Arabian Nights: Volume 3 - The Enchanted One
classified 15 SThis year's most ambitious cinematic undertaking - and the most talked about experience of last year's Cannes - is Miguel Gomes' (Tabu, a Bristol hit) uniquely imaginative, wildly ambitious three part fable that adopts the structure from Scheherazade's Arabian Nights to explore Portugal's plunge into austerity. Although each film in the trilogy can be enjoyed individually, it is probably best to see all three films: we will be screening Volume One: The Restless One (from Fri 22 April for at least one week) and Volume Two: The Desolate One (from Fri 29 April for at least one week).
The final part of the epic is its most eccentric - and most enthralling - installment. It sees our intrepid narrator, the winsome Scheherazade, emerge in resplendent physical form, following her brief appearance as a mohawked punk in Volume One. Her waning storytelling abilities reinvigorated by a much needed romance, she launches into her final tale, which tells of a community of bewitched, working-class bird trappers who train chaffinches to sing for competition. Coming to its wondrous end to the strains of mysterious birdsong, Gomes has brought his multifaceted critique of modern day Portugal to a fitting closure.