By José Alberto Hermosillo
Seven years have
passed since George Miller impacted the world with ten Oscar nominations and
six wins for his stylish, action-packed box-office smash thriller “Mad Max:
Fury Road” in 2015. Now, the celebrated Australian director of the “Mad Max”
trilogy and “The Witches of Eastwick” presents his most intimate, ethereal, and
philosophical film, “Three Thousand Years of Longing” - an eclectic and modern
adaptation of the classic genie in a bottle tale.
“Three Thousand Years of Longing” is a superb piece of filmmaking with striking
visuals and profound emotions that moves audiences to a subconscious state of
mind.
Adapting from the 1994 novel by A.S. Bryatt, “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s
Eye,” George Miller and co-writer Augusta Gore placed together a series of
cautionary tales in the form of flashbacks recounted by the genie’s past experiences.
Tilda Swinton’s character is profoundly complex. She explores her feelings deeply - even though she is a confident woman of science who likes to take control of any given situation, she is also a believer.
Upon arriving in the mystical city of Istanbul to present a conference, she finds some peculiar characters approaching her everywhere she goes. Then, she discovers the mysteries of the thousands of streets, parks, and enigmatic bazaars. As a courtesy, the hotel places her in the same room where Agatha Christie wrote “Murder on the Orient Express.”
During Alithea's presentation, she connects science with stories. “The stories were once the only way to make our bewildering existence coherent,” said professor Gunhan, introducing her. She follows the reasoning confronting myths and science, helping us to find the purpose of science when nowadays, theology is devolving into superheroes.
The Grand Bazaar of Istanbul is one of the most emblematic Turkish landmarks, with over 4,000 shops on 62 streets. While visiting such a splendid marketplace, Alithea questions her fate and how she escapes from it. Speaking about destiny, what will be the chances she can find, in a pile of “unsorted old and new things,” a bottle with a genie inside, also known as the “Nightingale's Eye.” And indeed, after the finding, she takes it because, in her view, every object has an exciting story to tell.
For-the-time-being, at the hotel's bathroom, she washes and rubs the rare object when suddenly the mythical character of Aladdin comes to life with baggage of three experiences previously lived with the women who owned the bottles and the ones who trapped him throughout centuries before they fullfil their three wishes.
This non-Disney modern and eclectic version of “Aladdin” must be appreciated for what it is: a fable where the main characters’ actions and emotions should not be conditioned by their past experiences, lifestyle, or external situations over which they have no control - but their real emotions they feel for each other in the melting pot they line in now.
In a film full of contrasts, our rational-minded professor finds that she must believe in a higher power, this case, in the form of a djinn or genie, magnificently played by the talented British actor Idris Elba (“Beast,” “Beast of No Nation”). This exuberant, adult version of “Aladdin” realizes three wishes for Alithea, who does not play alone. Instead, she interrogates the djinn, which states, in an extremely long conversation, his three previous love experiences, setting the mystical and somehow romantic tone of the film.
The first story is about the desire the djinn feels for the Queen of Sheba and how her seducer Solomon, the musician holds the evil forces in his hands placing him back in the bottle. The second tale is set in Constantinople, during the Ottoman Empire, where Gulten is a concubine in the court of king Suleiman the Magnificent. She desires the prince’s love but the fatal outcome for prince Mustafa is inevitable. The final story takes us into the mid-19th Century in Turkey, where Zefir wishes for knowledge. Zefir’s second wish was never to meet the djinn, sending him to live in oblivion for another century.
The genie's past is relatively unimportant. What matters is the here and now and the particular relevance of Alithea’s responses and decisions she makes to accomplish her mission in life helping the djinn to adapt to modern times. At the same time, it is an existential crisis that, eventually, sooner or later, all entities have to face.
The film evokes the eternal question of what women most desire. The lead characters’ emotions evolve into affection, patience, and tolerance. They start to believe more purely in love, mysticism, and higher power. At the end, depends on us to let the djinn accomplish his mission and not let him get lost another thousand years in oblivion.
The complexity of the long dialogues and emotions experienced between the djinn and the lucky woman who holds the bottle compels the viewer to a second or even a third watch of such a magnificent and profound film.
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