Arabian Nights (miniseries)
Arabian Nights | |
---|---|
Hallmark Entertainment | |
Original release | |
Network | ABC BBC One |
Release | April 30 May 1, 2000 | –
Arabian Nights is a two-part 2000
The series consists of five stories from One Thousand and One Nights, which are framed within a sixth, maintaining the traditional style of stories within stories that is synonymous with the Nights. The series cast includes Alan Bates, Rufus Sewell, Andy Serkis, James Frain, John Leguizamo (in a dual role), Jason Scott Lee, Vanessa-Mae, Alexei Sayle, Jim Carter, James Callis, and Oded Fehr.
Synopsis
Frame story
The series starts in
In order to prevent this, the
Meanwhile,
At the end of the battle, it is revealed that all that had been seen was a story itself, recounted by Scheherazade to her children. The series ends with Scheherazade promising to tell her children another story tomorrow night.
Scheherazade's stories
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
The first story told by Scheherazade is that of
Ali Baba finds Cassim's body hung-up by the Forty Thieves as a warning to others. With the help of his newly hired servant,
Black Coda discovers that Ali Baba and Morgiana are living in a lubricious estate in Damascus and devises a plan to kill all in the household. The Forty Thieves enter the city hidden in oil barrels which are placed outside Ali's estate where they wait for nightfall. Before they can strike, Morgiana discovers the barrels and rolls them down to the bottom of a hill where the dazed Forty Thieves are arrested (and later hanged) by the city guards, although Black Coda escapes.
To celebrate their victory, Ali Baba hosts a feast. Morgiana performs an exotic dance for Ali Baba during which she stabs one of the guests, killing him. She removes the man's false beard, revealing him to be Black Coda. Awed by her loyalty, Ali Baba marries Morgiana.
The Tale of the Poor Hunchback
To prevent Shahryar realizing she's starting a complete new story, Scheherazade begins her next tale by following on from the last, explaining that Faisal (Stanley Lebor) designed Morgiana's wedding attire and his wife, Safil (Jamila Massey), from Constantinople (or Istanbul given the architecture and being under Muslim rule), were at Ali Baba's wedding.
Back in Constantinople, the couple have dinner with Bac-Bac (
Before Dr. Ezra can take a look at Bac-Bac, he trips over him in the dark and they both fall down his doorway stairs. After the fall, Ezra finds the dead body and assumes that he accidentally killed him. Recognizing Bac-Bac, they repeat the actions of Faisal and Safil by dropping the body down the chimney of their Chinese neighbor, Hi-Ching (
Jerome is put on trial and sentenced to death. Unable to bear the guilt, Hi-Ching, Ezra, and Faisal all confess that they had killed the poor hunchback. In the middle of all their arguments, the Sultan (Tony Osoba) comes and demands to know who killed his jester. The Sultan realizes Bac-Bac's death was an accident in any event and frees Jerome and the others, explaining that Bac-Bac would have been amused by the manner of his death.
Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
This story tells the classic tale of Aladdin (Jason Scott Lee), a Chinese thief living in the caliphate of Samarkand (actually, China). While fleeing authorities for pick-pocketing, he sees a carriage and blocks its path. The carriage windows open to reveal the beautiful Princess Zubaïda (Vanessa-Mae). The two see each other and fall in love.
While escaping, Aladdin meets a mysterious African traveler named Mustappa (Hugh Quarshie), who claims to have been a friend of Aladdin's father and is willing to pay him a high price to do a 'simple' task. Aladdin agrees and meets Mustappa at the entrance of the Cave of Wonders. Mustappa gives Aladdin a ring, and swears "by Hector's feathers", that Aladdin will not see his wedding day if he betrays Mustappa.
Aladdin enters the Cave and walks through a Terracotta Army until he finds the lamp. He races back to the entrance, where Mustappa asks Aladdin to give him the lamp before he helps him out. Aladdin refuses, believing Mustappa will take the lamp and leave him in the cave. Mustappa, enraged, closes the cave's entrance and abandons Aladdin, just as the Terracotta warriors come to life. In desperation, Aladdin rubs Mustappa's ring and summons the neurotic Genie of the Ring (John Leguizamo) who reluctantly frees Aladdin from the cave.
Back home with his mother, Aladdin wonders why Mustappa would want a worthless old oil lamp. Rubbing it frees the Lamp
Aladdin discovers that the Princess is in love with him and using the Lamp Genie, he is able to humiliate Zubaïda's betrothed on their wedding night to prevent the marriage from being consummated, by trapping the vizier's son in a foul-smelling privy, and then marry the Princess himself after her furious father
The Sultan and the Beggar
At the beginning of the story, Scheherazade explains that her next story is about Amin the Beggar (who looks exactly like Shahryar) and the mean-spirited Sultan Abraschild (who looks exactly like Shahryar's brother) who rules Cairo.
The story follows Amin, (
Abraschild decides to repeat the joke and again drugs Amin and returns him to the palace dressed as Sultan. When Amin wakes and becomes hysterical, he hears the snickering of Abraschild from inside one of the secret chambers. Panicking, Amin draws a sword and inadvertently stabs Abraschild, believing he is a demon. Seeing that Abraschild is dead and he has left no heir, the Sultan's advisers decide to prevent civil war by telling everyone that the real Sultan has gone on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and that Amin was chosen as the Sultan's successor, all the while continuing to tell Amin that he is the one and only Sultan Haroun Abraschild. Amin goes on to become a respected Sultan beloved by the court and his people.
At the end of the story, as his brother's army approaches Baghdad, Sultan Shahryar realizes he is in love with Scheherazade and has been cured of his madness, but Scheherazade feels Shahryar needs to hear one more story before he goes into battle.
The Three Princes
The last story told by Scheherazade is about the sons of the long-suffering Sultan of
Ali heads north to a brazen kingdom, and finds a powerful telescope. Ahmed travels east to a mountain Buddhist monastery which possess a mystic apple (the Apple of Life), which when eaten can heal any wound or illness and earns it when he passes a secret test of character. The last brother, Hussain, travels west to the underground city of
The journeys of the brothers take up the given year, and all three meet at the Traveller's Rest. Ali's telescope reveals that their father is on his deathbed. The brothers race back to Yemen on Hussain's carpet to save their father with Ahmed's apple of life.
Scheherazade explains that as a result of their adventures, when the brothers eventually succeed their father, they rule the kingdom together in peace and harmony.
Cast
- Mili Avital as Scheherazade
- Dougray Scott as Shahryar and Amin the Beggar
- Alan Bates as The Storyteller
- Schahzenan and Sultan Haroun Abraschild (character based on the historical Caliph Harun al-Rashid)
- Peter Guinness as The Chief Executioner
- Jason Scott Lee as Aladdin
- Pik-Sen Lim as Aladdin's Mother
- John Leguizamo as The Genie of the Lamp and The Genie of the Ring
- Vanessa-Mae as Princess Zubaïda
- Hugh Quarshie as Mustappa
- Ja'Far
- Morgiana
- Ali Baba
- Tchéky Karyo as Black Coda
- Kasim
- Prince Ali
- Prince Ahmed
- Prince Hussain
- Alexei Sayle as BacBac
- Ayesha Dharker as Coral Lips
- John Hallam as Demon
- Jamila Massey as Safil
- Nadim Sawalha as Judge Zadic
- Leon Lissek as Dr. Ezra
- Junix Inocian as Hi-Ching
- Stanley Lebor as Faisal
- Jane Lapotaire as Miriam
- Stefan Kalipha as Abu Nouz
- Benedict Wong as Hassan
- Inday Ba as Heart's Delight
- Melanie Gutteridge as Fair Face
- Burt Kwouk as Kaliph Beder
- Henry Goodman as Sultan Billah
- Tony Osoba as Sultan Badr Al-Din
- Roger Hammond as Jerome Gribben
- Kulvinder Ghir as Ali's Servant
- David Yip as Assad
- Don Warrington as Hari Ben Karim
- Cyril Nri as Schaca
- Adrian Pang as Gulnare
- Oded Fehr as Robber #2
- Peter Bayliss as 1st Physician
- Hassani Shapi as 1st Army Captain
Filming
Locations
Arabian Nights was filmed on location in Turkey and Morocco and at Antalya Film Studios, Turkey.[4]
Critical reception
Variety wrote "Lush, lavish and longer than necessary, ABC’s “Arabian Nights” is definitely an appealing spectacle but overly sluggish in too many places";[5] whereas TV Guide wrote "Gracefully directed and lavishly mounted, this delicious adaptation bears the earmarks of a sturdy classic."[6]
Honors and awards
Year | Ceremony | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | Artios[7] |
Best Casting for TV Miniseries | Won |
Emmy[citation needed ] |
Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | ||
Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Nominated | ||
Outstanding Miniseries | Nominated |
References
- ^ "Rufus roughs it in Arabia". BBC News. 28 April 2000. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
- ^ Winslow, Harriet (20 April 2000). "Good Night Stories From Arabia; Scheherazade Postpones Death One Tale at a Time". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
- ^ IMDb.com retrieved 16 June 2019
- ^ End credits of the DVD
- ^ Speier, Michael (27 April 2000). "Arabian Nights".
- ^ "Arabian Nights | TV Guide". TVGuide.com.
- ^ "Artios Award Winners". Casting Society of America. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
External links
- Russian Wikiquote has quotations related to: Арабские приключения
- Arabian Nights at IMDb
- Arabian Nights at RHI Entertainment