3,000 Years of Longing… for John Wick 4

By Danielle Packard
Reader Contributor

Across the country, moviegoers are preparing for the cinema mashup “Barbenheimer.” What is a cinema mash-up you ask? Like a blue moon it happens rarely and should be celebrated. In this case, two very, very different movies are being released in theaters on Friday, July 21. Oppenheimer (a dark biopic on “father of the atomic bomb” Julius Robert Oppenheimer) and its seeming-polar opposite, Barbie (a very pink-infused imagining of Barbie coming to life) are both being lauded as probable summer blockbusters. The mashup suggests the best way to approach both is to watch them back-to-back.

As the Insider wrote: “It’s clear the vibes don’t mix, that’s what makes this double feature so appealing.” 

There is some contention over the order in which these films should be viewed — I’m an Oppenheimer first, Barbie second sort of gal — but either way, it ought to be memorable.

While any dissimilar movies are open for a mashup, there are two general rules to follow: 1. Watch them back to back and 2. Find someone else to watch them with. To get ready for such a full and bizarre cinematic experience, I recommend a practice mashup. Two films that have recently been released to streaming offer just the right range: 3,000 Years of Longing on Netflix and John Wick 4 for rent on Amazon Prime (and reportedly Max sometime in the near-ish future). 

Start with John Wick 4, a techno luxury, action orgy of brilliantly choreographed fight scenes featuring any number of accessories (playing cards and pencils rank high in this sequel). Keanu Reeves as the titular Wick is no longer the star of the franchise, but rather a frame for the sumptuous cityscapes, weapons, battlegrounds and bombastic speeches that have made the Wick franchise so popular. 

Completely unneeded if you have seen any of the John Wick movies, but here is the basic plot: Wick fighting other assassins to get to the extra-bad assassin leader, the Marquis (played by Bill Skarsguard). Along the way he meets, and sort of befriends, two other assassins who ultimately help him out. There’s also a dog involved. 

It’s long and by the end you may feel as exhausted as John Wick looks, so take a break before moving on. Grab some beers and discuss your favorite action scene, best unusual assassination method and whether they could even make another John Wick without completely destroying the reason it was great in the first place.

Then get ready for 3,000 Years of Longing, an almost psychedelic modern-day fairytale by the director of Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller). Both films share a lush attention to setting, which makes the differences that much starker. The biggest difference is the main characters. 

By the fourth movie, John Wick seems to be openly trolling main actor Reeves’ lack of emotional range with the minimal amount of dialogue. Happily, Tilda Swinton picks up the slack, showing a mastery of nuanced performance that makes her obsessively watchable. 

3,000 Years of Longing is based on the short story, The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye, by A.S. Byatt, who glories in magical-realism and Victorian overabundance, and which the film takes straight to its heart. 

The film centers on scholar and “narratologist” Alithea, played by Tilda Swinton. While attending a literary conference in Turkey, Alithea finds a strange bottle that (surprise) has a djinn (played by Idris Elba) who offers her three wishes to satisfy her heart’s desire. 

Trained in the study of fairy tales, Alithea refuses these wishes, knowing full well that they always end badly, leading the djinn to tell her of his attempts to free himself and the women he bestowed wishes upon. 

Like John Wick fighting through one gorgeous landscape after another, the movie moves from one “Oriental” time period to another as the djinn tells of his 3,000 years of longing for freedom. Alithea eventually makes her three wishes and the movie ends on the consequences that occur. While some scenes feel over the top in decadence (a claim easy to make about John Wick as well), it works as a surreal vision of our longing and desires, and the stories we tell to remember them.

Whether you choose the theater or your own home, get ready for the power of a movie mashup. 

As the taciturn eponymous Wick responds to any question: “Ye…ah.”

Rent John Wick 4 on Amazon Prime or keep an eye out for it on Max. Stream 3,000 Years of Longing on Netflix.