Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersIndependent Spirit AwardsWomen's History MonthSXSWSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
IMDbPro

Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One

Original title: As Mil e Uma Noites - Volume 1: O Inquieto
  • 20152015
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 2h 5m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
2.3K
YOUR RATING
Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015)
Trailer for Arabian Nights
Play trailer2:14
2 Videos
76 Photos
Drama
Some of the chapters from Arabian Nights are adapted to a modern Portugal in this epic.Some of the chapters from Arabian Nights are adapted to a modern Portugal in this epic.Some of the chapters from Arabian Nights are adapted to a modern Portugal in this epic.
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
2.3K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Miguel Gomes
  • Writers
    • Telmo Churro
    • Miguel Gomes
    • Mariana Ricardo
  • Stars
    • Crista Alfaiate
    • Miguel Gomes
    • Maria Rueff
  • Director
    • Miguel Gomes
  • Writers
    • Telmo Churro
    • Miguel Gomes
    • Mariana Ricardo
  • Stars
    • Crista Alfaiate
    • Miguel Gomes
    • Maria Rueff
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 3User reviews
    • 99Critic reviews
    • 80Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 16 wins & 24 nominations

    Videos2

    Arabian Nights
    Trailer 2:14
    Watch Arabian Nights
    Arabian Nights
    Trailer 3:40
    Watch Arabian Nights

    Photos76

    Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015)
    Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015)
    Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015)
    Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015)
    Crista Alfaiate in Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015)
    Crista Alfaiate in Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015)
    Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015)
    Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015)
    Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015)
    Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015)
    Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015)
    Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Crista Alfaiate
    • Punk Maria
    Miguel Gomes
    Miguel Gomes
    • Realizador
    Maria Rueff
    • Ministra das Finanças
    Bruno Bravo
    • Homem do Banco Central Europeu
    Rogério Samora
    • Primeiro-Ministro
    Dinarte Branco
    Dinarte Branco
    • Homem do Patronato
    Américo Silva
    • Homem do FMI
    Carloto Cotta
    Carloto Cotta
    • Tradutor
    Diogo Dória
    Diogo Dória
    • Homem da Comissão Europeia
    Adriano Luz
    Adriano Luz
    • Sindicalista…
    Basirou Diallo
    • Feiticeiro
    Luísa Cruz
    Luísa Cruz
    • Dona do Bordel
    Cristina Carvalhal
    • Médica…
    Chico Chapas
      Susana Afonso Lopes
      Tiago Fagulha
      Sabrina Lopes
      • Sandra
      Carlos Loureiro
      • Rui Miguel
      • Director
        • Miguel Gomes
      • Writers
        • Telmo Churro
        • Miguel Gomes
        • Mariana Ricardo
      • All cast & crew
      • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

      More like this

      Arabian Nights: Volume 2 - The Desolate One
      7.1
      Arabian Nights: Volume 2 - The Desolate One
      Arabian Nights: Volume 3 - The Enchanted One
      6.4
      Arabian Nights: Volume 3 - The Enchanted One
      Our Beloved Month of August
      6.9
      Our Beloved Month of August
      Tabu
      7.3
      Tabu
      The Tsugua Diaries
      6.2
      The Tsugua Diaries
      Zama
      6.7
      Zama
      High-Rise
      7.2
      High-Rise
      Inventário de Natal
      6.2
      Inventário de Natal
      Arabian Nights
      6.1
      Arabian Nights
      Ponette
      7.5
      Ponette
      Weekend
      7.0
      Weekend
      Redemption
      7.1
      Redemption

      Storyline

      Edit

      Did you know

      Edit
      • Connections
        Followed by Arabian Nights: Volume 2 - The Desolate One (2015)
      • Soundtracks
        Diferencas de Guardame las Vacas
        Written and performed by José Miguel Moreno

      User reviews3

      Review
      Review
      Featured review
      8/10
      Dense, absurd and profound. The first part of Arabian Nights is its highlight.
      The pressures of the social obligations from the recent Portuguese economic crisis in how to approach this loose adaptation of "One Thousand And One Nights" cut deep into director Miguel Gomes. He satisfied his anxiety by including his own personal struggle with a humorous twist in the first thirty minutes of his sprawling 6-hour Arabian Nights. Spliced between dual documentaries about a shipyard closure and wasp exterminators, Gomes – appearing on screen – literally evades his camera crew while they take chase. His nerves reflect the angst of the Portuguese people, but his eventual resolve in ultimately completing the film is a promising hint of hope, at least in a way to defy the government.

      The opening of each volume of Arabian Nights – entitled "The Restless One", "The Desolate One" and "The Enchanted One" respectively – begin with a direct message from Gomes to establish what to expect, as well as to provide a pseudo-mission statement. It declares how this is not a direct adaptation despite drawing on the structure and the vignettes are based on events that happened between 2013 and 2014 where Portugal was 'held hostage' by its negligent government. The film always appears to have one step out of its fiction, but it's justified by its documentary prologue. The framing for the format, something that should be somewhat familiar to most, shows a Queen called Scheherazade who has to tell her King compelling stories and cut them off at night to ensure he wants to hear the rest of the story the next day to evade him killing her, and thus future Queens.

      In adapting the spirit of the classic set of tales, it gives Gomes the freedom to explore different types of styles going from fantasy, to documentary, to fiction, to docu-fiction, and sometimes blending them together. As each story isn't firmly attached to a single protagonist, the film frequently has irreverent tangents with subplots briefly taking the foreground. While people may be on screen without an arc, it's a clear goal of the film to show how each individual has a rich full life with their own dramas that affect others too. It turns these modern day struggles into myths – and also shows how those myths are worthy enough to engage a hypothetical King. In employing non-actors, it continues to blur that line between fiction and nonfiction and makes Arabian Nights a film for the people while the subdued emotion of them soaks through.

      Despite initially intended to be a single 6-hour feature, each of the three volumes are quite different in style and quality. The first volume is dense and absurd, both the most inaccessible and accessible part depending on how you feel about Gomes' approach. It's rewarding for those willing to traverse it. After introducing the values of the film with the opening documentary and the concept for its format in showing Scheherazade and her people coming up with the stories, the first vignette is the most bizarre and perhaps immature given the weight of the film. It travels with a group of impotent capitalists who are cursed with permanent erections and how that affects their attitudes to how they influence Portugal's financial. It's hilarious and thoughtful, showing just how on-the-nose but equally on-point Arabian Nights is willing to get. Volume 1's energy and unabashed direction earned a grin on my face whenever it wasn't documenting distress.

      The following vignettes include one about a talking cockerel who's a controversial point in a town as he crows loudly in the early morning, though his intentions are to warn about wildfires, and another where a man disgruntled by the economy and arranges other unemployed people to join in a New Year's Day swim in the ocean as an act of defiance against the government. Each person tells their story – or their story is told by Scheherazade – and their hardships of their money going to waste are easy to empathise with, especially if you've experienced dejection such as they're facing. Like his masterful previous film Tabu – a diptych of sorts while Arabian Nights is a triptych within a triptych – this film also has an old-fashioned style. It has the rawness and vibrancy of the films of the 70s, though that aesthetic may not be as deliberate as Tabu's 1930s style.

      See the other volumes for the rest of my review for Arabian Nights.

      8/10

      Read more @ The Awards Circuit (http://www.awardscircuit.com/)
      helpful•8
      2
      • Sergeant_Tibbs
      • Oct 17, 2015

      Details

      Edit
      • Release date
        • June 24, 2015 (France)
      • Countries of origin
        • Portugal
        • France
        • Germany
        • Switzerland
      • Official sites
        • Cinept - Cinema Português page
        • Filmportal (German Movies)
      • Languages
        • Portuguese
        • English
        • French
        • German
        • Mandarin
      • Also known as
        • Las mil y una noches: volumen 1. El inquieto
      • Filming locations
        • Viana do Castelo, Minho, Portugal(first part: shipyard)
      • Production companies
        • O Som e a Fúria
        • Shellac Sud
        • Komplizen Film
      • See more company credits at IMDbPro

      Box office

      Edit
      • Gross US & Canada
        • $12,260
      • Gross worldwide
        • $28,245
      See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

      Technical specs

      Edit
      • Runtime
        2 hours 5 minutes
      • Color
        • Color
      • Aspect ratio
        • 2.35 : 1

      Related news

      Contribute to this page

      Suggest an edit or add missing content
      Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015)
      Top Gap
      By what name was Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One (2015) officially released in India in English?
      Answer
      • See more gaps
      • Learn more about contributing
      Edit page

      More to explore

      Recently viewed

      Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
      Get the IMDb App
      Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
      • Get the IMDb App
      • Help
      • Site Index
      • IMDbPro
      • Box Office Mojo
      • IMDb Developer
      • Press Room
      • Advertising
      • Jobs
      • Conditions of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Your Ads Privacy Choices
      IMDb, an Amazon company

      © 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.