to self, I must go hiking in Kazakhstan), but the plot was very transparent and the dialog equally stilted and predictable (This could also be due to the translation errors from Kazakh to English). The obvious love interest and tension between the families/clans/tribes with the expected resolution is also included. That said, I still really enjoyed it, as this historical epoch was unknown to me, and it was fun going down the rabbit hole researching the historical battles it depicted.

Myn Bala the Kazakh movie Well, first movie I've ever seen on IMDb with only one review (three now, since I wrote this). It's the supposedly uplifting legend, based on a true story, of a set of young rebels early in eighteenth Century Kazakhstan who rose up against their oppressors. The country at that time was being overrun by a cruel and violent militaristic set of people called the Djongars, who were descendants of Genghis Khan and his Mongols. There are two main young male protagonists, Sertai and Taimas, who inevitably fall out as Sertai becomes more admired and takes over leadership; their kind-of-sister and lifelong friend Korlan, who is a scar-faced female warrior and very convincing she is too; and then Sertai falls for the beautiful young daughter, Zere, of a chief whom he offends, as being too conciliatory with their conquerors and not bold enough. The story is well told, though the flow is sometimes lost in translation. Mainly because the subtitles are out of synch, or use peculiar modern slang idioms, or during three long character farewell speeches leave just one (non-English) word up on screen for five minutes. Still, you get the gist. The story isn't new: Braveheart and all that - but this one has three things that make it standout (even apart from the fact that know nothing whatsoever about Kazakhstan's history so is always good to see a different part of the world through fresh eyes). The three things are:The steppe. Every so often the main characters wander down from the hills where they're hiding and say something like: oh, our steppe is so beautiful, we must get rid of the invaders. They almost literally swoon over the beauty of the steppe. Really extraordinary: rarely have I seen a place which gives the western city-born person such a sense of otherness - great empty wild bare barren looking place - kind of makes me feel the opposite. The clothes. Presume they are all true to time for the place and period. Great fur hats cascading down backs, women's hats like pagodas, intricate tooled soft leather jerkins and belts, Tartar-ish military uniforms look rather like samurai - completely unlike anything have seen before. The horse-riding. Never seen anything like it in the movies: these people ride like they were born in the saddle. And why walk when you can trot? And why trot when you can gallop hell for leather across endless miles of steppe? So gallop they do. A lot. So very enjoyable. Only downside: the end. And being told that it was another three hundred years before Kazakhstan finally got its freedom. Which would be .... hm, sometime in the 1990s.

I have had the privilege to see Kazakhstan many times. This movie showed the world the great natural beauty of Kazakstan, the mountains, prairies, and the people. The steppes as pictured had to be filmed in the actual steppes of the Tin Shin mountains, these scenes brought back great memories of this beautiful country. The villages had to be actual original habitats as you can see in the Mueseum in Almaty. The casting for this movies is absolutely wonderful. The Kazak language was refreshing to hear. This movie captured my heart as memories were resurrected from my heart. I thank the group that produced this movie and for their depiction of so many accurate descriptions through the art of cinematography. I recommend this movie for any one that loves freedom and I appreciate the culture of the Kazaks and their honorable approach to friendship as aptly presented in this wonderful movie based on their recent history. May Kazahstan remain free.