Three Thousand Years of Longing deals with the relationship between science and myths. Director George Miller says that superheroes are the goddesses of today. The film stars Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba, pictured.
Miller’s highly anticipated new film has had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival the night before.
This is a homecoming of sorts, although the duo didn’t have long to be away. Miller last presented an action film here in 2015 and returned the following year to head the awards jury.
Swinton has a film or more here practically every year. The 61-year-old Brit is one of the most sought-after actors in the world, specialising above all in the kind of artistically ambitious films that Cannes presents.
This is also where they met each other in 2017. At dinner, Miller approached Swinton and offered her a role in a film he envisioned.
– If I hadn’t met him here at dinner, he wouldn’t be sitting here talking about this movie, says Miller.
And the movie is pretty good.
A fairy tale for adults
What would you do if the genie of the lamp offered you three wishes in exchange for his freedom? Alithea Binnie (Swinton), a narratologist who studies narratives, is well aware of all the ways in which wishes can go wrong.
Those stories tell about lost love and the longing it produces.
Through the stories, Binnie and the spirit find a connection with each other. But how long can love last, and is it worth sacrificing everything for?
is clearly a corona-era production. We spend a lot of time in the hotel room with the two main characters. Through the stories of the spirit, fantasy worlds open up, realized with computer effects.
A handsome flop
After them, Miller had shown extraordinary scale in his chosen projects. (1995) and directed the sequel (1998), in which a brave pig has an adventure in the big city.
For The Penguin Musical (2006), Miller won the Oscar for Best Animated Film. He also directed the sequel (2011).
2015 grossed over $375 million and was praised by critics and audiences alike. The film has a 97 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and was voted the best film of the 2010s by readers of Empire magazine.
The fourth Mad Max premieres in May 2024.
It is possible that without it it would have been left completely undone.
The budget was no less than 60 million dollars, and the romantic fantasy drama of two middle-aged actors is not the surest audience magnet.
And it wasn’t. The film flopped. It looks like it won’t make its huge budget back.
The dangers of reporting
is a story about stories and the ways they shape our understanding of the world.
How does the scientific worldview differ from the fairy tales with which we used to explain the world? Are they the same continuum? Can opposing explanations of the world coexist, even support each other?
It is at least true that the god myths have not disappeared – the gods have just received cloaks and new names. In the 2020s, we tell stories through superheroes that help us understand the world.
– The universes of Marvel and DC are the result of Greek, Scandinavian and Roman mythologies. There is a direct connection between the characters, says Miller.
In the press conference before the interview, Tilda Swinton has pointed out how dangerous it is to live in an environment that allows only one version of the truth. He refers to Russia, which suppressed even the last media that challenged state propaganda with the war of aggression in Ukraine.
On the other hand, the multiplicity of stories is also a problem. With the revolution in media and the development of technology, it is increasingly difficult for media consumers to distinguish truth from fiction. The network promotes \”alternative views\” and deep fake videos.
How do filmmakers experience working in the post-truth era?
Swinton doesn’t feel the change is so drastic – partly because, according to her own words, she doesn’t use social media.
– I don’t experience the kind of paradigm shift you’re talking about. I understand that may be true for many people on different platforms. At the same time, I would like to question the whole concept of post-truth time. Was there ever a time that wasn’t post-truth?
Miller says that the variety and complexity of the stories gives the best sense of the whole. The truth is found in the mosaic of stories. leaves open, for example, whether the spirit of the lamp is real or imaginary.
Miller says he has thought about his responsibility as a filmmaker for more than 40 years. Mad Maxie’s picture of the world is cruel. In them, leather and metal collide violently.
– I once gave a speech in which I stated that all stories should be accompanied by the note \”dangerous material\”.
On the other hand, we crave stories about flashes of light in the dark.
– We have to go into the dark so that we can tell about the people who are fighting themselves out of there.