A Thousand and One Nights (1974) (2025)

Popular reviews

• Review by TABI ★★★★★ 3

  This was one of my all time favorites as a kid, and finally after almost 10 years of searching, I finally was able to rewatch this classic, and it was beautifully nostalgic in every way.

• Review by Mónica ★★★★★

  This film has the capacity to make you feel like a kid (at least for me) and not in the bad sense of it turning out to be a mere childish tale. It actually isn't, references to blood, murder and romantic affairs can be find throughout; however is not an adult animation neither. Is a film capable of transmitting the same eagerness as those fables you were read before going to bed by you dad/mom while having thematics that are approachable more for adults as they are equally worth unpacking.

  I found one of the major aspects that contributed to such is the narration. At first it might appear to be an aspect that is pretty on your nose and…

• Review by Jack🧠 ★★★★

  For a children's film, this is absolutely wild. Pulling stories from Arabian Nights and Sinbad The Sailor, Karel Zeman's A Thousand And One Nights is a series of adventurous vignettes following a single protagonist encountering evil sultans, monsters, and magic. Produced using paper cutouts, the animation looks fantastic - I can't even comprehend how painstaking of a job it was to create this film. Many of the action sequences play around with animation speeds, and there is Zeman's distinct attention to detail. I can't help but feel that this animated gem inspired the likes of Disney's Aladdin and even Richard William's fantastic The Thief and The Cobbler in some regard. I can safely say that this is a beautiful, underrated piece of animation history, and more people should seek it out.

• Review by Miguel ★★★

  (Amor+Sultão+Magia+Mar)×5=1001 noites

• Review by Matilde Dias ★★★★½

  não acredito que este nível de detalhe e perfeição existe

• Review by Leonor ★★★★

  Era mm o navio dele

• Review by Catarina ★★★

  1001 noites de facto, monstra

• Review by Mario Pasqualini ★★★★

  Film a episodi che raccoglie sette cortometraggi su sette viaggi di Sindbad il marinaio precedentemente realizzati come opere indipendenti fra il 1971 e il 1974.

  Come spesso accade per le opere di Zeman, anche queste storie daLe mille e una notte sono gioielli in cui povertà di mezzi e ricchezza del risultato convivono insieme. Tutte mettono Sindbad di fronte a sfide per la sua arguzia, e tutte brillano per lo stile grafico simile a quello delle miniature persiane e per l’uso eccellente della stop motion, realizzata evidentemente in economia eppure davvero convincente. Particolarmente felice e divertente la soluzione tecnica usata per il sacco che sputa soldi nel quarto episodio, La montagna magnetica.

  I lavori di Zeman devono stare nei musei.

• Review by Beyzashn ★★★★★

  İngilizcem kötü diye eski sevgilim benim için İngilizce altyazisini Türkçe'ye çevirmişti.
  Kendimi çok değerli hissetmistim.

  Çok kıymetli ve güzel bir film. Insanlığa karşı eleştirilerini çok da didaktik olmayarak bir macera içinde sunuyor size.
  Bence Sinbad in gelmiş geçmiş en iyi uyarlaması...

  Not:yeni izlemedim ama yeni aklıma geldi filmografime eklemek.

• Review by Vince Ebriega ★★★★

  Originally conceived as a series of animated shorts, this film's anthology of seafaring vignettes might seem too quaint for some. But this episodic structure serves Zeman's baroque, storybook fantasy style really well. It's the perfect conceit in which to frame his rich, colorful Persian Art-inspired tableaus (brought to life through a technically sophisticated blend of 2D cut-out and stop-motion animation), embodying an old-fashioned sense of adventure and a taste for guileless mythmaking.

  It's great that an outlet like Criterion has taken a liking to some of Zeman's films (seek out Journey to the Beginning of Time for a similar, diaroma-esque form of storytelling and tone), but if such visually-stunning work like this is only viewable through subpar quality, much work is still needed to be done to give this unsung wizard of the artform his proper due.

• Review by monkeyonparole ★★★½

  Storywise this isn't as interesting as some of Zemans other works, but it's still remarkably inventive and entertaining.

• Review by lyyki ★★★

  There's something very cozy about these old simple animations. Though don't think simple means unimaginative or bad because they are great and actually very beautiful.

  Also holy hell old children's tales did not hold back. Some very brutal images like creatures being blinded by sharp spears going into their eyes or hitting a whale with an axe and it bursting with blood all over the place. Not that I mind - I think having a bit of roughness in children media is fine.