CinemaSerf
Sep 3, 2022
7/10
"Alithea" (Tilda Swinton) is a solitary scholar who travels to Istanbul to address a conference on the relative merits of myth v science. At the seminar, she starts to hallucinate and the seed is sown that perhaps the mystical is not so far-fetched as we might think! A visit to the Grand Bazaar sees her acquire a small blue bottle that, when attacked rather unceremoniously with an electric toothbrush, spills it's contents into her hotel room. A giant, hairy-legged Djinn (Idris Elba). In keeping with tradition, he offers her three wishes - but she is sceptical. Easy come, easy goes thinks she - and as the couple chat, she discovers just how he became incarcerated in this, his third, bottle. His are tales of love, lust, greed, power and sadness and he depicts them to her of his life of some thousands of years. He also declares just why it is so important that she actually makes her wishes; for without those he can never attain his freedom. It's good fun this film. An anthology of scenarios that entertain and amuse with a worldly and generous effort from the sagely Swinton who gradually falls in love with her now normal-sized companion. The dynamic between the two stars is engaging and effective, the latter delivering a charming contribution to a simple story of the problems of a series of unrequited loves over the centuries that will probably never find a straightforward solution! It's a quirky film, that moves along quickly and I really quite enjoyed it.
