Prior to my screening of “3000 Years of Longing,” a clip of director George Miller appeared. He thanked the audience for seeing the movie in a cinema, where it was meant to be seen.

How apropos that the director who describes watching a film in a theater as “public dreaming” should create a movie that unfurls like a dream. “3000 Years of Longing” is an ode to storytelling and the importance of story in our lives. As its own narrative, the picture operates on a meta level to elaborate on and elucidate those themes.

The movie is powered by the performances of two masters of their craft. Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba are both at the top of their games in portraying Alithea Binnie and the Djinn, respectively.

The film begins with a voice-over narration by Alithea (Swinton). She reveals that she is a narratologist, a person who examines stories told through the ages. Alithea is traveling to a conference of narratologists in Istanbul.

After she disembarks, she is on the way to meet a Turkish colleague when a small man grabs hold of her and pesters her. There is an unreality to him and then he vanishes.

At her presentation at the conference, Alithea sees a large man in a turban glowering at her. Each time she averts her gaze from him, he comes closer and closer. Finally, she faints on stage.

Later at the bazaar with her friend, she sees a lovely blue bottle which she buys. Back in her hotel room, she works at it trying to open it. Suddenly the top is removed and a dark smoke fills her room. The next thing she knows a giant Djinn (Ebla) is in her quarters.

Coming down to human size, he offers her the requisite three wishes. But Alithea is a narratologist. She knows from stories the pitfalls of making wishes.

She also is not sure that the Djinn is real. When she was younger, she had an imaginary friend who talked to her. That ended when she burned all remnants of her writings about him.

We find out a little more about Alithea. She was in a committed relationship until her husband left her for a younger woman. After he left, Alithea put all of the things that reminded her of him in a labeled storage box on a shelf.

She tells the Djinn that she felt liberated after his departure. She was able to fully become the person she was meant to be. But is she really fulfilled?

The Djinn proceeds to tell Alithea where he has been for the last 3000 years. His first tale involves Sheba, who was half-Djinn. She did not go to meet Solomon but he came to see her. Solomon was a deft wizard and he used music to entrance and bed Sheba. Perceiving the Djinn as a threat, Solomon deposited him in a bottle.

More years passed until he was released during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. There a young woman is in love with the Crown Prince. Despite the Djinn’s warnings, she asks for the Prince to fall in love with her. She does not know that court intrigue will doom her and her beloved.

The final tale is about a woman named Zefir, trapped in a loveless marriage as one of several wives to a much older merchant. In the confines of her bedroom, she asks the Djinn for knowledge and he gives it to her. They become lovers. Until they have a disagreement, and she wishes that she had never seen him.

So now it is time for Alithea to make her first wish. What will it be?

It is interesting that as a viewer you become entranced as the Djinn tells his tales. It is almost like Scheherazade is telling you her stories in the Arabian Nights. You begin to see how every person has their own unique story that defines their life. This story about themselves directly influences their wishes when they are given the choice.

But all stories are manufactured creations. Even if they are created to give meaning, do they truly represent our wants and desires? Thus, the wishes play out against a backdrop of unintended consequences or misunderstood desire.

The cumulative power of the three main storylines cannot be understated. In each, you see examples of very human and inhuman hopes and dreams. You see yourself in each scenario and the struggle and joy about what it means to be alive. There is an inexorability of events that compels your complete attention. It is indeed like being in a dream created by the Djinn.

In the end, Alithea’s story is just another story. She has chosen to share it with the world, even if it doesn’t believe that she met and had a relationship with a Djinn. In that sense, she becomes an Everyperson, representing all of our human aspirations.

I very much appreciated the lore of the Djinn. The potential for his annihilation or worse, endless captivity, is haunting. The richness of Elba’s voice only enhances the power of his storytelling. He also offers a gravitas to the presence of the Djinn, giving him an added sense of authority.

Swinton, one of the great chameleons in movies today, gives Alithea both the confidence of being a dedicated scholar and the tentativeness of someone who is not sure what she wants in life. She and Elba have perfect chemistry.

The production values, especially the score by Tom Holkenborg, are superb. I especially liked the emanation from the Djinn that looked like sparkling dust motes.

This is a film that allows you to think about your own life story and your own unfulfilled desires. What would you wish for if given the chance? It is meant to be a reflective experience and will stay with you long after you leave the theater.

A masterwork of the first order by George Miller. Typically, you think of him as an action-movie director. But at the end of “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome,” you see the survivors gathered around a fire to hear the story of the man who saved them and realize that all of the action leads to a story conveying meaning and purpose for the future. To paraphrase the Bard, of such stuff dreams are made of.

Five out of five stars

Dr Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton) is an academic – content with life and a creature of reason. While in Istanbul attending a conference, she happens to encounter a Djinn (Idris Elba) who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom.

This presents two problems. First, she doubts that he is real and second, because she is a scholar of story and mythology, she knows all the cautionary tales of wishes gone wrong. The Djinn pleads his case by telling her fantastical stories of his past. Eventually she is beguiled and makes a wish that surprises them both.

Cast: Idris Elba, Tilda Swinton
Directed by: George Miller
Written by: George Miller and Augusta Gore
Based upon: The short story “The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye” by A.S. Byatt
Music by: Tom Holkenborg