Your Next Viewing: Well Go USA’s THE LEGEND OF TOMIRIS
People often look to the silver screen for female role models, wanting a strong female in both the physical and emotional sense, but they can forget to look for that role model in real life. Well Go USA’s latest release, The Legend of Tomiris, brings a real life strong female’s story to our home screens. I have to admit that I am not at all familiar with Tomiris nor her nomadic people, but when I read the synopsis of the film, I knew I had to see this one:
Starring Kazakhstan standouts Almira Tursyn (as Tomiris), Adil Akhmetov (as Argun), and Aizhan Lighg (as Sardana)––who perform all of their own action-packed stunts––THE LEGEND OF TOMIRIS tells the real life story of the great queen who, along with her female warriors, united divided nomadic tribes to create a powerful nation capable of repelling the likes of Persia. According to historical accounts, Tomiris and her army very likely served as the downfall of Cyrus the Great, who was foolish enough to challenge the peoples of the Great Steppe and their inimitable leader.
The film begins with the birth of Tomiris and the events of her childhood which would drive her to become the strong warrior seen later in the film. There were some slow parts as this is a historical tale, but it helps the viewer to understand what drives Tomiris and the culture of her people.
Of course, since we are talking about warriors, there are plenty of action scenes, too. These were impressive, most likely because Tursyn, Akhmetov, and Lighg performed their own stunts. I was also in awe of the costumes and the setting. They looked very well done.
I have to warn any viewers that this film is not in English, but it is subtitled, so don’t worry if you don’t understand Kazakh. The fact that there was no English helped the authenticity of the film. I was captivated by the portrayal of history and I will definitely be going to my local library soon to learn more about Tomiris. Even though the film was over two hours long, there are usually parts of one’s life that get left out when their tale is being transferred to the screen.
While this film was released in Kazakhstan in October of last year, it is available now in the United States, so be sure to get yourself a copy soon.
Writer, bookworm, geek in too many fandoms to name, Indianapolis Colts and Chicago White Sox fan.