Arabian Nights: Volume 2 -- The Desolate One

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Audience Member The bastard, the judge, the dog, and the dog's many owners. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member It is a curious thing to notice how this second chapter of Miguel Gomes' Arabian Nights trilogy is a lot more conventional than the first in terms of structure, but even so it is a wonderful film that achieves a level of sublime perfection in its chronicle about the tears of the judge. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review Audience Member The second act of Gomes' surreal six-hour frame narrative moves at a brisker pace than the last, resulting in a viewing that is more engaging than it is frustrating. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member In short: Disappointing in spite of all positive review. I feel the need for a counter voice Saw this at the Filmfest 2015 Ghent (Belgium) as part of the section Global Cinema. There were 3 volumes a 2 hours screened after another with nearly an hour in between to stretch our legs. I admit upfront that I only saw the 2nd and 3rd volume. I missed nr 1 as it overlapped with another movie that I eagerly wanted to see. Maybe I missed important clues revealed in the 1st volume, as I found the two volumes that I actually saw disappointing, and then I express myself mildly. Of course, I was prejudiced by the very many positive reviews, and am fully prepared to think it's all my fault. Nevertheless, I urgently feel the need to raise a counter voice, as I had serious trouble to find another review supporting my negative opinion. I located one (and only one) submitted as a user review on IMDB by FrostyChud, dated 5th of August 2015, titled "One of the worst films I've ever seen." very appropriately The only part that I found edible was in Volume 2, the middle part "The tears of the judge". It started all right while revealing a chain of guilt and misdeed involving nearly all present in court, though it became a bit silly after a cow entered the proceedings, and the group of five masked crooks did not make it any better. The intentions of the other two stories in Volume 2 escaped me. The whole 3-volume project was announced as commentary on Portuguese economical politics, but I failed to connect the dots. Same a fortiori applies to Volume 3. I did not see Volume 1, and I don't regret missing it in any way. Still wondering about the many positive reviews. Technically there is nothing wrong with this tour-de-force that lasts over 6 hours in total: camera, lighting, casting and acting seem all right, and it looks like all participants did the best they could with the material at hand. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member 7.4/10, my review: http://wp.me/p1eXom-2rs Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Cinema Extraordinaire!! A very ambitious political anthology done with style. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Arabian Nights: Volume 2 -- The Desolate One

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