There's a new George Miller movie coming out this August, and it promises to be different from everything the Three Thousand Years Of Longing will star Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton and tells the story of a lonely British woman who discovers an ancient bottle, unleashing a djinn who offers her three wishes.
The modern scenario, in contrast with epic tales and flashbacks from ancient times, throws back to other incredible movies that address similar themes in similar ways, from animated family films to ultra-violent medieval stories.
Excalibur (1981)
There are countless retellings of King Arthur's stories, but none of them ever topped the level of mayhem presented in Excalibur. The movie follows Arthur Pendragon through many moments of his life, from his birth, through his ascension to kinghood and search for the grail, to his eventual death. What makes it so different from other adaptations of Sir Thomas Malory's works is the way the narrative is conducted with surrealism and nightmarish sequences.
Delivering a feast of medieval chronicles and an array of brave characters, Excalibur is fabulous and brutal. With fantasy fans complaining there's not enough madness in the genre ever since Excalibur, Three Thousand Years Of Longing could finally be the movie to fill that void, offering a succession of dreamlike sequences and men corrupted by magic.
The Green Knight (2021)
Another epic story set in the world of Arthur Pendragon, best final scenes in a fantasy movie.
The Green Knight is a story about finding one's place in history in a time when history meant taking part in songs chanted by bards, lullabies sang by peasants, and recognition among warriors and thieves of a brutal world. Three Thousand Years Of Longing offers a range of tales about people who used their wishes to find their place in history but did so without thinking of honor.
The Spine Of Night (2021)
With stunning 2D animation and a fantastical tale about ancient dark magics and generations of heroes, The Spine Of Night is an ultra-violent fantasy epic different from any fantasy movie. The story is told across different eras and perspectives, following heroes and peculiar cultures fighting a common enemy: a malevolent force that unleashes ages of suffering onto all mankind.
The fantasy aspects of the movie are very unique; beyond the bloodbath, the film offers an epic story of cosmic proportions. The battle scenes are frenetic and creative, and although many of the characters don't get too much time onscreen, they stay long enough to have their arcs developed, and their emotions unfolded. Just like Three Thousand Years Of Longing, The Spine Of Night is an excellent choice for people who like stories that go across several generations.
Interview With The Vampire (1994)
Sensual, violent, and full of burning ion, Interview With The Vampire is one of the most stylish movies about the popular blood-drinking creatures. Hiding their monstrosity with extravagant clothes and shiny jewelry, the vampires of the movie are as graceful as they are scary.
Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise play two vampires in a peculiar relationship of love, betrayal, and rage. In the present, Brad Pitt's character, Louis de Pointe du Lac, relates the ups and downs of his life to a reporter, but both the viewers and the reporter can't really tell how reliable Louis is until the very ending. This relationship between storyteller and listener is similar to the premise of Three Thousand Years Of Longing, as well as the way the movie conducts the narrative through recollections of one character.
Spirited Away (2001)
Spirited Away challenges the limits of imagination with an array of fantastical characters and epic world-building. In the film, a young girl becomes trapped in a world rules by spirits. When she discovers her parents might become the victims of a mysterious curse, she must gather unexpected allies and find the courage within on a journey of self-discovery.
Just like George Miller's movie, Spirited Away is visually beautiful and filled with symbolism about honor and the endless fight between good and evil, as well as lighthearted themes such as coming of age and becoming independent. A must-see Japanese fantasy animation, it truly is one of those films that keep viewers entranced in a magical world they wished they could access too.
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
longest standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival. Addressing themes such as the life of the mind, war, and the human condition in a narrative that feels more like a fable, the movie follows a young girl who becomes immersed in a magical, but dangerous world of fantasy after encountering a mysterious faun.
Flirting with horror and war tales at times, the movie uses fantasy as a vehicle to portray the loss of innocence in times of violence, similar to how Three Thousand Years Of Longing uses magic as something that corrupts the soul of men. With stunning visuals and intricate set designs, Guillermo Del Toro delivers a masterpiece that showcases all the inventive trademarks that made him so famous.
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
Three Thousand Years Of Longing isn't the first movie to depict Tilda Swinton in a weird, fantastical romance. Only Lovers Left Alive is one of the best movies the actress is in; set in modern times, the film follows a couple of vampires struggling to overcome the weight of eternal existence and reinvent their love.
The clever art direction reveals incredible details about the couple's past, from ancient musical instruments to antiquated costumes. While Only Lovers Left Alive doesn't resort to flashbacks, the shadow of the past hangs over the protagonists at all times as they attempt to come to with the countless people, places, and events they witnessed across hundreds of years.
The Princess Bride (1987)
The Princess Bride gets so comfortable with its hilarious quirkiness and running gags that it almost feels like a TV show at times. One of the best films about the importance and beauty of stories that from generation to generation, the movie's premise is simple: to entertain his bed sick grandson, the grandfather decides to read him an epic story of romance.
The movie then sets out to be a charming fairy tale about a brave farmboy on his quest to be reunited with his true love. As he stumbles upon the most hilarious characters on the way, The Princess Bride has everything a good fantasy story needs: brave swordsmen, plots of revenge, endangered princesses, and deadly creatures; themes they can also be found with the same dose of comedy in Three Thousand Years Of Longing.
Dreams (1990)
As the title implies, Dreams is a succession of dreamlike landscapes and mystical, fabulous events. Directed by the legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, it's a movie that differs from his epic samurai movies, going instead for a subtle atmosphere and diving deep into Japanese folklore.
Structured as a collection of magical tales, each segment is based on different dreams of the director. Filled with symbolism, dance, music, and nature, the stories address several themes such as ghosts, war, Japanese traditions, and even Van Gogh shows up as the protagonist of one of the segments.
Aladdin (1992)
Just like in Three Thousand Years Of Longing, Aladdin takes advantage of the lore of one overlooked magical being in the fantasy genre: the Djinn. These mystical spirits detain ancient knowledge and often grant wishes to those who unleash them. In Aladdin, it's called Genie, a hilarious spirit bursting with positive energy, and a key character in Aladdin's journey.
The movie follows a charismatic street urchin trying to accomplish the difficult task of finding a magic lamp that has the power of making one's deepest wishes come true, but many other enemies follow suit vying for the object. While the Miller movie will take the topic of one's "deepest wishes" to a much more dangerous and wicked scale, Aladdin ends up being the lighthearted option for those who would like to see a good, heartfelt Djinn tale.
