Arabian Nights: The Restless One
Miguel Gomes, 2015, 125 min
Portuguese with English subtitles

"Gomes’ opening volume unfolds three unexpected tales about Portuguese life, labour and economic free fall that creatively blend fact and fantasy into vivid fables lurching between hilarious and tragic. A strange magic unites the stories, giving a dream logic and clarity to even their most improbable incidents: a talking rooster on trial for crowing too early in the morning, a mermaid released from an exploding whale, a group of impotent economists seeking a cure. Most touching in The Restless One are Gomes’ documentary encounters with unemployed Portuguese whose sober voices bring a heartrending humanity to his epic project." – Harvard Film Archive

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Part of our trilogies and triptychs programme