Les 1001 nuits

"Scheherazade's story will be told once again."

Apr 11 1990 N/A 1h 38m
Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy

Sheherazade has been married to a ruler who wants many wives, but only one at a time. Consequently, as soon as he has bedded them, he has them put to death. In most retellings, the girl staves off this unfortunate conclusion by putting off the connubial event for a thousand and one nights, telling irresistible stories instead. In this one, she gets hold of a magic lamp.

Plot

A satirical subversive take on the 1001 Nights legend that skips all the stories and puts Scheherazade herself at the center of the adventure. In ancient times, nubile but virginal Scheherazade must use her charms and wits to escape the Middle Eastern king who plans to bed her whether she likes it or not. She's helped on her journey by an astrologist from her own time teleported by a genie to present day London, where he became a proper English gentleman in order to fit it. Whenever Scheherazade is in trouble, he uses the time portal in his TV set to travel back and forth through time and send her the help she needs, including anachronistic escape vehicles like a motorcycle or an airplane. After temporarily teaming up with a couple of more allies, visiting London and losing all of her clothes more than once in the process, Scheherazade realizes that she can't just run forever and comes up with a risky plan.

Written by

Philippe de Broca, Jérôme Tonnerre

Directed by

Philippe de Broca

Cast

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Gérard Jugnot, Stéphane Freiss

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

Italy, Germany, France

Production Companies

RAI, Antenne 2, Club Investissement Média, Telepool, Télémax, Cinémax

Languages

Français

Awards

N/A

Featurettes
Catherine Zeta Jones 1001 Arabian Nights
Scores
# of Votes
1,119
Average Rating
5.5 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA