Arabian Nights Volume 3: The Enchanted One (February 20th and 21st at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[ARABIAN NIGHTS VOLUME 3: THE ENCHANTED ONE screens Saturday February 20th at 7:10 pm and Sunday February 21st at 8:50 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

If one were to judge ARABIAN NIGHTS VOLUME 3: THE ENCHANTED ONE solely on its first, 45-minute segment, it would rank as the most satisfying film of the trilogy. Sadly the remaining hour and fifteen minutes of the film, though not without merit, is not nearly as engrossing.

While still not technically an adaptation of the original Thousand and One Nights, THE ENCHANTED ONE begins by focusing on its own version of Scheherazade (Crista Alfaiate) as she ponders her inevitable fate. She has been able to stay the hand of her murderously jealous husband the sultan for over a year by keeping him enthralled with fantastical tales (some of which we’ve seen in the previous two volumes of ARABIAN NIGHTS), but she knows her luck can’t hold forever. And so fearing that she may die sooner rather than later, the lovely storyteller embarks on a journey to see and experience the world outside the palace walls while she still can.

Arabian Nights Volume 2: The Desolate One (February 13th and 14th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[ARABIAN NIGHTS VOLUME 2: THE DESOLATE ONE screens Saturday February 13th at 6:45 pm and Sunday February 14th at 8:35 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Scherezade returns with more surreal and satirical tales of 21^st century Portugese life under austerity in Miguel Gomes’ ARABIAN NIGHTS VOLUME 2: THE DESOLATE ONE. As with the first film in this trilogy, THE DESOLATE ONE is not an adaptation of the 1001 Nights, but rather uses its structure to address more contemporary concerns in a fable like format. The specifics of the stories have changed, but the overall style and thematic concerns remain the same.

Arabian Nights Volume 1: The Restless One (February 6th and 7th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[ARABIAN NIGHTS VOLUME 1: THE RESTLESS ONE screens Saturday February 6th at 6:45 pm and Sunday February 7th at 8:15 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Although it takes its name from the classic literary collection, ARABIAN NIGHTS VOLUME 1: THE RESTLESS ONE is not an adaptation. Rather it takes the structure of One Thousand and One Nights,  in which the wife of a murderous sultan keeps herself alive by telling her husband stories each night that end on a cliffhanger. Well, that’s the conceit, anyway. It doesn’t quite feel that way, despite efforts to sell viewers on the notion through onscreen titles, but honestly it doesn’t matter. The film nonetheless accomplishes the task of connecting its disparate tales.