This week, Seth Lukas Hynes reviews Three Thousand Years of Longing, Starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba
Rated M
4.5/5
Directed by George Miller and based on a short story by A.S. Byatt, Three Thousand Years of Longing is a heartbreakingly beautiful modern fairytale and a dazzling celebration of knowledge and storytelling.
On a conference trip in Istanbul, Dr Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton), a solitary academic, meets a djinn/genie (Idris Elba), who promises her three wishes in exchange for his freedom.
Elba is enchanting as the djinn, with a presence both humble, lordly and endlessly wise. Swinton plays a calm, composed woman who is careful not to make a frivolous wish, and the djinn’s stories open her eyes to a life beyond her lonely study.
Three Thousand Years of Longing features resplendent art direction and cinematography, and is suffused with love for stories and legends but also for science and knowledge. The film is full of vibrant visual effects, but these never overshadow the thematically-rich plot or the intense chemistry of the leads.
Much of the film takes place in a single hotel room, but the djinn’s life story brings us through several turbulent eras of history, where the djinn’s loving nature and willingness to serve grapple with his desire to be free. The djinn’s existence is constrained: spending centuries among mortals or trapped in his bottle. A deep connection forms between Alithea and the djinn, but in a moving, poignant twist, their love may lock the djinn in this same cycle of constraint.
A stunningly beautiful film about loyalty and freedom, full of whimsy, charm and passion, Three Thousand Years of Longing is screening in most Victorian cinemas.
– Seth Lukas Hynes
