A swashbuckling fairytale of heroes, genies and fantastical creatures.
The main story centres around Scherherazade played by Mili Avital who marries the sultan played by Dougray Scott who is bitter and vengeful against all women since his wife cheated on him with his brother.
The sultan decides that the woman he marries will be murdered the next day after the wedding night and Scherherazade who loves him volunteers to be the bride both to save her friends in the harem and also because she loves the Sultan and believes she can turn him from his vengeful ways.
To do this Scherherazade has to distract the Sultan each night with fantastical tales that then have their own full stories within the film.
The first tale is of Ali Baba played by Rufus Sewell and how Ali Baba discovers a theives den full of riches and decides to steal it and the consequences that he and his brother have to pay for that.
The second tale is a humourous tale of a court jester and favorite of the sultan who unwittingly dies when out visting and how his body is then moved on from person to person as no body wants to claim responsilbility for his death and incur the wrath of the Sultan.
The third tale of Aladdin stars Jason Scott Lee and John Leguizamo and is an Indiana Jones type tale where Aladdin played by scott lee is hired by an evil wizard to get a coveted oil lamp which houses the genie played by John Leguizamo. Through a series of misadventures Aladdin acquires the lamp and through it gains riches and the woman he loves but at the wrath of the evil wizard.
The final story is a brief tale of 3 brothers who are sent on a quest to locate the most wondrous object in the world and how they do this and learn to work together to save their father who falls ill whilst they are away.
These intermediate tales weave through the main tale of Scherherazade skillfully. The tension as Scherherazade tries to avoid the executioner every night and the gradual change in the sultan is also well handled.
I found the acting very good and the stories were engrossing keeping my attention throughout the whole film. The film is put together really well, maintaining continuity and the characterizations are interesting and enjoyable.
There is an all star cast including Mili Avital, Jason Scott Lee, John Leguizamo, Rufus Sewell, Dougray Scott, Vanessa Mae, Alan Bates, and the film maintains the feeling of the mystical Far Eastern fairytale throughout.
There is a good smattering of humour, romance and adventure in each tale and by the end of the movie I felt that I had been well and truly entertained.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
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