A Thousand and One Nights (1969 film)

A Thousand and One Nights
Directed by Eiichi Yamamoto
Produced by
Written by
  • Osamu Tezuka
  • Kazuo Fukasawa
  • Hiroyuki Kumai
Music by
Cinematography Akira Tsuchiya
Distributed by Nippon Herald Movies
Release date
 June 14, 1969
Running time
 128 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

A Thousand and One Nights (Japanese: 千夜一夜物語, Hepburn: Senya Ichiya Monogatari) is a 1969 adult anime feature film directed by Eiichi Yamamoto, conceived by Osamu Tezuka. The film is part of Mushi Production's Animerama, a series of films aimed at an adult audience.

The film was a hit in Japan and was given limited screenings in America in 1970, but the film did very poorly, as an X-rated cartoon did not seem to appeal to an audience.[1] The dubbed version of the film is now very rare, and has never been released on home video, and may be considered lost. However, the trailer for the English dub was found. The English-dubbed version was cut to 100 minutes. The film predates the more successful release of Fritz the Cat, the first American X-rated animated film, by three years.

Plot

Aldin, a traveling water seller, falls in love with Miriam, a slave woman on auction in Baghdad, but Havasalakum, the son of the chief of police, buys her. Before he can take her home, a sand storm interrupts the auction. Aldin uses the opportunity to steal away the slave woman, rescuing her from slavery. They hide from pursuing guards in a seemingly empty mansion. They have sex there, and are secretly watched by the master of the mansion, Sulaiman, who locks them in and commands them to continue. Havasalakum and his guards invade the mansion and he find them to takes Miriam. Badli, the right-hand man of the chief of police, murders Sulaiman. Aldin is tortured and sent to prison by mistake for the murder of Sulaiman.

One year later, Aldin is set free, while a heartbroken Miriam dies in childbirth and meets Badli in the desert. Aldin threatens to kill him, but shows him mercy and lets him leave. Aldin finds the cave of Kamahakim and the forty thieves. Aldin follows a thief inside, and as the thieves are asleep, he begins stealing their treasure. Madia, a young female thief, awakens and threatens to kill Aldin, who convinces her to see the world with him. The two fly away on a magic wooden horse. While they are over the ocean, living hair pulls them down. They swim to a Lotus Island, inhabited only by sirens. Their queen invites the two to stay, but Madia jealous and doesn't trust them and leaves on the magic horse while Aldin stays and have sex with the sirens. The queen forbids Aldin from following her to her house in the woods at night, but he still does it, and witnesses her transforming into a large, white serpent. All the sirens change likewise and chase Aldin off the island. Aldin is later picked up by sailors, and they travel to an island inhabited by a giant who eats much of the crew. Aldin finds a magical, sentient ship that will take him anywhere and fulfill almost any of his wishes.

15 years later, two shapeshifters on a carpet come across a sheepherder named Aslan, which the female shapeshifter falls for. The male shapeshifter in hopes of keeping the other shapeshifter from risking death by being seen by the sheepherder, brings a female princess from Baghdad and teleports Her away when things were going wrong. The male shapeshifter in a huff leaves the female, as She transforms into a horse when Aslan hopes to go to Baghdad of course, when Aslan and the Princess cross paths in the desert, the shapeshifter disappears from sight.

Meanwhile, Aldin uses the ship to become wealthy, and enters a competition in Baghdad, the winner of which will become king. He wins the competition by tricking his opponent onto his magic ship, and by commanding the ship to take him to the end of the world. Wanting the Princess who looks like Miriam, Aldin tries to use his power as the king to make the Princess named Jalis – who is Miriam's daughter – marry him, but she loves another man, Aslan. Aldin commands the people to build a tower to Heaven. The people hate him and revolt, led by Aldin's second-in-command. Not prepared for the pressures of kingship, Aldin gives up the throne to travel the world as a poor man again, now seeing the value of freedom and peace.

Cast

See also

References

  1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MypdLwUlrkM&feature=feedf
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.