Arabian Nights by the clock
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Hour One
Volume 1: The Restless One starts with documentary-style anecdotes from workers at a Portuguese shipyard which is closing. Director Miguel Gomes flees the set when he realises he cannot make the film then a judge puts a rooster on trial for crowing too early.
Hour Two
After the first appearance of Scheherazade (played by Crista Alfaiate) as a punk rocker, three unemployed workers tell their stories before they take part in an annual winter swim. Off screen, there is a steady trickle of walkouts
Hour Three
Volume 2: The Desperate One begins with two-thirds of the audience returning. A more cohesive instalment starts with a man "without bowels" who becomes a hero.
Hour Four
A long courtroom scene has a red-robed judge overseeing a case in an outdoor courtroom involving a rude landlord, two tenants who have stolen his furniture, a talking pantomime cow and a genie. There is warm applause at the end of part two.
Hour Five
Everyone seems to have returned for Volume 3: The Enchanted One which has Scheherazade finding romance then meeting a breakdancing thief named Elvis. The film then switches into documentary mode for a story about birdtrappers who train finches to sing in contests.
Hour Six
After the sad tale of a visiting Chinese student who fell in love with a married policeman during a protest, the finches get to sing.