The Reel World

Three Thousand Years of Longing

Kent’s Grade: C+

Genre: Drama/Fantasy/Romance

Rated: R for sexual content, graphic nudity and brief violence

In theaters August 26

THE PLOT:

Narratologist Alithea (Tilda Swinton) is in Turkey for a storytelling conference when she stumbles upon an old, warped jar. While rubbing off the grime, she loosens the stopper and out flows a Djinn (Idris Elba).

As it should be, Djinn bequeaths three wishes upon Alithea, but she is too smart to recklessly fulfill her desires with such dangerous wishes. She instead asks him to tell her how he came to be stoppered in his bottles for three thousand years.

His tale is both cautionary and a sad chronicle of lust, love and longing.

KENT’S TAKE:

“Three Thousand Years of Longing” is the latest from writer/director George Miller and is both a cautionary tale of science and a romance — an odd combination for sure.

Alithea is a pure academic, jettisoning her husband to focus on her studies. World renowned as a narratologist, she travels the world studying stories and cultures as they relate to them. When she stumbles upon the Djinn, she suddenly realizes that she has an eyewitness to the history of narratives and plies him for his story spanning centuries.

Stories were used in ancient times to give meaning to the unexplained, offering a world of magic and enchantment. However, as humanity has evolved to a more science-based society, the unexplained has shrunk to the point where storytelling has faded to almost nothing.

As the Djinn recounts his three imprisonments, audiences are treated to tales of love, lust, power, desperation and death through his journey. His stories are also peppered with a bit of real history, adding a flavor of reality to these ancient tales.

The weakness of this film comes in the lack of real drama. This plays out more as a parable than an actual story, leaving viewers on the outside looking in. As Alithea learns of her wishes, they are immediately set aside as she begins to ask questions of her Djinn. This is both interesting and frustrating as the lure of wishes has always sparked interest in the “What if . . .?”

As we follow Djinn through his historical journey, even the wishes used by his previous masters lack a cinematic punch as they are portrayed less as pitfalls and more as potholes on the road of life. When Alithea finally begins using her wishes, her academic nature is summarily pushed aside for pure emotional desire.

As the story plays out to its conclusion, the stakes seem to fade more than rise as Alithea commands her final wish. Although it concludes with a warm, emotional resolution, the power of wishes and love are never quite captured in this unusual film.

“Three Thousand Years of Longing” is an enjoyable film that offers a unique take on love, but if I had one wish for this film it, would be for a stronger footprint of wishes.