All language subtitles for Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)

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.

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 cakehole!

Pea-brained and pitiful.

You, fuckface!

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.