Cannes 2022: ‘Three Thousand Years of Longing’ by George Miller

Starring Tilda Swinton and Idres Elba, a tale in the style of Arabian Nights or Aladdin where interracial love is finally allowed in the guise of mythology.

Life is a story we tell ourselves and Tilda Swinton, playing an uptight academic specializing in mythology lets her imagined self go as Edris Elba swoops her into a cosmic flux.

Going into this movie with a very critical eye, I wondered how George Miller, a white Australian male would view Tilda Swinton vis a vis her geni, Idris Elba. I wondered if there was a racial or racist slant and if so what would it be? I wondered if there would be an “Oriental”-ism in the depiction westerners of the 19th century used in painting the lushness of harems and cruelty of what was called “the Orient” under the rule of the Ottomon Empire. After all, Turkey is the place of mythology. But surprisingly, we see very little local color except then Alithea goes into the bazaar and buys the charming blown glass bottle which contains the geni, or “Djinn” in its native language.

Tilda Swinton plays Alithea, an uptight, charmingly eccentric scholar, on a trip to Istanbul who discovers a Djinn who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom.

Can Tilda Swinton hold her own opposite Idris Elba?

Can she really be a mythological figure visa vis another mythological being from another realm of reality. Is “realm” related to “reality”? Do we all live in realms of mythology in our lives as opposed to realms of realism?

Three thousand years of longing by whom? Ostensibly by the djinn and wished for by our protagonist as the geni tells her his story which excavates her (three centuries old?) layers of repression to reveal her own longing for sexual and loving fulfillment.

These were the questions I hoped this movie would answer as I let myself be drawn into its broad, brightly colored lines of development, visually well designed with a tune that suddenly seems to reflect a recurring theme of one’s own life: one’s own heartfelt wishes, long buried, revealing 3,000 years of longing. The music, composed by Junkie X, billed here as Tom Holkenborg is stunning. From the Song of Solomon (with a really unintendedly funny animated accompanist), to the theme song itself, the score complements the story without ever getting into its way.

The djinn’s story coincides with the fall of the Ottomon Empire where such stories (as I said) of Aladin or 1,001 Nights originated. If considered within the context of Western Civilization in which the Ottomon Empire was destroyed by the rise of Christianity, the story takes on a racial and racist slant. But we who are watching the movie do not have to deal with that. This is a tale told by a teller of tales.

And in the end, the Djinn (who is never given a proper name) cannot live in a white, christian, cleanly lit society. He must return to the darker realms where storytelling is an art, not a means of coping with life.

Tilda, the white savior of the geni, in her pure goodness, makes her third wish, one of seemingly self-sacrifice in the name of love; she wishes that he return to where he belongs and will thrive. He, in turn, rewards her with occasional returns so their love can continue but without interrupting her happy existence as an affluent, productive single white female.

Watch the trailer here.

I too could tell such a story, but in the realm of our “real” society, it is not so clean and clear but is strewn with rough, irreconcilable elements. This is clearly a love story between two opposites whose attraction/ separation has lasted three thousand years. It is a fairytale which fulfills a longing many of us have in our minds but which remains, as in this sweetly told movie, only a fairytale.

Don’t get me wrong. I loved the movie. I would put it into a category with Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack’s Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, in which a retired school teacher, yearning for some adventure, and some sex hires a young sex worker named Leo Grande. It is a true “date movie” which, I am happy to report filled the Odeon Theater in Berlin on the Saturday night I saw it.

It is a brave move to make such a film in today’s environment. I do not think any American white male or female director would dare to tackle such a subject. Directed by George Miller on what must be a huge budget judging by the credits after the film, it is also co-written by Miller who wrote to lyrics to a song according to the credits but whose words I do not recall, though the theme melody is hauntingly beautiful. It is cowritten by Augusta Gore whose single credit on IMDb is this movie. I wonder if she pitched it to Miller. It is based upon the short story “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye” by A.S. Byatt.

Further kudos should go to the director of photography John Seale, known for Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), The English Patient (1996) and Witness (1985); the production designer Roger Ford, known for Babe (1995), Rabbit-Proof Fence(2002) and The Dressmaker (2015); the art directors Sophie Nash, known for The Nightingale (2018) and The Light Between Oceans (2016) and Nicholas Dare(Hacksaw Ridge); and the film editor Margaret Sixel, known for Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Happy Feet (2006) and Babe: Pig in the City (1998). She has also been married to George Miller since 1995. They have two children.

Other notable below-the-line crew members include set decorator Lisa Thompson, costume designer Kym Barrett, and an extensive expensive makeup department: Lara Jade Birch…crowd hair supervisor / crowd makeup supervisor Terri Farmer…key hair stylist / key makeup artist Brydie Stone…key prosthetics artist Lesley Vanderwalt…hair designer / makeup designer Sheldon Wade…prosthetic artist

International sales agent FilmNation coproduced with U.S. studio-North American distributor United Artists Releasing / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)and licensed rights to

Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (2020) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
BfParis (2022) (Argentina) (theatrical)
Blue Lantern Entertainment International (2020) (Vietnam) (theatrical)
Chantier (2020) (Turkey) (theatrical)
Eagle Pictures (2020) (Italy) (theatrical)
Golden Scene (2020) (Hong Kong) (theatrical)
HKC Entertainment (2022) (Pakistan) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Aruba) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Bolivia) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Brazil) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Colombia) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Costa Rica) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Dominican Republic) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Ecuador) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (El Salvador) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Guatemala) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Honduras) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Jamaica) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Mexico) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Nicaragua) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Panama) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Peru) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Suriname) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Trinidad & Tobago) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Uruguay) (theatrical)
IDC (2020) (Venezuela) (theatrical)
Kino Films (2020) (Japan) (theatrical)
Leonine (2020) (Germany and German speaking territories) (theatrical)
Metropolitan Filmexport (2022) (France) (theatrical)
Monolith Films (2020) (Poland) (theatrical)
Monolith (2020) (Malta) (theatrical(
NK Contents (2022) (Korea) (theatrical)
NOS Audiovisuais (2020) (Portugal) (theatrical)
Nordisk Film (2020) (Denmark) (theatrical)
Nordisk Film (2020) (Finland) (theatrical)
Nordisk Film (2020) (Norway) (theatrical)
Nordisk Film (2020) (Sweden) (theatrical)
PVR Pictures (2020) (India) (theatrical)
Roadshow (2020) (Australia/ N.Z.) (theatrical)
Sam Film (2020) (Iceland) (theatrical)
Shaw Organisation (2022) (Singapore) (theatrical)
Tanweer Alliances (2022) (Greece) (theatrical)
TriPictures (2020) (Spain) (theatrical)
VLG Filmai (2020) (Lithuania) (theatrical)
Volga (2020) (Russia) (theatrical)
DeAPlaneta (2020) (Spain) (all media)
Leonine Distribution (2022) (Germany) (all media)
Sunac (2022) (China) (all media)
The Searchers (2022) (Benelux) (all media)
Universal for rest of world

Produced by

Rachael Gill…associate producer Dean Hood…executive producer Craig McMahon…executive producer George Miller…producer (produced by) Doug Mitchell…producer (produced by) Kevin Sun…executive producer