Norjmaa

The scenario is Mongolia in the 1930s. Since 1928 Mongolia was a Soviet republic aligned with the USSR. In 1931 Japan invaded Manchuria and started to make threatening moves towards Mongolia shortly after. These moves were resisted by the Mongolians with assistance from the USSR. In July 1939 Japan launched an all out assault. The USSR responded with a massive counterattack that resulted in a series of engagements (the battles of Khalkhin Gol) where the invading Japanese army was trounced and expelled from Mongolia.

The movie takes place before Khalkhin Gol in two time frames. In the earlier one Norjmaa, a young Mongolian woman, sees her fiancé Hanggai join the Mongolian cavalry to confront the Japanese. In the other time frame, years later, Norjmaa is waiting against all hope for the return of Hanggai. She accidentally finds two badly wounded soldiers, one Russian, the other Japanese, and nurses them back to life. What follows is a tale not exempt of some improbabilities and cliches but the balance of the movie is positive. Acting is first rate and the director and cinematographer capture fully the eerie beauty of the unlimited Mongolian steppes and the character of its inhabitants reflected in their religious practices and haunting folk songs. As a bonus we witness stirring demonstrations of Mongol horsemanship. A movie worth watching.