THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING
D: George Miller (2022) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
Tilda Swinton, Idris Elba, Burcu Gölgedar,
Aamito Lagum, Nicolas Mouawad, Ece Yuksel
An expert in the history of storytelling travels to Istanbul to attend a convention of people who are experts in the history of storytelling. In a curiosity shop, she buys a small bottle that appears to have little value beyond the possibility that it might contain a story, which it does. It's the old genie-(or djinn)-in-a-bottle tale, all tied up with the number three, the color red, and the matter of being careful what you wish for when it comes to making a wish. Tilda Swinton plays the woman who buys the bottle, Idris Elba plays the djinn she releases when she opens it, and the movie is mostly the two of them telling and talking about stories. Director George Miller is the guy who made the Mad Max movies, but this is more like something you'd expect from Guillermo del Toro, intelligent, literate and beautifully imagined, a fantasy for grownups. So go ahead. Make three wishes. But you know what they say. Be careful. There's always a catch.
