3000 Years of Longing

Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton in 3000 Years of Longing

I liked 3000 Years of Longing, George Miller's adaptation of a A. S. Byatt short story, a bit more than most folks. If anything. Miller's timing was off. This was not the cultural moment to be doing a story that opened itself up to accusations of Orientalism ( a pejorative criticism since the 1978 publication of Edward Said's book of that name) and usage of the magical negro trope. Me, I saw a colorful update of Michael Powell type fantasia set in the Levant. 

Tilda Swinton plays a lonely scholar who purchases an old bottle while attending a conference in Istanbul. Out pops a djinn, played by Idris Elba, who regales the scholar with tales of his adventures through the ages. The djinn's colorful stories are the highlight of the film. Less successful is the love story between the two. When Swinton confesses her love for the big lug, it seems to come from nowhere. Elba's role is a snug fit for him, but Swinton is miscast. Her character is meek and humble, but her strengths as an actor are projecting arrogance and imperiousness. A better fit would have been Deborah Kerr, if she wasn't otherwise engaged for the rest of eternity.