The softer side of Genghis Khan

We like to describe extreme conservatives as being to the right of Genghis Khan.

It could be, though, that we've had the civilization-sacking leader of the Mongol hordes all wrong. Turns out, Genghis was a pretty forward-thinking guy - feminist, democrat, wealth-redistributor, a man who unified the fractious tribes of the Asian steppes by setting an example of (relative) tolerance and mercy.

Or so it's argued in the often fascinating epic "Mongol," a gorgeous (shot on seldom-seen locations in Kazakhstan) movie envisioned by director Sergei Bodrov as the first of three parts about the man who built the largest empire on earth.

Part one covers the youth and rise to power of Temudgin (later Genghis), whom we meet as a strong-willed boy ready to claim his destiny as clan leader.

The tribal steppes are a vicious and treacherous place, however, and Temudgin's path to the top is interrupted by conspiracies both external and internal. He lives his early life as a slave, prisoner, outcast and fugitive (Japanese star Tadanobu Asano plays him as an adult).

You'll fairly burst waiting for Temudgin to become the conqueror chronicled in history books, and "Mongol" certainly does not conform to the clean, three-act structure of a Hollywood epic. The momentum of the film is slowed by its dogged detailing of Temudgin's myriad career set-backs in the 12th century (he spends a large portion of the the movie imprisoned).

But even as it circles back on various aborted rises to power, the movie's strange and unique narrative reveals its hero through his evolving relationships with two key characters.

The first is his steadfast wife (Mongolian star Khulan Chuluun), chosen as his child bride (it's actually she who does the choosing) and fiercely devoted to him, and to the belief that he is the great Khan who will unite Mongolia. Time and again, she makes great sacrifices to find and free her man, and time and again he returns the favor.

The second is Temudgin's blood brother and eventual rival for Mongol power (played boisterously by Chinese star Honglei Sun) a gregarious charmer who stands in marked contrast to Temudgin's quiet confidence.

They are inspiring warriors, natural leaders of men, and working together they build disparate clans into a unified social and military force.

It is the nature of Mongol society, however, that only one man can rule, and their great friendship is always tempered by the shared knowledged that in the end, one of them has gotta go.

"Mongol" offers an absorbing study of how powerful men with an abiding mutual respect, even love, go about the culturally dictated process of destroying each other.

Produced by Sergey Selyanov, Sergei Bodrov, Anton Melnik; directed by Sergei Bodrov; written by Sergei Bodrov, Arif Aliyev; music by Tuomas Kantelinen; distributed by Picturehouse.