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MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

You know how it goes. Someone finds a magic lamp or vessel. Rubbing it produces a genie and the holder of the lamp gets three wishes.

Things turn out differently when the new owner of the glass bottle is Alithea (Swinton), a solitary professor of “narratology” or the study of stories. She is not so quick to ask for those wishes when she can persuade the djinn (Elba) to tell three stories of his own, spanning centuries and continents, going all the way back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

These tales are filled with CGI wonders and also chockfull with cultural stereotypes that accompany stories like Aladdin and A Thousand and One Nights; an international cast helps quite a bit. While the conclusion of the film is more than satisfying and quite beautiful, I can’t say much about the djinn’s tales, which are all fairly forgettable.

If you are in the mood for a quiet epic, you may be satisfied with Three Thousand Years of Longing. If you long for action and adventure, look elsewhere; this movie may rub you the wrong way.

Halo and Pitchfork Rating:

Three halos: A beautifully made depiction of the power of storytelling and the ways in which imagination brings lonely people together.
Two pitchforks: Mild eroticism throughout; nudity; some swearing.

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