3000 years of Longing (2022) directed by George Miller

 

This fantasy film starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba took me by surprise. Not because of the actors, having them both in a film was enough for me to want to see it, but more because of my idea that it would be a simple, low budget film more psychologic in nature when it was an extravagant looking, beautifully filmed piece that definitely landed more on art film than blockbuster but nevertheless managed to include some amazing effects. 

Swinton is a narratology expert and begins to see disturbing visions while talking at a conference in Istanbul. She finds an antique bottle and while cleaning it find a Djinn has been trapped inside. 

I don't want to spoil the film too much but I will say the interaction between the two main characters as the Djinn tells his life story to convince Swinton to ask for 3 wishes, the first being "her heart's content" really pulls you in. All the performances are great and the film doesn't drag during it's 106 minutes. 

I will say there are some elements that bugged me. The Djinn is described as being electromagnetic in nature. Fine. But when he begins to suffer from information overload in London because of all the cell phones etc etc it was confusing. Istanbul is at least as full of tech as London and we see that clearing at the start of the film. It's that old only European and the USA are first world nations prejudice rearing its ugly head. I also found the leads character's sudden need to be loved and less lonely made me angry. She was self sufficient and not lonely at all until suddenly she was.. another trope. All women are supposed need a family and man to be happy and if they say they don't they are fooling themselves. There is a potential issue of what is real and what isn't for some viewers. In some instances the Djin is clearly real and in the world while others, including the end, he might be all in her head. This bothers me less since I like that sort of discussion it brings but it did seem the film wasn't sure what to do with the magical elements. 

Well worth seeing despite the plot holes and missteps. I have not read the story it was based on and that might clear up some of the problems but films should stand on their own, even if based on outside material. 

Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) directed by Jim Jarmusch

 

Starring Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston, this is a art film take on vampires. Swinton and Hiddleston are have been a couple for the last few hundred years but are currently living apart. Their characters are named Adam and Eve which I found a little annoying to be honest but there wasn’t much other religious symbolism in the film. John Hurt plays Christopher Marlowe and the script makes it clear that he wrote the Shakespeare plays and Adam was behind some of the world’s most famous poets and musicians while Eve has had her share of relations with famous historical people. This is an element that I find ridiculous in many films with vampires or any long lived characters. They always seem to know or worse, have been famous people throughout their lives. Like in stories of reincarnation, no one is ever a pig farmer, that are always Cleopatra. The unlikeliness of that just irritates me. 

This a Jarmusch film so the story is sort of light on details or structure and instead relies on how interesting you find the people in the story. I do think this works for him and it doesn’t fail him in this film either but it’s the performances of the main actors that keeps you watching. He introduced some elements that took me a while to figure out why they were important, like how the vampires wear gloves when out and about, but not all the time. Adam does seem to mopey at times but is still manages to elicit sympathy. John Hurt and Tilda Swinton are the highlight of any production in my opinion and they don’t disappoint here.