(Note: this is a "review" of the Kino International VHS version, which runs 128m and has a new score by the Olympia Chamber Orchestra.)
Unlike "October 1917" or "The Battleship Potemkin", which are about revolutions in European Russia, "Storm Over Asia" concerns itself with the British occupation of Southeastern Siberia and Northern Tibet during the Russian Civil War (1917-22.) The plot is one of mistaken identity: a simple Mongolian hunter is mistakenly found to be the direct decendant of Jengis Khan by the British occupiers, and groomed to become their puppet king of Siberia. What I find interesting is that, while the protagonist becomes a member of a Bolshevik cadre fighting the British, he does not become a flaming Leninist. He fights the British because they cheated him in a crucial business transaction; i.e. selling a very valuable pelt for food money. The ideas of dynastic succesion, Buddhist reincarnation, fur monopolies, and the British running the Far East are skewered brilliantly just by the visuals of each, especially the scene where the occupying general visits the Lama. What I really liked was the new sound track, which uses Tibetan instruments, sound effects, an a driving music score effectively, especally at the end.
Unlike "October 1917" or "The Battleship Potemkin", which are about revolutions in European Russia, "Storm Over Asia" concerns itself with the British occupation of Southeastern Siberia and Northern Tibet during the Russian Civil War (1917-22.) The plot is one of mistaken identity: a simple Mongolian hunter is mistakenly found to be the direct decendant of Jengis Khan by the British occupiers, and groomed to become their puppet king of Siberia. What I find interesting is that, while the protagonist becomes a member of a Bolshevik cadre fighting the British, he does not become a flaming Leninist. He fights the British because they cheated him in a crucial business transaction; i.e. selling a very valuable pelt for food money. The ideas of dynastic succesion, Buddhist reincarnation, fur monopolies, and the British running the Far East are skewered brilliantly just by the visuals of each, especially the scene where the occupying general visits the Lama. What I really liked was the new sound track, which uses Tibetan instruments, sound effects, an a driving music score effectively, especally at the end.