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nuxvomica

(12,911 posts)
Mon Jan 2, 2023, 07:57 PM Jan 2023

UPDATE: "Three Thousand Years of Longing" (2022) now on Amazon Prime

Last edited Fri May 26, 2023, 09:17 AM - Edit history (2)

British "narratologist" Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton) arrives in Istanbul to give a lecture and while there she picks up an old, damaged glass bottle in the bazaar, a bottle containing a Djinn (Idris Elba), who must grant her three wishes to secure his freedom. Well-versed in the storytelling traditions of wish-granting, and its pitfalls, Alithea is reluctant to use her wishes, expecting a bad result, so the Djinn attempts to convince her with the tales of his three-thousand-year struggle for release from captivity.

I devoured the tales of the Arabian Nights as a child and fondly remember the thrill of reading those stories, and this movie brought back that same feeling. It is beautifully filmed with inventive visual effects and a plot that teases along from one fantastic story to the next. It is one of those rare movies for which I would check the elapsed time in the hope there was still plenty of it left to enjoy. Swinton is perfect as the work-obsessed Alithea and Elba makes his Djinn both a mysterious and engaging, even trustworthy, figure. This is a story about getting lost in stories and a story to get lost in as well.

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UPDATE: "Three Thousand Years of Longing" (2022) now on Amazon Prime (Original Post) nuxvomica Jan 2023 OP
I thoroughly enjoyed it. Spellbinding! MLAA Jan 2023 #1
If Idris Elba popped out of a bottle for me Skittles Jan 2023 #2
I hear ya! 😍 SaveOurDemocracy Jan 2023 #3
Now available on Amazon Prime Video nuxvomica May 2023 #4
I really enjoyed this movie... rogerballard May 2023 #5
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