Few directors have the ability and confidence to so quickly and thoroughly envelop a viewer in a fantasy world. George Miller shows his genius for it again in 2022's Three Thousand Years of Longing. Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba star in what is easily the most sensual new film I've seen in years.
Swinton plays Althea, a professor who either has occasional hallucinations or who tends to perceive supernatural creatures no-one else can. The film leaves this point unclear.
She's a narratologist, someone who studies storytelling patterns throughout history and all over the world. It's implied she chose her career after having a hallucination at a young age. It seems as though her life of study was a method of keeping herself sane. This was before she met her biggest challenge, a handsome Djinn (Idris Elba) who pops naked and giant out of a bottle.
As Althea goes from trying to decide if he's a hallucination to trying to decide if he's a trickster, the djinn tells her of his long life history. He begins with his love affair with the legendary Queen of Sheba and continues with two more, equally engrossing tales. I found myself thinking of Terry Gilliam, particularly his Baron Munchausen film, from the way Miller introduces historical and fantastic elements rapidly yet organically. The only thing he ever feels the need to explain is the characters' feelings, and that's all he really needs.
It's a delicious film of the supernatural lover genre. Fans of Ghosts of Mrs. Muir or Anne Rice might dig this film, especially the first two thirds. My only complaint is the lack of a real sex scene between Althea and the djinn. The film feels needlessly disconnected from Althea after that because it breaks with her point of view. But otherwise, this is a terrific film. It's about the importance of embracing fantasy instead of compulsively putting it on the autopsy table. I approve of this message.
No comments:
Post a Comment