Summary
A solitary scholar discovers an ancient bottle while on a trip to Istanbul and unleashes a djinn who offers her three wishes. Filled with reluctance, she is unable to come up with one, so the djinn tries to inspire her with his stories.
Cast
Tilda Swinton
Alithea
Idris Elba
The Djinn
Erdil Yaşaroğlu
Professor Günhan
Sabrina Elba
British Council Lady / The Watcher
Sarah Houbolt
Airport Djinn
Seyithan Özdemir
Pale Djinn
Aamito Lagum
The Queen of Sheba
Nicolas Mouawad
King Solomon
Ece Yüksel
Gulten
Matteo Bocelli
Prince Mustafa
Lachy Hulme
Sultan Suleiman
Megan Gale
Hürrem
Oğulcan Arman Uslu
Murad IV
Jack Braddy
Ibrahim
Zerrin Tekindor
Kösem
Anna Adams
Sugar Lump
George Shevtsov
The Old Storyteller
David Collins
Ozmet the Jocular
Burcu Gölgedar
Zefir
Vincent Gil
Old Merchant
Melissa Jaffer
Clementine
Anne Charleston
Fanny
Pia Thunderbolt
Orhan's Pa
Berk Ozturk
Semih the Driver / Bazzar Young Shopkeeper
Anthony Moisset
Hotel Porter
Alyla Browne
Young Alithea
Sage Mcconnell
Dormitory Girl
Abel Bond
Enzo
Agani Gecmez
Turkish Hotel Waiter
Ayantu Usman
Sheba's Handmaiden
Peter Bertoni
Jack
Lianne Mackessy
Emmeline Porter
Harlan Norris
London Driver
Leslie Krahner
Fisherman Rough Hands
George Zammit
Male Hands
Feride Eralp
Female Hands
Matthew Khoury
Blacksmith Ifrit / Persian Soldier
Burwaiss Ahmed
Byzantium Labourer
Edoardo Michelotti
Mustafa Janissary
Ronny Mouawad
Mustafa Janissary / Airport Surly Supervisor
Paul Prakash
Mustafa Janissary
Olivia Porter
Juggler
Quaden Bayles
Quick Change Boy
Botan Ozer
Ali
Georgiou Thomas
Rustem Pasha
Arshia Dehghani
Prince Cihangir
Talia Tulin Sert
Seraglio Concubine
Jean-Marc Agbogba
Zaouli Dancer
Kaan Guldur
Young Murad IV
Hugo Vella
Young Ibrahim
Simon Abraham
Persian Soldier
Bryony Pyke
Slender Concubine
Hana Habbouche
Slender Concubine
Jyoti Barry
Ibrahim's Concubine
Madeline Berner
Ibrahim's Concubine
Kathleen Coffey
Ibrahim's Concubine
Nikki Hooppell
Ibrahim's Concubine
Stephanie Julien
Ibrahim's Concubine
Elyse Metaxas
Ibrahim's Concubine
Debbie Correira
Ibrahim's Concubine
Laura Foster
Ibrahim's Concubine
Ashleigh Geitzmann
Ibrahim's Concubine
Hannah Robinson
Ibrahim's Concubine
Felicity Tchorlian
Ibrahim's Concubine
Kate Wake
Ibrahim's Concubine
Mary P
Ibrahim's Concubine
Ron Hicks
Dead Pasha
Glenn Levett
Dead Vizier
Danny Lim
Storyteller
Rellim Egroeg
Hapless Storyteller
Eva Maria Barboza
Old Merchant's Cook
Lulu Pinkus
Old Merchant Wife
Karen Ainley
Old Merchant Wife
Aska Karem
Airport Security Officer
Melissa Kahraman
Airport Security Technician
Bridget Maizey
Rollerblader in Love
Eric Presnall
Rollerblader in Love
Nolan Zadarnowski
Small Child
Patryk Zadarnowski
Father
Nathan Susskind
Young Man Soccer Player
Peter Stephens
Persian General
Crew
Director, Writer
George Miller
Short Story
A.S. Byatt
Writer
Augusta Miller
Reviews
Geronimo1967
September 3, 2022
7
"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.
Media
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