When people tend to think of Central Asian cinema, regardless of genre, many would immediately conjure up images of the region's vast steppes, striking awe in the eyes of many thanks to gifted cinematographers bringing the landscape to life, rendering its characters insignificant and enveloped by the expansive beauty. Many would tend to think of vivid colourisation or striking monochromes, with every pigment popping onto the screen in a dazzling display ripe for High Definition or even 4K. As far as the length and breadth of the region's historical dramas and epics are concerned, these elements are translated into the costume and production design too, replicated with a historical accuracy usually akin to more famous Chinese epics. Given the magnitude of legends surrounding such a figure as Tomiris, a warrior queen who, depending on which account you believe, defeated King Cyrus II at a battle near the Syr Darya river which led to his beheading, the expectations of a similar treatment on a bigger budget are set rather high. Sadly, Akan Satayev's “The Legend of Tomiris” is the exact opposite: a drab, dreary, and overlong affair trivialising the life of a heroic woman in a manner similar to the ninth entry of the Dynasty Warriors series.
Split into two halves with an origin story and build up to the confrontation with King Cyrus (an underwhelming use of Ghassan Massoud) based largely on Herodotus' accounts, Satayev's “opus” hones in on key events shaping the life of the titular queen. From the treacherous death of her father at the hands of two of her own people and her acceptance into the Savromats tribe, to her eventual reclamation as queen of the Massagetae people and vanquishing of the Khwarezmians, the first 100 minutes introduce us to the key characters of this interpretation of events, including future husband Argun (Adil Ahmetov) and the feisty yet no-less courageous Sardana (a shining performance from Aizhan Lighg). Here we watch Tomiris grow from child to brilliant tactician before the second act sees Cyrus' Achaemenid Empire beckon at the steppes, plotting to use the tribes for his own conquest against Egypt and the refusal he is dealt before war commences.
Despite such a big-budget aesthetic “The Legend of Tomiris” suffers from a dilution of substance, where characterisation and story development have been watered down to the barebones of mythological storytelling: a titular character driven only by one motivation (vengeance thinly veiled as justice); relationships and alliances largely reduced to mere footnotes; villainy cheapened to carboard-cut-out stereotypes; and battle scenes that feel more like cut-scenes from video games with little-to-no action. Concerned more with cramming as much into Tomiris' backstory, including multiple training and healing montages, Satayev's efforts sadly result in nothing more than a monotonous slog difficult to sit through (especially in those first 30 minutes), rolling off a long checklist of historical-epic and biographical clichés with little interest in the legendary figure he is supposed to be celebrating. Even moments of profound significance fuelling Tomiris' otherwise badass story, her declaration of tribal unity at her wedding and forbiddance of human sacrifices for example – moments meant to metaphorically move mountains – are blandly written and executed.
With his fleeting attention span given to fleshing out such a monumental figure of history and the events surrounding her rise to greatness, it is difficult to pinpoint any saving graces in Satayev's unfortunately mediocre film. With powerful ferocity surging ahead with the power of a thousand Massagetae horsemen are lead actresses Almira Tursyn and Aizhan Lighg as the adult Tomiris and Savromat's warrior Sardana respectively. Their almighty performances cut through the horrendously one-note way they were written and light up the screen with a charm seldom seen anywhere else here. In fact, the entire sequence Tomiris comes of age in the Savromats care is by far the most interesting period, witnessing the female actresses outshine their male counterparts in every possible way. Though the narrative cohesion improves throughout the second half (following Tomiris' and Argun's gleeful union) so much fatigue has become entrenched that the annoyance of Babylon's empty production (where Argun travels to meet with Cyrus), Massoud's underwhelming portrayal of the Achaemenid King, and the great battle we've been gearing towards only occurs in the last 15 minutes with zero fanfare is trite at best.
Nothing can save “The Legend of Tomiris” from its biggest cardinal sin: practically every aspect of this two-and-a-half-hour marathon is bereft of any colour. A visually dull affair hindered further by cinematographer Khasan Kydyraliyev's near utter dependence of mid-range framing of a largely lethargic cast is practically unforgiveable given how bright and vivid other films depicting the period tend to be. There is nothing sumptuous for the eyes to feast upon, no dramatic use of the world around them, nothing that wholeheartedly screams legendary. Even the aerial CGI taking up a lot of screen time during the film's battle, no doubt utilised to express the vastness of the forces at play, seem more of an afterthought than a distraction as the visuals are of poor quality.
Aside from the strong female performances there are boundless ideas flowing through the current that could easily have meshed the story into something grandiose, something more of a spectacle than what has been served up. The intricacies of Tomiris' life and times are unending and whilst Satayev tries to cover everything he does so with little thought to the flesh, to the mind, to the spirit. Instead, we're left with a paint-by-numbers female-centric biography following a similar trend to other such films of late, notably “Seberg” and “Harriet”, where intentions are no doubt good, but the final product feels heartless. Suffering the emptiness plaguing the open world of Dynasty Warriors 9 in more ways than one, the impression left is just as void and unremarkable; while we're left pondering why Abu Nasr al-Farabi narrates this and not Heredotus, the hope that Tomiris' name will at least be heard loud and clear thanks to this movie punctures through the void, for it is a name that so desperately needs shouting from the rooftops.
