Three Thousand Years of Longing
Director: George Miller
Cast: Tilda Swinton, Idris Elba
Released: 1st September 2022
Dr Alithea Binnie (Swinton), a scholar of stories and mythology, travels to Istanbul for a conference. Whilst shopping at a local market, Alithea buys a glass bottle- unknown to her, the home of a djinn (Elba). The Djinn, or just Djinn, offers Alithea three wishes in exchange for his freedom. Sceptical of Djinn and the consequences of these wishes, Alithea and he connect as Djinn recounts his journey of how he came to be in Alithea's custody.
George Miller, famous for the apocalyptic Mad Max and Happy Feet series, tackles a romantic fantasy based on the novel The Djinn and the Nightingale's Eye by A.S. Byatt. The book contains five tales, with the film adapting the titled mini-story.
Miller does well to depict a contrast between the present day and the Djinn's tales. The rich, vivid colours of the flashbacks stand out when juxtaposed with the present in Alithea's beige hotel room, where both characters wear white hotel robes. It gives the stories of Djinn's past a visually more fantastical, otherworldly experience.
The film's central relationship centres around the dialogue between this odd couple, as they get to know each other through tales. Swinton is dry and witty as a narrative-ologist. Elba is charming as a Djinn who had fallen in love with a couple of his female wish-givers. When Alithea does eventually fall for the Djinn’s wishes, the romantic turn of their relationship becomes forced, in ways both intended and not by Miller, rather than the natural progress of Djinn's previous relationships. When their relationship hits the rocks due to Djinn being incompatible with modern life, the film tries to have its cake and eat it too, with Alithea releasing Djinn and him then returning. It would be more poignant of a romantic tale for the film to end as Alithea writes down their story. Love can still be meaningful even if it does not last forever.
A visually stunning film filled with enchanting stories, it falls flat when it comes to the central romance between Alithea and Djinn. In the end, is the film 3,000 years longing for freedom? Longing for love? Longing for acceptance? In Miller's mind, it is 3,000 years of longing for all of the above.
4/5 stars.