Arabian Nights: Volume 1 -- The Restless One

Released Dec 4, 2015

2h 5m

Drama

List

97%

Tomatometer

35 Reviews

74%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

To avoid being beheaded, Scheherazade tells King Shahryar tales every night.

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Critics Consensus

Miguel Gomes' vibrant twist on Arabian Nights spins myriad yarns that coalesce into a colorful ode to Portugal.

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Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

Roll on Volume Two.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 24, 2016

Full Review

Kate Muir

Times (UK)

Think of Arabian Nights as a cinematic box set: three boundary-bursting, exuberant, empathetic films from Miguel Gomes, which build up into a portrait of present-day Portugal.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 21, 2016

Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Gomes's Arabian Nights exerts its own strange allure.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 21, 2016

Full Review

Dustin Chang

Floating World

Political films are often boring. Well intentioned films are even more boring. But since it's Miguel Gomes, the director of such genre defining, inventive, playful films as Our Beloved Month of August and Tabu, Arabian Nights is nothing but.

Feb 14, 2021

Full Review

Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

Taken on its own, it often feels aimless and scattershot, but when viewed as part of a larger whole, it's spectacular - a wholly unique work of artistic activism.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 5, 2019

Full Review

Tom Bond

One Room With A View

The script's wry sense of humour, the cast's natural performances and a patient directorial style make his message a lot more accessible than it might appear.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 3, 2019

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Audience Member

awesome way to talk about crisis

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Genial! Excelente abordagem ao combinar o género documentário com ficção. Boa representação. Uma forte mensagem política. Tudo é autêntico. Comprar o DVD foi uma boa opção. Todas as narrativas têm muito simbolismo, muitos detalhes, tem de ser visto e revisto. Um filme que nos faz pensar, como todos os grandes filmes. Sem dúvida uma invulgar obra de arte.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

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Audience Member

Portugal's socio-political ironic fairy tales.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/19/23

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Audience Member

A restless director plunges us in a brilliant blend of documentary and fiction to comment on the political situation of contemporary Portugal: austerity, economic crisis, unemployment and the emptiness of our times; and he does so with a lot of compassion and a wonderful humor.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The first part of Miguel Gomes' six-hour film, "Arabian Nights," is a string of surreal vignettes that metaphorically critique his homeland of Portugal. With an underlying importance that is conveyed with urgency, Gomes shares his vertigo with the audience - sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. Lingering shots and dialogue-heavy scenes stunt the film's progression and potency.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

7.0/10, my review: http://wp.me/p1eXom-2rs

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

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Miguel Gomes

Director

Miguel Gomes

Self

Carloto Cotta

Tradutor

Adriano Luz

Luís

Crista Alfaiate

Punk Maria

Rogério Samora

Primeiro-Ministro

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Synopsis

To avoid being beheaded, Scheherazade tells King Shahryar tales every night.

Director: Miguel Gomes
Producer: Sandro Aguilar, Thomas Ordonneau, Luís Urbano
Screenwriter: Telmo Churro, Miguel Gomes, Mariana Ricardo
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Brazilian Portuguese
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 4, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 24, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $12.0K
Runtime: 2h 5m

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