JOHANNA D'ARC OF MONGOLIA
A film review by Thomas E. Billings
Copyright 1991 Thomas E. Billings
Synopsis: Seven Western women are travelling on the Trans-Siberian railroad when their train is hijacked by (female) Mongolian warriors. The Western women are taken as hostages and kept in a Mongolian village. Although the premise of the film is interesting, it is not an adventure story. Instead it is more of a travelogue and culture study, and is fairly boring.
West Germany (English subtitles), color, 1989, 165 minutes. Director/Writer: Ulrike Ottinger
The plot of the film is relatively low-key. It begins on the Trans-Siberian railroad, where four travellers, all women, meet and get acquainted. Two are middle-aged -- an English anthropologist, and a German schoolteacher. Two are young -- an American actress, and Johanna, a young woman who is travelling light (backpack only). The women meet an amusing American man, an effeminate Yiddish opera singer who is a glutton, and describes his meals using extremely beautiful, poetic language. Also on board is a singing group, the Kalinka sisters.
While crossing Mongolia, the train is stopped by a group of female Mongolian warriors. The Western women (the 4 travellers, plus the 3 Kalinka sisters), are taken as hostages, and moved to an (all-female) Mongolian village. The story continues with the cultural confrontations that result when the Westerners experience Mongolian culture and traditions.
I saw this movie because a brief review of it (published in a film festival program guide) described it as a "lesbian LAWRENCE OF ARABIA". Because of this comparison, I expected the film to be an epic adventure, with a big budget. The reality is that the film is a very low-budget travelogue. The film has a very thin plot that serves as filler between scenes of traditional Mongolian culture and the countryside.
The primary focus of the film is cultural interaction. A pamphlet available in the theater lobby included an interview with the Director, and in the interview she specifically states that the focus of the film is not "exotica" (i.e., Mongolia as an "exotic" culture), but the interaction of cultures that are substantially different. (I would prefer to quote the interview directly, but have lost the pamphlet.) The comparison of the film to LAWRENCE OF ARABIA may be reasonable or not, depending on what you consider LAWRENCE to be -- an adventure film, a travelogue, or a film on cultural interaction. (The very low budget and low production values of JOHANNA are not even close to the high standards of LAWRENCE).
The film does provide a view into Mongolia, an isolated country that is rarely visited by Westerners. However, in order to experience the travelogue "portion", one must endure roughly 1.5 hours of slow, weak plot development. (At 2 hrs 45 min, the movie is much too long.)
Because of the weak (nearly non-existent) plot I would not recommend the film to a general audience. Those with a strong interest in Mongolia might find the film worthy of consideration.
Reviewer contact: teb@stat.Berkeley.EDU
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