A One Mann’s Movies review of “Three Thousand Years of Longing” (2022).
It’s been 7 years since George Miller released the excellent “Mad Max: Fury Road“, but he’s sneaked “Three Thousand Years of Longing” out before his upcoming revisits to the “Mad Max” world. I was really looking forward to this curiosity – an adult take on the Aladdin-myth. But although it had its moments of brilliance, it overall left me underwhelmed.
Bob the Movie Man Rating(s):
Plot Summary:
Alithea (Tilda Swinton) is an academic, travelling the world and lecturing on the history of storytelling. Although living a life alone, she wants for absolutely nothing. Thus, it’s ironic that she should become the master to a newly released Djinn (Idris Elba) who needs her to use three wishes in order for him to complete his mission.
Certification:
Talent:
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Idris Elba.
Directed by: George Miller.
Written by: George Miller & Augusta Gore. Based on a short story by A.S. Byatt.
Twitter Handles: #3000YearsMovie
“Three Thousand Years of Longing” Review:
Positives:
- Acting-wise, you can’t beat the combination of Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba. Swinton is a class act, and really delivers here as the bookish Alithea. I have often been disappointed by some of Elba’s starring feature film choices (e.g. “Bastille Day“, “The Mountain Between Us” and most recently “Beast“). But here’s a role he can really get his teeth into, and he does a great job with it.
- The concept at the heart of the interactions between Alithea and the Djinn is a good one, and the script delivers some memorable lines. “We exist only if we are real to others” the Djinn states, which is a truism suitable for life in general.
- There’s a level of surrealness in the flashback scenes in the Djinn’s life which is glorious to behold and expertly delivered by the costume team, the production design team and the special effects guys.
- Another fine movie score by Tom Holkenborg (Junkie XL).
Negatives:
- While the movie has a load of memorable moments, the two halves of the film – a) the modern-day relationship between Alithea and Djinn and b) the backstory of Djinn’s past life – just didn’t gel well enough together for me. Both were interesting in their own way. But they didn’t bake together to make a satisfying movie pudding.
- I wasn’t sure what message we were supposed to take out of the relationship between Alithea and Djinn. What story arc did Alithea actually go through? There was clearly a sexual element involved, but – for a 15/R certificate – this could have been more explicitly realised. I found the conclusion all a bit soft and “meh”.
Oops!
- At one point, Alithea has an accident on stage in Istanbul while giving a lecture. She gives a thumbs up to the audience… which is actually a very insulting gesture in the muslim world. Surely as a well-travelled lady, she would have known that?
Summary Thoughts on “Three Thousand Years of Longing”:
There’s nothing particularly wrong with this movie. And it had some moments of brilliance in the vignettes it painted of the Djinn’s past adventures. But overall, for me, I found the whole was less than the sum of its parts.
Trailer for “Three Thousand Years of Longing”
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWGvntl9itE .
I liked this movie and would give it 3 1/2 stars. Perhaps this is down to each viewer’s interpretation of the meaning of the story. I echo your positives with regards to the performances of Elba and Swinton. What I liked about the special effects was the limited, but effective use of it – in comparison to the use of CGI in films like Quantumania (less is more), the effects are like a garnish to a dish rather than a vindaloo where the spice completely obliterates the taste of the ingredients. My interpretation of this story is that it is… Read more »