Yego zovut Sukhe-Bator

Historical drama. One of the best Soviet historical paintings of the Stalin era, shot together with the cinematographers of the Mongolian People's Republic during the harsh years of the Great Patriotic War (the Mongols provided tremendous help to us then, even more than some "allies") about the legendary Dadmid Sukhbaatar - the leader of the Mongolian People's Revolution of 1921, one of the founders of the Mongolian People's Party, commander-in-chief of the revolutionary troops, liberator of Mongolia from the power of foreign invaders (Chinese, White Guards) and the ancient rotten aristocracy and clergy, a great friend of Soviet Russia and personally Comrade Lenin. And how can you not watch this? So the author of this review could not resist and allocated time to watch this movie. And after watching it, he can safely declare - this is a masterpiece! And here is a brief opinion - an undeservedly forgotten Soviet-Mongolian masterpiece. No flaws were found in the painting, but there are some points that will need to be discussed in a separate paragraph, but for now we should focus on the obvious advantages of this painting.

So, here they are: 1. Scenario - as the title suggests, the film tells the story of Sukhbaatar, a Mongolian patriot who is unable to tolerate how foreign invaders and the highest nobility, along with the clergy, ravage his country and oppress the Mongolian people in every possible way. He, along with others who are not indifferent, are founding a revolutionary organization that will grow into the Mongolian People's Party, expel all interventionists from the country and build a new Mongolia free from the oppression of capitalists and interventionists. For this, a lot of blood will have to be shed, unstable alliances will have to be formed, Lenin and Soviet Russia will have to be supported, and both local collaborators and Chinese invaders, as well as the remnants of the White Guard troops under the command of Baron Ungern, will have to be defeated by armed means. In the course of this struggle, Suhe will gain both loyal friends and deadly enemies, but for the sake of the Mongolian people, he must endure all this. And throughout the whole picture, we see a real leader whom the people trust, who will make all the sacrifices in his power for them. Sukha is the new "great Mongol", only if Genghis Khan created Mongolia and remained the most ruthless conqueror in history, Sukha Bator created a new Mongolia - a socialist one, where man is a brother to man, where everyone is equal, gave education, strengthened the alliance with the Soviet Union, laid the foundations of the Mongolia that now exists on the world stage. The map. Although he did not have much time to live, he left his mark on the history of Russia and Mongolia forever! The dialogues are good, the characters are vivid, and the script is excellent.

2. Costumes and decorations - the picture was shot in the MPR, on location, where these very historical events took place. The Soviet costumers and the entire team were advised by their Mongolian colleagues, so the costumes in the film were made identical to the originals, and the buildings played themselves, so you don't have to worry about historicity. Some scenes even resemble historical photographs of those years, especially the meeting of the Chinese general Sui Shuzheng in the capital of the country, Urga (from 1924 to the present day, the city has been called Ulaanbaatar (Red Hero)). Although the banner of the Ungern division is knocked out here, but this is a small thing that can be forgiven.

3. Bright characters - adjutant Gombau, who was saved by Suhe and became his faithful assistant and good friend. Yangjima is the hero's faithful wife, who follows him into both fire and water. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin and Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, who need no introduction. Choibalsan is a loyal friend and colleague of Suhe, who continued his work. Prince Erdere Gong- who was first with Suhe and then betrayed him, is a typical representative of the old aristocracy, which has always been worried only about itself, and it does not care about its own people. Baron Ungern (played by the best actor in the history of world cinema, Nikolai Konstantinovich Cherkasov), the leader of the remnants of the white troops, who hid from the revenge of the reds in Mongolia and became its dictator, is shown as a man crazy about religion and mysticism, who must be disposed of as soon as possible before he hanged the whole of Mongolia on gallows. And these are just the ones who immediately come to mind.

The issue of Sukhbaatar's poisoning remains controversial to this day. One version was given in the film, but there is another saying that Suhe really caught a cold (although a conspiracy to kill him was uncovered a year before his death). Personally, the author of this review believes in the version of the filmmakers, but it would be better to clarify this with historians of Mongolian studies, who will give a scientific answer to the death of the founder of the MNR.

The painting was received with applause in Mongolia, and in the Soviet Union too. Fortunately, the author of this review came across the original version of Stalin's times (and not the neutered Khrushchev version), from which they cut out a whole half hour. And the Stalinist version has an acceptable picture (although there are some problems with the sound, but the technology of those years is to blame), so we recommend watching the Stalinist version. And of course, not everything was shown in the formation of the MPR, but the essence and revolutionary struggle of Sukhbaatar were accurately conveyed!

A 10 out of 10 rating and a recommendation for viewing!