I caught up on the backlog a bit this weekend
Three Thousand years of Longing 8/10
Three Thousand Years of Longing has a rather straight forward premise. There's no surprises to be found. Idris Elba plays a Djinn whos been released on accident by Tilda Swinton. He desperately wants his freedom with three wishes made, but she both doesn't trust him, believing it's a "Monkey Paw", and she lives a quiet life as a teacher wanting for nothing. In trying to help her trust him and give her ideas for wishes he tells her a series of stories detailing his three thousand years spent in the bottle.
Absolutely beautiful film, very heavy Terry Gilliam vibes. Everything is bright, splashy and creative. Unfortunately I was a little disappointed in both the limited scope of his stories and the rather mundane, if interesting ending. See he actually does spend most of that three thousand years in the bottle so the stories are rather brief with him getting screwed over every time he's just about to earn his freedom. The ending, is pretty close to what you think would naturally happen with that title, but with an interesting little twist.
On a side note it reeks of this book by Anne Rice about a Djinn called "Servant of The Bones", which if you can put your fedora down for a second and willingly open an Anne Rice book, its lauded as one of her best and a far cry from the trashier stuff.
All in all I'd give it an 8/10 despite my disappointments I was enraptured for the full run time. I'd openly warn you the trailer makes it sound action packed, but it's closer to a rainy afternoon contemplative piece.