A naval shipyard closes, sending off one last ship without baptizing it. Bees are killed off by wasps whose nests must be burned to avoid disaster. A modern Scheherazade tells a merciless king a series of stories to make sure she will survive another day: about European bankers who think of nothing but themselves, about a rooster who tries to warn villagers in a small town, about a whale and a mermaid who are both sad. This is the story of a country in crisis, a dying reality, and a dream struggling to survive.

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The first in the Arabian Nights trilogy, subtitled The Restless One, is a wave of freedom, boldness, imagination and insanity. It is very loosely based on the ancient Arabian stories. From the opening credits, which come only after a half hour, to the end, which is set by timing, this film by Miguel Gomes, the director of Tabu is an incredible, magical journey through a world that makes little sense. The best advice is to let go of reason and just go along with it, enjoy the humor and fiction of a wild ride into the nightmare of capitalism and daydreams in costume, where animals talk and businessmen remain silent in the face of disaster. The result is reminiscent of Jacques Tati and Hal Hartley*, a composed trip through the work of a Portuguese filmmaker that is naturally uneven but brilliantly energetic.