Mongolian Bling is an Australian documentary on the Hip-Hop scene in Mongolia directed by newcomer Benj Binks. I was lucky enough to be at the World Premiere in Perth during the Revelation Film Festival 2012.
Mongolia has always been on my list of must-visit countries, still waiting for the right time for me to go there. I like Hip-Hop rhythms and, well, to me, Hip-Hop is to Music what graffiti is to painting. When I heard about the documentary, I thought, Are you kidding? It did not cross my mind that Mongolia -the land of Genghis Khan, the infinite horizons, cold winters, archery, horse racing, gers and fur hats- had a love affair with something as Western as Hip-Hop.
Mongolian Bling is one of those documentaries that succeeds because it goes where nobody has gone before, has lots of passion and hard work behind it, and talks about its subject with rigour, humour, vigour and grace, still being entertaining and unpretentious. Most importantly, Mongolian Blink let Mongolians tell their story with their own voice.
Mongolian Bling does not do what you expect from a documentary of this sort to do - a straight forward narration from an outsider point of view of a given subject. Like serious boring history of Mongolia, Mongolian ways of life, or the Mongolian Hip-Hop.
Still, Benj Binks and his international crew provide us with a colourful tapestry of modern Mongolia images and we learn about the challenges of daily life in Ulaanbaatar, the aspirations and frustrations of the youth, the religious differences that the country has, generation gaps, gender attitudes, marginality, and musical creativity. Binks is able to explain in a simple way why Hip-Hop is so ingrained in modern Mongolia, and how ancestral musical traditions and attitudes served to anchor the genre in the country. We also see the multicolour facets of the Hip-Hop scene, which is far from being monochrome. All of this is told though the voice of three main hip-hop singers: Guiza, Gee and Gennie (who could not be more different among them at all levels), although hip-hop aficionados and wannabes, and even children are featured in the doco.
The editing by Davide Michielin and Bieks is great, as creates a tempo and mood that keeps you engaged and entertained. The cinematography by Nacho Pende is great, because goes beyond the obvious and is able to capture the beauty of the ugly districts, the lyricism of chaos, and the shining lights of the darkest places. The live sound by Steven Bond is also great, and the viewer feels is right there listening to these people rap just for you.
The film has been bought by ABC Australia to be shown on TV, but in a 56-minute format not in its original 86 minutes, which, however, will be complete in the DVD. I you have the opportunity, go and see it on the big screen. It is completely worth it.
