This picture taken on January 28, 2015 shows the statue of Kublai Khan
in front of the Parliament House on Sükhbaatar Square in Ulan Bator.
The big-budget American series "Marco Polo", on the 13th-century
Venetian explorer and his years at the court of the Mongol emperor
Kublai Khan, is riddled with historical errors, say Mongolian viewers
and experts. PHOTO | AFP
ULAN BATOR,
The
big-budget American series "Marco Polo", on the 13th-century Venetian
explorer and his years at the court of the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan,
is riddled with historical errors, say Mongolian viewers and experts.
US
movie distributor Netflix has spent tens of millions of dollars on the
show, touted as its answer to HBO's huge hit 'Game of Thrones'.
With
swashbuckling swordfights, mass battles, intricate costumes and palace
plots, the series portrays conflicts and rebellions in the Mongol empire
under Kublai Khan, as seen through Marco Polo's eyes.
Kublai,
the grandson of the great Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan, was a
phenomenal warrior himself, reigning from 1260 to 1294, subjugating
swathes of China and establishing the Yuan dynasty of Chinese emperors.
Mongolian
viewers were excited to see one of their own being cast as Kublai's
brother Ariq Boke and hearing the occasional Mongol phrase, despite most
leading roles going to Chinese actors or those of Chinese descent, such
as Briton Benedict Wong, who plays Kublai.
But according to Mongolian historians, much of the plot plays fast and loose with the facts.
VERY SLOPPY
Batsukh
Otgonsereenen, who spent 10 years researching his book The History of
Kublai Khan, told AFP: "From a historical standpoint 20 percent of the
film was actual history and 80 percent fiction."
The
fate of Ariq Boke, who briefly took power following the death of their
father but lost the subsequent civil war, was particularly twisted, he
said.
"The part where Kublai and Ariq
Boke fight to a bloody death in front of their soldiers is completely
untrue," he said. "Yes, Ariq did try to seize the throne, but in history
Kublai and Ariq resolve their issues."
A
concubine-assassin supposedly sent by a minister of the rival Song
dynasty to seduce Kublai and kill his queen was another fantasy.
"Mongolian Khans never wed or had concubines that were totally unknown," said Otgonsereenen.
"Kublai also did not live in a palace. He lived in his royal ger in Beijing, in a traditional Mongolian manner."
In
a press release, Netflix described the series — shot in Kazakhstan,
Malaysia and Italy, rather than Mongolia or China — as set in a world
"replete with exotic martial arts, political skullduggery, spectacular
battles and sexual intrigue".
But Otgonsereenen said the creators' research on Kublai seemed "very sloppy".
"I think they tried to show Mongolian history like 'Game of Thrones' with conspiracy, betrayal, blood and sex," he said.
WORTH WATCHING
"Mongolian youth who watch this series might get the wrong impression of Kublai Khan being quite cruel and perverted."
A promotional poster of Netflix's
'Marco Polo' shows Briton Benedict Wong, who plays Kublai Khan in the
series that has been panned by Mongolian experts. PHOTO | NETFLIX.COM
Polo
— played by Italy's Lorenzo Richelmy in the show — was a Venetian
merchant who spent more than two decades in central Asia and China with
his father and uncle, serving for years as Kublai's minister and envoy.
After
his return the story of his journeys, "Book of the Marvels of the
World", also known as The Travels of Marco Polo, propelled him to
mediaeval superstardom.
He was not
the first European to travel to Asia but became by far the most famous,
and his descriptions of the Far East are said to have inspired
Christopher Columbus to attempt to travel there himself, only to
discover the Americas instead.
But US
critics panned the show, with news site vox.com's reviewer writing:
"This is a show about Kublai Khan that doesn't realise it's about Kublai
Khan because Marco Polo has better name recognition.
"Is it worth watching?" he asked rhetorically. "Eh, not really, no."
This picture taken on January 28,
2015 shows the statue of Kublai Khan in front of the Parliament House on
Sükhbaatar Square in Ulan Bator. The big-budget American series "Marco
Polo", on the 13th-century Venetian explorer and his years at the court
of the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan, is riddled with historical errors,
say Mongolian viewers and experts. PHOTO | AFP
The
series, released last month, has a 30 percent rating on review
aggregator rottentomatoes.com, which describes it as "an all-round
disappointment".
Nonetheless a second season has been commissioned.
Some Mongolian viewers praise the series, and many welcome the space it gives their remote country on the global small screen.
Orgil
Narangerel, who played Genghis Khan in a BBC documentary, said it was
more accurate than any previous foreign portrayal of Mongolian culture.
"As
a Mongol and an artist, 'Marco Polo' makes me feel like our dreams are
coming true," he told AFP. "I watched all 10 episodes in just in one
day."
OLDEST CIVILISATION
Although
Mongol forces conquered China and ruled it for almost a century, modern
Mongolia is overshadowed by its giant southern neighbour — a key market
for its raw materials — and fears being economically dominated by it.
China
proclaims itself as the world's oldest civilisation and has a
historical tendency to co-opt successful invaders and declare them
Chinese, including Kublai.
Mongolia
was later part of Qing dynasty China, only securing independence in the
early 20th century and falling into the Soviet sphere soon after, while
the Nationalist Republic of China maintained a sovereignty claim over
the country.
Amateur film maker
Narantsogt Baatarkhuu said Marco Polo correctly showed China and
Mongolia as "totally different countries with different cultures and
ways of life".
Movie blogger
Tegshjargal Jalanajav added: "To people who like to argue that Kublai
Khan was a Chinese king, this show makes it clear he was a Mongolian
king."
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