Tomiko, a middle-aged woman, waits patiently for her husband, who disappeared thirty years ago, to return. She lives alone in a declining fishing village, and continues to search tirelessly for her husband. One day she meets Nami, whose husband has also disappeared. Nami asks for Tomiko’s help to get her husband on the list of “Special Missing Persons.” Tomiko sets out to help Nami, but by the time the paperwork is ready, Nami says that she wants to forget her husband and make a fresh start. Thousand and One Nights provides a critical look at these two women’s contrasting choices. More notable than the content of the film, though, is its remarkably forlorn tone. All the characters have either lost or are losing someone. None of them can win against time. Thousand and One Nights is a film that uses original means to whisper the secrets of time. (NAM Dong-chul)