The film's director, Andrei Proshkin, has defended the film as a work of 'historic fiction,' saying it was never intended as a true-to-life depiction of the Golden Horde.

They say the film - which received financial backing from Orthodox Encyclopedia, a company that has backed numerous movies glorifying the Russian Orthodox Church and the lives of its saints - falsely depicts the Golden Horde as an empire dominated by random violence, greed, and ignorance. The main detractors are expected to be Russia's nearly 6 million Tatars, who are considered the country's modern-day descendants of nomads who joined Genghis Khan's army and eventually helped to create the Golden Horde. With its $12 million budget, lavish sets, and elaborate costume designs, 'The Horde' is expected to draw large crowds of movie fans when it opens in Russia on September 20.īut not everyone is eager to see the film, which depicts life under the Golden Horde, the Mongol khanate that controlled large portions of Eurasia during the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries.

Download the horde movie 2009