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We conclude our series Beyond Aladdin: The Thousand and One Nights on Film with Portuguese filmmaker Miguel Gomes’s ambitious trilogy that transports the tales’ narrator, Scheherazade, to modern Portugal, where she weaves a tapestry of stories blending comedy, poignance, and documentary. Though they work together as a trilogy, each film stands alone.In the final volume, Scheherazade herself appears, telling tales of the many uniquely talented suitors who have pursued her, and meeting her father, the Grand Vizier, for a ride on a Lisbon Ferris wheel. Then, in classic Thousand and One Nights (and Gomesian) fashion, she absorbs us in a completely different tale that takes up the bulk of the film: a documentary about a group of brawny working-class guys from troubled backgrounds who tenderly and lovingly train tiny chaffinches to sing in an annual contest. This blend of the heartbreaking and the absurd is the perfect conclusion to Gomes’s magnificent trilogy.
Intended for mature audiences.
Cost: free, register in advance recommended.
Image courtesy of Kino Lorber.
Director: Miguel Gomes. Countries: Portugal, Germany, France, Switzerland. Released: 2015. Length: 125 min. Format: DCP. Languages: Portuguese, English, French, German, and Mandarin with English subtitles.
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