Episode 12 of Series “Il Etait Une Fois L’homme” (= “Once Upon a Time Man”).
This episode covers the expansion of the Mongol Empire with Gengis Khan and then his grand son, Kublai Khan. Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, two Venitian merchants reach the court of the Great Khan. When they return to Europe as Kublai’s ambassadors to the pope, they are charged with letters asking the pope to send Kublai one hundred intelligent men ‘acquainted with the Seven Arts’. They are asked to bring back some oil from the lamp burning at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. On their second journey, they take along their nephew Marco who was to stay at the Khan’s court for 20 years and recount his adventure in a book ‘Il Milione’.
Credits: Director, writer, Albert Barille ; photography, Jean-Louis Karcher ; art direction, Philippe Landrot, Rene Borg ; graphic research, Jean Barbaud.
Cast: Roger Carel, Francine Laine, Pierre Trabaud, Henri Djanik [original French narration].
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In ACMI's collection
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Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
X000757
Language
English
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
16mm film; Limited Access Print (Section 2)