The Legend of Tomiris

The sixth century before Christ, the steppe of Central Asia. Tomiris's father is killed when she is a child and the tribe scatters. The girl is raised elsewhere, learns to fight and returns years later. She tries to gather the scattered tribes under her own authority. In the same period the Persian king Cyrus is expanding eastward and wants the steppe too. The two sides come face to face. Akan Satayev directs. Almira Tursyn plays Tomiris and Ghassan Massoud plays Cyrus. It is a Kazakh production. The film was made as one of the most expensive productions of Kazakh cinema, with state support. Almira Tursyn was not a professional actor; she was chosen at the end of a wide search for the part. The figure the narrative rests on is historical: the war between the Massagetae and the Persians and the death of Cyrus are told in ancient sources, particularly in Herodotus. The line the film follows is largely that account. The battle scenes are crowded and shot on horseback, and that is where most of the work went. The narrative is built as a national founding story, and that choice reduces the historical complication. Who it is for: viewers who like period war films and are curious about Central Asian history. Who it is not for: the running time is long, the characters are one dimensional, and the narrative speaks in the language of epic.