Arabian Nights: Volume 1, the Restless One
As Mil e Uma Noites: Volume 1, O Inquieto
Synopsis
In Portugal, over 600 shipyard workers are being laid off. An apiarist fights off an invasion of foreign bees. An African wizard creates an aerosol spray that cures impotence in world leaders and IMF financiers. A judge puts a cockerel on trial for crowing too early.
Our take
Three volumes, three unidentified filmic objects of uncommon beauty, and three instant classics of contemporary cinema. Miguel Gomes’ outstanding masterpiece takes over. A vision of modern Portugal told with the inspiration of the timeless folk tales of Arabian Nights.
Gomes knows how to wrap an audience around his little finger—see Tabu for reference—but conscientiously keeps himself from slipping into a rhythm here, switching up time signatures in unexpected ways. These films are the work of a free man, and the exhilaration is infectious.
Nick Pinkerton
January 04, 2016
Gomes knows all too well how cruel and chaotic modern life can be, but his film isn’t intended to solve the problems of the world. Arabian Nights prefers simply to follow them as they play out—and this perhaps is the greatest proof of its courage.
Francisco Ferreira
November 04, 2015
Split into three films, it’s an uproarious and scathing, compassionate and urgent outburst that runs more than six hours… Elaborate fantasies and raucous antics converge with Gomes’s view of an ostensible democracy whose citizens have lost control.
Richard Brody
September 21, 2015
Related films
Thirty-One Means Trouble
Miguel Gomes, 2001
Canticle of All Creatures
Miguel Gomes, 2006
A Christmas Inventory
Miguel Gomes, 2000
Pro Evolution Soccer's One-Minute Dance After a Golden Goal in the Master League
Miguel Gomes, 2004
Meanwhile
Miguel Gomes, 1999
Our Beloved Month of August
Miguel Gomes, 2008
The Face You Deserve
Miguel Gomes, 2004
