Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

This is a retelling of the story of Scheherezade and the 1001 nights. All of the famous heroes of the 1001 Nights are shown to be quite different than the heroes they are portrayed as. That and the fact that the Genie is a 20th century man who keeps appearing in 8th century Arabia with a 20th century bag of tricks is what makes for the humor. It is not hysterically funny humor, but it is effective satire. This is Catherine Zeta-Jones debut film... and you can't take your eyes off her! Not only is she beautiful, but she has charismatic presence.... this is a star-making role for her. I saw this film on Japanese TV... in English. It was so entertaining that I tried to buy a copy. One can find VHS copies dubbed in German (Amazon.de). It is also possible (but more difficult) to find English on eBay...As for why the film is so difficult to find, considering the star and director.... I would guess that it is hard to find for the same reason it is hard to find a copy of Ecstasy with Hedy Lamarr....

**spoiler warning**this movie is a great movie to watch, seeing catherine zeta jones in her first movie was even better - the film tells the story of sheherazade and the famous kings etc. this film is a top buy but is hard to find on video in UK. 10/10 top film

Unless of course you are a hardcore Catherine Zeta-Jones fan and you would like to see her youthful body covered (in descreetly placed) sea shells, or sailing through a storm in a wet shirt, or just like staring at her cleavage which is on display for most of the film.The fantasy-like element of the film doesn't really come together as it tries to blend a number of themes into one. The result is a poorly dubbed film with actors who look like they would rather be somewhere else, except for Catherine herself.

This is a french version of the Thousand and one nights. It's a good movie, and it has the added interest of watching a young Catherine Zeta Jones on her first film role (according to the IMDB). She has a couple of quite revealing nude scenes as well.