Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022) - full transcript

My name is Alithea.

My story is true.

You're more likely

to believe me, however,

if I tell it as a fairy tale.

So, once upon a time,

when humans hurtled

across the sky on metal wings,

when they wore webbed feet

and walked

on the bottom of the sea,

when they held

in their hands glass tiles

that could coax

love songs from the air...

there was a woman,

adequately happy and alone.

Alone by choice.

Happy because

she was independent,

living off the exercise

of her scholarly mind.

Her business was story.

She was a narratologist

who sought to find the truths

common to all the stories

of humankind.

To this end,

once or twice a year,

she ventured to strange lands.

To China, the South Seas,

and the timeless cities

of the Levant...

where her kind gathered

to tell stories about stories.

This way.

- Excuse me.

- This way, lady.

What are you doing?

Can you let go, please?

The mysteries of Istanbul.

Alithea!

Alithea!

Welcome!

- Welcome at last! Aw.

- Gunhan!

My dear friend.

- Oh, how wonderful!

- I'm sorry.

- This is Amina.

- Amina.

From the British Council.

That fellow at the airport

manhandling my luggage,

did you see him?

What fellow?

He scuttled off

when you arrived.

Small, sheepskin jacket,

pink collar.

Interesting.

He was hot to touch.

Musky.

Perhaps he was a djinn.

An illegal taxi driver,

more likely.

Wearing too much cologne.

So, Professor,

you saying you believe in djinn?

I believe there are those

who need to believe in them.

Including me?

Djinn, ghosts,

aliens, whatever helps.

The hotel's arranged

a lovely surprise for you.

It's the Agatha Christie room.

In this room,

she wrote

Murder on the Orient Express.

So, how would you explain

the power of a thunderstorm

if you don't have the means

to measure and model

meteorological data?

How can you explain the seasons?

Autumn through winter

to spring and summer,

if you don't know that the Earth

orbits the Sun

while tilted on an axis?

Everything was mystery.

The seasons, tsunamis,

microbial disease...

What else could we do

but resort to stories?

As Dr. Binnie has

encouraged us to understand,

stories were once the only way

to make our bewildering

existence coherent.

That's exactly right.

We gave name

to the unknown forces

behind all wonder

and catastrophe,

by telling each other...

By telling each other stories.

Let me show you.

We told tales of specific,

powerful, relatable gods

ever present in all cultures,

in all mythologies,

from the Greeks,

to the Romans, to the Norse,

and so on, and so on.

The familiar descendant

of Zeus, Poseidon, Athena,

Thor, the whole gang,

find expression even today.

These are their vestiges.

The question remains,

what is their purpose?

What do we require of them now?

There is mythos,

and there is science.

Oh. Sorry.

Mythology is what

we knew back then.

Science is what we know so far.

Sooner or later,

our creation stories

are replaced

by the narratives of science.

Painstaking science.

And all gods and monsters

outlive their original purpose

and are reduced to metaphor.

Rubbish!

Alithea!

Alithea.

What happened?

I don't know.

She just fell.

She just fell.

Gosh.

Are you okay?

Shouldn't you see a doctor?

Why?

When I feel so well?

Forgive me, Alithea.

Are you sure?

Apart from

the usual aches and pains,

there is nothing untoward.

There's no reason

to make a fuss.

So, what happened back there?

Lately, my imagination's

been getting the better of me.

Ambushing me.

I think it's a warning.

About what?

Not to be complacent.

To keep on my toes.

It manifests rudely

from time to time.

I try not to fight it off.

It takes charge for a moment,

and then it steps back.

What steps back?

Oh, Gunhan, it's

irrational. Pay it no mind.

You are behaving like

a child. Do you know that?

You know, I am actually a child.

If there is fate,

can we escape it?

Who can say?

But I tell you this,

in the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul,

there are 62 streets

and 4,000 shops.

And in one of those shops,

there are three rooms.

In the smallest of those rooms,

there was a pile

of things unsorted,

old and new.

From the bottom of that pile,

I chose a memento.

Do you know what this is?

I'm not sure,

but it could be Cesm-i Bulbul,

a "Nightingale's Eye."

Around 1845, there were

these glassmakers in Incirkoy.

They were famous for this

spiral blue-white pattern.

Oh, please.

It's a gift from me.

Choose something less forlorn.

And, uh, if this

is Cesm-i Bulbul,

uh, is there a way

of authenticating it?

Well, they say

that if it is genuine,

sometimes you can see

specks of blood

from the lungs

of the glassblowers.

But this is more likely

a recent imitation.

It's been damaged by fire.

Pick something else.

No, thank you, Gunhan.

I like it.

Whatever it is, I'm sure

it has an interesting story.

Hello?

Good morning, Dr. Binnie.

- Good morning.

- This is room service.

- Yes.

- How do you like your eggs?

Er, runny, please.

- And with toast?

- Yes, but no crusts.

- Two eggs?

- Just one.

- Okay, thank you.

- Thank you.

I'm going to close my eyes

and count to three,

after which I would be grateful

if you would be gone.

One,

two,

three.

Four,

five,

six,

seven, eight,

nine, ten.

I don't suppose

you speak English?

Deutsch?

Espanol?

Ellinika?

Einstein.

Einstein.

Television.

Transmitters.

I am a djinn of modest power,

but I begin to understand

these transmissions.

Oh!

You've learned

to speak my language.

This English is straightforward.

Its rules quickly learn, I find.

Nein, nein, nein.

Would you like this

little Albert for yourself?

No, no, no.

That can't be good for him.

Put him back.

- I could expand him.

- How?

We could speak with him.

- How is this possible?

- No, put him back.

- Is that your wish?

- This is not possible.

No. It's your obligation.

So, what will you wish for?

What is your heart's desire?

Now, let's, uh,

not get ahead of ourselves.

I need to take this slow.

I have all the time

in the world.

Tell me about yourself.

My name is Alithea Binnie.

I am in Turkey for a conference.

And I return to my homeland

in a day's time.

Also?

Also, I have

a confession to make.

Something

I've never told anybody.

Excellent.

When I was young,

there was a boy.

Your first lover?

No, no, no.

He was not of flesh and blood.

A djinn?

No.

At that time, I found myself

in a school for girls.

Gaggles of girls.

I was... Well, I am

a solitary creature by nature.

And this boy, Enzo,

he came to me,

out of an emptiness.

Out of a need to imagine.

He told me stories in a language

that only we two spoke.

And he always disappeared

when I had a headache,

but he was never far away

when I couldn't move for asthma.

He was like this little Albert

you would not let me give you?

An emanation?

Only an emanation of an absence.

I feared he would leave,

and so I wrote him down.

And I filled this journal,

bulging with facts.

But the more realism

I tried to insert,

the more I began to doubt,

and, uh, it all began

to feel silly.

I felt silly.

So, after a time,

I burned it all

in the school furnace.

And after that,

he disappeared altogether.

And yet, I am here.

Contrary to reason, yes.

I am here,

and we have work to do.

Can you come back later, please?

It's room service,

Dr. Binnie.

I have your breakfast.

Just a minute!

Must close door.

Good morning.

Where would you like it,

Dr. Binnie?

Thank you. Oh, I can take it.

- Please, allow me.

- No. No, I can manage it.

Jolly good, Dr. Binnie.

I hope you are well rested.

Oh, that looks delicious.

Yes, I am.

What do you plan to do

on this fine day?

Uh, I'm not sure.

I'm improvising.

Well, I'd like to show you

a beautiful art gallery...

That's so kind. Thank you.

This afternoon,

when you get a chance.

- Maybe another time.

- It will be great.

Thank you.

Have a beautiful day.

Okay. Jolly good. Enjoy.

Thank you!

A more convenient size, I see.

I do what I can to fit in.

Please.

I needn't have

ordered breakfast.

It's nan-e nokhodchi.

Chickpeas, cloves, pistachio.

It will melt in your mouth.

May I ask you something?

Anything.

How come you found your way

into my bottle?

Ah, it's quite a story.

That was my third incarceration.

You've been trapped

in a bottle three times?

I may be a djinn,

but I'm also a fool

with too great a fondness

for the conversation of women.

I need to be more careful

in the future.

How were you caught

in the first place?

By desire.

How else?

Who was she?

Sheba.

The Queen of Sheba?

She was my kin.

She was a djinn?

Her mother was a djinn.

Is that possible?

There are laws that allow

the union of djinn and mortals,

but they cannot produce

an immortal scion

the way a donkey and a horse

can only produce

a seedless mule.

So, what did she look like?

Other than a thick glade

of black hair on her legs,

she looked like

any other human being,

except, of course,

she was Sheba.

By all accounts,

she was very beautiful.

She was not beautiful.

She was beauty itself.

I was in every way free.

I would come in and out

of her sleeping chamber.

Sheba...

I knew as well as any

of her female slaves

the touches that made

her shiver with bliss.

Never have I wanted

a creature so.

And she desired you in return?

I was her plaything.

Her confidante.

I might have become more,

but for Solomon.

King Solomon?

Blessed be his memory.

He came from across

the deserts to woo her.

Didn't she go to him?

No. Never.

But it's in all the holy books.

All the stories

and the paintings.

And Handel wrote music about it.

Madam, I was there.

Solomon came to her.

He began with music.

I did all that I could

to dissuade her.

But when she used

the scented wax

of the Jabassa Bee

to remove the hair

from her legs,

I knew that I was lost.

But I, like a fool,

went on telling her

that her body

was rich and lovely,

but her mind

was richer and lovelier,

and more durable.

And she agreed

with all that I said,

and dropped a hot tear.

She began to set him tasks,

which seemed impossible,

to find a particular thread

of red silk

in the palace

of a thousand rooms,

to guess the secret name

of her mother djinn,

to tell her

what women most desire.

That does seem impossible.

Not for him.

He could speak

to the beasts of the earth,

and to the djinn

made of subtle fire.

He found ants to discover

the thread of silk,

and an ifrit to whisper

the mother's name.

Then he looked into her eyes

and told her

what women most desire.

She was astonished,

and told him he was right.

And so she granted him

what he most desired,

which was to wed her

and be taken to her bed.

He was a great magician...

and imprisoned me

with a word of power

into a brass bottle.

She made no plea for me.

I was nothing to her.

A breath in a bottle.

And so, I was cast

into the Red Sea

and languished for 2,500 years.

Apart from sleep,

what does one do in a bottle

for 2,500 years?

Djinn don't sleep.

So, how do you manage then?

Well, for the first 100 years,

I rage against my fate.

I pray to Boschkolo

for my release,

and when that does not work,

I pray to any god I know,

and then to any god

I may not know.

And when, still,

I find no answers,

I spend my time in waking dreams

revisiting all the stories

of my life.

And when I have exhausted this

many, many times,

I return to my prayer

and my rage.

And then, finally,

I play a trick on myself.

I pray to remain in the bottle.

I beseech Boschkolo to keep me

always in the bottle.

And does that work?

To yearn for nothing?

To pretend to want nothing more

than to be contained

in a bottle?

No.

For a djinn, it is the closest

we ever come to death.

Do you know the answer

to her question?

What women most desire?

Yeah.

Do you not know?

If you do not know,

I cannot tell you.

Well, surely, we don't

all want the same thing.

Madam, your yearnings

are not at all clear to me.

I... I'm at a point in my life

where I have all I need.

I daresay I'm content,

and gratefully so.

Tell me.

Are you a wife? A widow?

- Um...

- A mother, perhaps?

I have no children,

no siblings, no parents.

I did once have a husband.

Ah.

And what was the complexion

of this husband?

His complexion?

In the beginning,

it was glowing.

And in the ending?

It's not much of a story.

But it is a story.

It is your story,

and it is always wise

to understand those

who have a hold on you.

Please.

Well, okay, um...

We'd known each other

since our youth.

We, uh, married early.

In the beginning,

we took pleasure

in each other's minds

and bodies.

Um...

We passed the years comfortably,

and then as it happens,

it all evaporated,

and, uh... and we became

less.

And where is he?

He's in Hackney,

with Emmeline Porter.

Mmm.

He told me I...

I was incapable

of reading feelings.

I was incapable

of reading his feelings.

Gonna have a resolution.

This is exciting!

- It is exciting!

- No, it's not.

Let me guess.

No one dies in it.

No!

The way my brain

is wired is... is the...

the source both of my power

and, uh, and my solitude.

I suspect that's why

I like stories.

I find feelings through stories.

Perhaps you could

wish for him back.

Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no.

No.

I... I thought, um,

I might grieve

a loss and betrayal, but, uh,

no, in fact, I was free.

I was like a prisoner

emerging from a dungeon

into the sunlight.

I expanded into the space

of my own life.

No, I could not wish for more.

You are a wise

and cautious woman, Alithea.

But we all have desires,

even if they remain

hidden from us.

That's as maybe.

But I am also a narratologist,

and that is going

to be a problem.

It's going to be

a very big problem.

See, I know

all the stories there are

about trickster djinn,

and the ways in which

they manipulate wishing

to their own ends.

I am not one of them.

I am god-fearing and honorable,

and only here

to grant your heart's desire.

Well, even if that's true,

how can you rely on those

called upon to wish?

How do you know

you can rely on me?

Well, I hope so.

With you, I certainly hope so.

There's a...

funny little story.

I mean, you probably know it.

Three friends lost at sea

in a tiny boat.

They pull up a magic fish,

who grants each of them

one wish.

The first one,

"I wish I were at home

with my wife."

He vanishes.

The second one,

"I wish I were playing"

"in the fields

with my children."

Off he goes.

And the third one,

"I miss my friends..."

"I wish they were here."

You've got it.

There's no story about wishing

that is not a cautionary tale.

None end happily.

Not even the ones

that are supposed to be jokes.

But you and I

are the authors of this story,

and we can avoid all traps.

Well, what if

I made no wish at all?

Pardon?

What if I made no wish?

That would be an...

That would be

catastrophic!

All right.

I need to tell you

about my next incarceration.

I'm all ears.

I will never know

how my bottle came from the

bottom of the Red Sea...

to a palace in Constantinople.

But I fancy somehow it involved

the killing of

an Ottoman warrior.

The fall of an empire.

And a girl in love.

Merhaba.

Gulten lived as a slave

in the courtyard

of the concubines

in the seraglio.

When I appeared to her...

she fainted.

And I had great trouble

rousing her.

I made it clear

that I meant her no harm,

for I was condemned

to the bottle.

Until you got your three wishes.

Until she got hers.

- Please.

- Okay.

Now, the poor girl told me

she was distractedly in love

with a beautiful man...

and she wished immediately

to find favor in his eyes.

As it happens,

the one she most desired

was the splendid Mustafa.

Prince Mustafa.

Eldest son of

Suleiman the Magnificent,

and likely heir

to his mighty throne.

Had I known what was to come,

I would've risked

the furies of Iblis

to vehemently distract her

from her wish.

But without thinking,

I took my bottle

and conjured oils

to prepare her.

Oils of enchantment

once used only by Sheba.

I cautioned her

to hide the bottle

lest its powers

fall into other hands.

I went to Mustafa.

Gulten.

I whispered her name.

He sent for her.

It was so easy.

As a djinn,

I am endlessly curious

about the ways of humans.

So, in my spare time,

I took to wandering the palace

in search of its intrigues.

And there, among the eunuchs,

the consorts,

and the concubines,

I first saw Hurrem.

The Laughing One.

She, too, was a slave

who had risen

through the center of them all

to become the Sultan's favorite.

Suleiman the Wise

saw none but her.

And she sought

to protect his throne

in favor of her own sons

over his beloved Mustafa.

And to this end,

she had the prince watched

by many probing eyes.

When I saw how Hurrem

made a masterpiece

of her manipulations,

I worried that my Gulten

might be caught in this web.

I tried to warn her

to be careful.

But she had already

decided on her second wish.

Such a mistake.

Because at this moment,

Suleiman, blessed be his name,

is being undermined.

His warriors believe

he is going soft,

more interested in his poetry

than ruling with a strong hand.

Hurrem fuels the rumors

that the military

want to take his throne

and replace him with Mustafa.

The prince has become a pawn

in the ceaseless game of power.

Suleiman the Magnificent,

Suleiman the Conqueror,

patron and protector of empires,

Suleiman the Father,

was left with a choice

that he knows

will break his heart.

Gulten, meantime, saw no reason

why she should remain unseen.

Given she was carrying the son

of the next Sultan.

Despite all my warnings,

she parades her newly swollen

breasts and belly.

And the whispers soon spread

throughout the seraglio.

The terrible plottings

move all too quickly.

Prince Mustafa comes innocently

into the presence of his father,

to reassure him of his loyalty.

And

the mutes are waiting for him.

He cried out to his Janissaries,

who loved him,

but his voice was crushed

and his breath stopped

by the string

of his father's bow.

Gulten!

"Make a wish!"

"Save yourself, Gulten!"

Just a few words

and she could have been free

to bear her child in safety,

and I to spirit away at last

to the Realm of Djinn.

But she ran into the hands

of the assassins.

I was about

to take them by force,

when I was blocked

by a follower of Iblis.

Gulten!

She made

no wish to save herself.

No wish was made

to save us both.

So, there I was,

or there I was not,

might you say,

almost emancipated

and tethered to this world

by a third wish unperformed.

But you realize, don't you,

that you've just told me the

story of a woman who was doomed

as a consequence

of the wishes she made?

Yes, but her failure

to complete the wishes

also doomed me.

Could nobody else

complete the wish?

That was my hope.

And that would

finally liberate you?

That was my only hope.

But you were rendered invisible.

Like a ghost.

Wandering unseen.

And your bottle,

hidden under the loosened stone

known only to the dead Gulten.

Yes, it was a predicament.

I tried to attract

the attention of someone,

anyone that could help me.

My stars, how I tried.

I followed their scent,

their every step.

Willing, pleading, screaming.

Anything to draw them to me.

And I do this piteously

for 100 years,

and with every failure,

my will begins to fade.

And then in 1620,

hope comes in the form

of a boy with a sword.

Murad! Murad!

Murad!

By some means,

this boy senses me.

I'm able to draw him

to the stone.

Ibrahim!

Gel.

Murad!

Ibrahim!

And just as

I am about to be delivered

into their hands,

their mother finds them.

She is Kosem,

a widow of the Sultan,

Ahmed the First.

And the boys are next in line

for the throne.

When I see the hair on his legs,

I know that somewhere

in Murad's bloodline

pulses the power of a djinn.

I follow him everywhere,

determined to draw him back

to the stone.

But at the age of 11,

he ascends the throne

and becomes

Sultan Murad the Fourth.

And caught up

by the usual intrigues,

he is even more lost to me.

At 20, he leads

his armies to war.

He battles alongside his men

in the Caucasus and Mesopotamia.

Stories are told

of his recklessness,

even with his own life.

I despair of

ever seeing him again.

Hope is a monster, Alithea,

and I am its plaything.

So he died?

Not in battle.

Back in Istanbul,

Kosem needs

to protect the throne.

She needs to protect Ibrahim.

- The little brother?

- Yes.

He is last of the Ottoman line.

He has to produce male children.

So, Kosem locks him in a cage

lined entirely with sable.

Quite the prison.

And one

he will never want to leave.

It debauches him royally.

He believes the greater

the expanse of flesh,

the more intense the pleasure.

So, Kosem seeks out beauties

voluptuous and immense,

and brings them to his couch.

My fate turns specifically

on this fetish.

How's that?

You'll see.

Murad is back.

And though

he returns a conqueror,

he cannot shed

his robes of blood.

War had truly rotted his soul.

I wait until he is alone.

I am determined to draw him

back to the stone.

I don't want to interrupt,

but I do have a question.

Did it matter to you

what kind of wish

such a man might make?

One so insatiable.

No.

Not even if

it were profoundly evil?

Not if it meant my freedom.

The truth is he has

other things on his mind.

He believes he is invincible,

and to rule indefinitely,

he must be rid of all rivals.

Ibrahim.

Ibrahim.

Kosem needs to stop him.

Somehow, she needed

to distract him

from his bloodlust

with other gratifications.

First, she arranges for him

to be perpetually drunk.

And then she tries

something very shrewd.

Something that you might enjoy.

She sends to find,

from all corners of the empire,

the best storytellers.

Those who are not persuasive

flee in fear

or fall to his impatience.

There is only one

who has the ability

to enchant him.

To soothe with stories,

to hold him hostage

to their unfolding.

This is his only friend.

And that friendship

turns to love.

Since there is nothing else

for me to do,

I listen gratefully,

for I, too, love being lost

in his stories.

When the old man dies,

all in the palace

flee to the streets,

for they fear Murad's grief

will incur fresh murder.

But he just sits, and howls,

and drinks until he is empty.

And my patience is rewarded.

For in this state,

I am finally able

to get his attention

and draw him

back to the secret bathroom.

Oh, I know where this is going.

He's going to be too weak

to lift the stone.

Too weak even to turn the latch.

So, he leaves and drinks

himself to permanent sleep.

Oh!

And there I am,

left to my own oblivion,

with no one to hear my voice,

no one to know me,

nor feel me, nor sense me.

You can't imagine.

Well, actually, I can.

Can you imagine the loneliness?

How it might overwhelm?

I can.

We exist only

if we are real to others.

Do you agree?

I do.

This, then,

is our fate, Alithea.

If you make no wish at all,

I will be caught between worlds,

invisible and alone,

for all of time.

Make a wish, Alithea.

Make it your heart's desire.

I'd be more careful

if I were you.

Obviously, you managed

to find your way out.

More or less.

I'm beginning to think

I'm in the presence

of a trickster.

That would be so much better.

My work would be so much easier.

But the truth is,

I am just an idiot

who has been

extravagantly unlucky.

Well, I have to take

your word for that.

So?

Ibrahim, I suppose,

becomes Sultan?

Ibrahim has

to be dragged to the throne.

He

Appoints one of his concubines

Governor of Damascus.

Her name is Sugar Lump.

By every measure, his favorite.

Had she not been free to roam,

she would not have found

the secret bathroom.

Had she not decided

to take a bath,

it would not have overfilled.

Had she not been clumsy

as she walked across the floor,

she would not have slipped,

smashed the stone,

- and found my bottle.

- Ah, yeah.

To be honest, I should

have been more dignified.

But I began to beg, shamelessly.

"I wish you were back"

"in your bottle at the bottom

of the Bosphorus."

So here I am,

fallen into your careful hands.

Seems we cannot

escape each other.

You have me at your mercy.

This wishing...

It's a hazardous art.

"I wish" brings

infinite unravelings.

Not necessarily.

Well, it's there

in all your own stories.

I know, but...

You say you're not a trickster,

and you say that you and I

are the authors of this story.

But I'm not able

to write myself out of it.

Correct.

Why don't you just hop back

into your bottle

and I'll give it

to someone more gullible?

Someone more desperate.

Someone more greedy.

I'm not getting back

in the bottle.

Why not?

I'm not getting back

in the bottle.

Well, I am not

making three wishes.

Then you are sending me

to my oblivion.

Oh, you're impossible.

And you are giving me

a headache.

All right. All right.

Here's what I'll do.

I will make three wishes.

- I will.

- Before you die?

Right now.

One after the other.

- Ready?

- Mmm-hmm.

Number one. I wish

your headache were gone.

Number two.

I wish for a sip of this tea.

And finally, I wish

for another one of those.

You mock me.

Three wishes, perfectly simple,

and theoretically safe.

I was imprisoned

by Solomon precisely

because I cried out

my heart's desire.

Only by granting you yours

may I earn my release.

Yes, well,

I appreciate the symmetry,

but the thing is this,

I cannot for the life of me

summon up one eligible wish.

And you're asking me for three.

Is there any life in you?

Are you even alive?

You know, in some cultures,

absence of desire

means enlightenment.

Then you are a pious fool.

If I'm content, why tempt fate?

And you're a coward.

Don't goad me.

There is no human,

no angel, nor djinn

that wouldn't grasp

at the chance

to fulfill

their deepest longings,

and I am saddled with the one

who claims to want

nothing at all.

Alithea Binnie, you are a liar!

You know, I am beginning

to wish we never met.

No! Nyet!

Don't say that!

So...

that's happened to you before.

And it was bad.

'Twas bad.

'Twas bitter.

'Twas the cruelest wish of all.

You were undone

by silliness yet again.

I'm here because of a genius.

Who was it this time?

She was Zefir.

Rarely among humankind

has there been such a wonder.

But you're here

because of her folly.

I ended up in this

as a consequence of Zefir.

And this is the story

you've been avoiding

telling me all along.

This is the story I've avoided

telling even myself.

Zefir was a foundling,

married at 12

to a wealthy merchant.

He was much older than her,

and kind,

if you think keeping someone

like a bird in a cage is kind.

There were two older wives,

who did not like her

and did not talk to her at all.

Everyone,

including the servants,

seemed to be mocking her.

She had neither

etiquette nor learning.

She grew to no great beauty

and was angry

without knowing why.

As the fates would have it,

my bottle came to her

as a love token

from her husband.

And when she had finished

satisfying him

and was finally alone,

she managed to prise it open.

It was as if

she was waiting for me.

I saw at once

that she was sharp,

and she saw that I was desperate

for freedom and conversation.

I told her my story,

as I have told you,

and she revealed herself to me

by the things she had made.

Gel. Gel.

Gel.

She could have been remembered

like the genius da Vinci,

whose theories on flight

were the talk

of sultans and kings.

She was a skilled artist,

but no one saw her art.

She told me she was eaten up

with unused power.

She thought

she might be a witch.

Except, she said,

if she were a man,

her intellect would have been

ordinarily accepted.

She was a woman

ardent for learning,

and I knew

what her first wish would be.

And it delighted me

to fulfill this wish.

So, I taught her

histories, philosophies,

languages, poetry.

I taught her

astronomy, mathematic,

which was bliss to her.

I brought her

books and writings,

which we hid

in her collection of bottles.

Sabah...

Sabah...

She could always

call on Aristotle

from a red glass jar,

or Euclid from a green,

Pythagoras, Spinoza,

without needing me

to re-embody them.

We had the whole world

in her room,

and I lost my heart to her.

'Twas my bliss

to make her happy.

To see her flourish.

And she flourished in every way.

Totalmente.

She began to rebel

even against

the gestures of submission

that her husband required,

for she had acquired

a mastery of love-craft,

out of reach of any human

that had not

made love to a djinn.

His cravings

for her became an obsession.

And when he would come to her,

I would leave her room

and journey the skies.

I saw the mountains,

the oceans...

I saw the beasts of the forest,

where no man treads.

And when I would return,

she would be waiting for me.

I would tell her of my day,

and she would faint with joy

and disappointment.

Why did she not

make a wish to be free?

There was something

more important to her.

She had devised a "mathematica,"

a language to explain the forces

which bring space, and time,

and matter into being.

She was Promethean, brave.

But she could not solve

this puzzle.

She needed a key,

a key to open the doors

of her perception.

So, she used her second wish.

I taught her to dream

as djinn do, awake.

And this way,

the solutions came to her.

She was able

to explain powers invisible,

electromagnetic fields

and forces...

The very stuff

of which djinn are made.

You're electromagnetic?

As you are dust,

I am made of subtle fire.

And when she was

to bear a child,

I was plagued with happiness,

for I knew

it would strengthen us.

She was carrying your child?

A child, of fire and dust.

So, where did it go wrong?

Alithea, I loved her.

I loved the fervor of her mind.

I loved her anger.

I loved my power

to turn her frowns into smiles.

I loved her more than Sheba.

More than your own freedom?

Yes.

It became my greatest desire

to... to keep her,

to remain her prisoner.

The thought of being set free

sickened my heart.

I caught myself stopping her

lest she make her third wish.

Oh, gosh.

I made a mess of it.

She began to accuse me

of trapping her,

like her husband.

I tried to make amends.

To atone, I would

put myself in the bottle.

To be sealed.

That way, she could have

more power over me.

To be nothing in a bottle.

I could do that for her.

And every time,

it would appease.

Every time, except for the last.

When, like a sudden squall,

all thunder and lightning,

she began to weep and wail,

and said,

"I wish I could forget

I ever met you."

And she did, on the instant.

She was out. I was in.

She'd forgotten me.

Alithea, how can it be...

a mistake to love

someone entirely?

I have a wish.

However, I'm afraid it may be

too much to ask.

Is it within my power?

I hope so. I do hope so.

Is it your heart's desire?

Yeah, I'm certain of it.

See, erm,

I'm here to love you.

And, uh,

I wish for you

to love me in return.

You want us to make love-craft?

Yeah, that too.

All of it.

And you would

abandon yourself to this?

Yes.

Yes.

I want our solitudes

to be together.

I want that love

professed in ageless tales.

I want that longing you felt

for the Queen of Sheba,

and that love you gave

to your genius, Zefir.

I want it.

Me?

You.

You?

Me.

Is it too much?

Is it all too much to ask?

Come.

What are we to do

with longings awoken?

How can I persuade you

that I once found love

with a djinn?

In any case,

few would believe me.

Love is not something

we come to by reason.

It's more like a vapor,

a dream, perhaps,

to lure us into the enchantment

of our own stories.

If that's so,

how are we to know

if it's ever real?

Is it a truth,

or simply a madness?

I leave for London today.

Will you come home with me?

It's not such

an easy place nowadays.

But it'll be better

if you're there.

Over here, please.

Hands up.

Please step out.

What is in your pockets?

Oh.

Uh, it's an empty bottle

and a top.

Please put it through X-ray.

It is very delicate,

and I don't want it

to get damaged.

It will not be damaged.

Please put through X-ray.

I would prefer that

it didn't go in the...

Passport. Boarding pass.

Thank you.

It's quite fragile.

Madam.

It's a saltshaker.

Oh.

No! No X-ray! Please!

Stop, madam, stop.

Madam.

Oh.

In your own time.

The air is thick here.

Full of insistent voices

and rushing faces.

Oh?

Like Tiny Einstein?

Television, and phone towers,

and such?

Yes.

Yes. All your

ingenious devices

all murmuring at once.

Bend your head.

You hear all that?

I also see it and feel it.

I am a transmitter.

Isn't it all too much?

I am a djinn.

I can adapt.

I'll soon get used to it.

She's back.

I believe she's back.

Is she with someone?

No, I think she's

talking to herself again.

Hello, Clementine.

Fanny. Are you well?

Did you have any trouble?

Trouble? What kind of trouble?

With your foreign friends.

Because we often ask ourselves,

"Why would Dr. Binnie waste

her time and intelligence"

"studying the ways of others

instead of upholding our own?"

Embarrassed by

our British culture, are we?

No. No.

I am rather more likely

to be embarrassed by anybody

reflexly frightened

of anybody different.

What exactly are you saying?

She's calling us bigots.

Your word, not mine.

You misunderstand.

- Oh?

- It's not how they look, dear.

It's how they live.

What they believe.

- What they eat.

- What are you on about?

Everywhere one goes, ethnics.

We are being overwhelmed,

and we're inviting our doom.

It's not natural.

Birds belong in the air.

Fish belong in the sea.

And that is how the good Lord

meant us to be.

You're just spouting rubbish

from start to finish.

It's science.

It's a scientific fact.

It's a false analogy.

I mean, animals do have

a natural habitat.

It's true,

but human beings are capable

of living in any environment

they bloody well choose.

That's not a fact.

- What are you saying?

- It's an opinion.

And you're wrong.

I'm not putting up

with any more of this.

Come away, Clem.

Let the crazy lady be.

We're never gonna get

any sense out of her.

You know, I've never

said this to you before.

But you're both pitiful.

Shut your cake hole!

Pea-brained and pitiful.

You, fuck face!

Stop your ivy growing

on our side of the wall!

Why do I let them get to me?

I should feel sorry for them.

But this is my home.

It's my sanctuary.

I could wish them...

That's not a wish, by the way.

I know.

My djinn.

How was your day?

Every listening ear was yours.

Every voice, every scent,

and touch.

You were everywhere.

Back in a minute.

Whoever could that be

at this hour?

It could be her.

Clem. Fanny.

Chickpeas, cloves, pistachio.

They melt in your mouth.

This is my friend.

He'll be staying for a while.

Hello.

- Hello.

- Hello.

My Djinn told me,

when they come together

in the Realm of Djinn,

they tell each other stories.

Stories are like breath to them.

They make meaning.

"Yes," I said.

"That's just how

it is with us."

Each story we tell is a fragment

in an endless

shape-shifting mosaic.

And this small pebble,

like all stories, must end.

If it's about wishing,

it's a cautionary tale.

So, how will it go wrong?

Perhaps, it already has.

Even though Truth

stood before them naked,

they turned their backs.

So, Truth moved to the side

and waited in the shadows.

In the days that followed,

the Djinn would accompany

the narratologist to her work.

And when he wasn't with her,

he would go in eager

exploration of the world.

Today I had

such a marvelous day.

I saw many things.

I watched a human look into

the living brain of another

and arrest a fatal bleeding.

I visited the Collider.

A vast gizmo which probed

the essence of matter.

And then I saw a dish,

a great dish

that listens to the whispers

of stars long dead.

Humankind is...

is a wonder, Alithea.

I'm happy you think so.

All of this since I was

trapped in Zefir's bottle.

All these astonishments,

in less than 200 years.

Yes, but, I mean,

that's just engineering

and technology.

Despite all the whiz-bang,

we remain bewildered.

When we can't contain the chaos,

we are filled

with dread and panic,

and we turn on each other.

But of course, you are human.

That is your nature.

Yeah. So, the story

never changes.

Hate prevails.

It metastasizes

and outlives love.

I just want to talk about love.

Such a mess of

contradictions, all of you.

Thank you very much.

Humankind, what a conundrum.

You fumble around in the dark,

and yet, you herd your

intelligence to great effect.

It is quite a story.

Cannot wait to see

where it goes.

Or how it might end.

That too.

A mortal will never know,

but a djinn might.

A djinn has all the time

in the world.

Aren't you the lucky one?

Maybe.

But you creatures

of dust have...

have managed to eclipse

the power and purpose

of djinn and angel.

You have no use for us.

Perhaps, we will wither and...

- And fade away?

- Yes.

Yeah. Well, that used

to be the subject

of all my lectures and papers.

I know.

And yet, here you are.

My impossible.

Yes.

Hello?

I'm home!

Hello?

Djinn?

My love?

Djinn.

What's this?

Can you hear me?

Djinn, speak to me.

Try to speak to me.

I wish you to speak to me.

Oh...

I was sleeping.

Sleeping.

Djinn don't sleep.

Let's go for a walk.

A long, bracing walk.

I have prepared

something for us.

I have it all planned.

A wonderous night for us.

It will be amazing.

- The best time of our lives.

- Stop!

These electromagnetic fields,

I can push them from my head.

I can push them away.

We'll go for a picnic.

Ah, we'll play the ukulele.

Alithea, there is a place

for me here.

These forces,

they will never go away,

not from this world.

I will overcome them.

I can do that for you.

You are my Alithea,

and I love you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for trying.

You don't think that I love you?

Love is a gift.

It's a gift of oneself

given freely.

It's not something

one can ever ask for.

I tricked us both.

The moment I spoke that wish,

I took away

your power to grant it.

I, more than anybody,

I should've known that.

I'm not going

to screw this up again.

My Djinn, if this world

is not for you,

I wish that you return

to where you belong.

Wherever that may be.

Mommy!

Come here, little monkey.

That's not Mommy.

- Hey, hey, hey!

- Ah, no!

Watch it.

Top striker in the league.

Did you see that?

He would visit

from time to time,

and they would grasp

each vivid moment.

Despite the pain

of the raucous skies,

he always stayed

longer than he should,

long after

she begged him to leave.

He promised to return

in her lifetime,

and for her,

that was more than enough.