''Arabian Nights'' ( pt, As Mil e uma Noites) is a 2015 internationally co-produced three-part

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Miguel Gomes and based on the ''

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...

'', comprising ''Volume 1: The Restless One'', ''Volume 2: The Desolate One'', and ''Volume 3: The Enchanted One''. It was screened as part of the

Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festiv ...

section at the

2015 Cannes Film Festival The 68th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 2015. Joel and Ethan Coen were the Presidents of the Jury for the main competition. It was the first time that two people chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers each received a separate ...

. The film was also selected to be shown in the Wavelengths section of the

2015 Toronto International Film Festival The 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 September 2015. On 28 July 2015 the first wave of films to be screened at the Festival was announced. Jean-Marc Vallée's ''Demolition'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naom ...

. Part two of the film, ''Arabian Nights: Volume 2 - The Desolate One'', was selected as the Portuguese entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

88th Academy Awards The 88th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2015 and took place on February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, 5:30 p.m. PST. Du ...

but it was not nominated.

Plot

The film is set in Portugal, with the plot drawing from current events. The structure of the film is based on the ''

'' collection of fantasy tales.

Cast

* Crista Alfaiate as Shahrazād * Dinarte Branco as Uomo del Patronato * Carloto Cotta as Traduttore * Adriano Luz as Luis * Joana de Verona as Vania * Rogério Samora as Primo Ministro * Maria Rueff as Ministro delle Finanze * Cristina Carvalhal as Sereia * Luísa Cruz as Juiza * Américo Silva as Negoziante di Gado * Bruno Bravo as Uomo della Banca Centrale Europea * Tiago Fagulha as Uomo della Commissione Europea * Teresa Madruga as Luisa * Chico Chapas as Xico Chapas * Carla Maciel as Nora * Margarida Carpinteiro as Gloria

Production

Production was expected to end in August 2014 and the film was expected to be completed in February 2015.

Release

The three installments of ''Arabian Nights'' premiered at the

. ''Volume 1: The Restless One'' on 16 May 2015, ''Volume 2: The Desolate One'' on 18 May 2015, and ''Volume 3: The Enchanted One'' on 20 May 2015. The films were released in France on 24 June, 29 July, and 26 August.

Critical reception

All three films received generally positive reviews from critics.

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports that ''Volume 1'' has a 97% score based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Miguel Gomes' vibrant twist on ''Arabian Nights'' spins myriad yarns that coalesce into a colorful ode to Portugal." ''Volume 2'' has a 100% score based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. ''Volume 3'' has a 88% score based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, ''Volume 1'' has an 80 out of 100 rating based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ''Volume 2'' has an 81 out of 100 rating based on 9 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". ''Volume 3'' has an 80 out of 100 rating based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arabian Nights (2015 film) 2015 films 2010s Portuguese-language films 2015 drama films 2015 independent films French drama films French independent films German drama films German independent films Portuguese drama films Portuguese independent films Swiss drama films Swiss independent films Films based on One Thousand and One Nights Films directed by Miguel Gomes Films set in Portugal Films shot in Portugal Films released in separate parts Golden Globes (Portugal) winners 2010s French films 2010s German films