Directed by Sally Potter
Written by Sally Potter
1992 | 94 minutes | English
Blu-Ray

Tilda Swinton, Billy Zane, Lothaire Bluteau, John Wood, Charlotte Valandrey, Heathcote Williams, Quentin Crisp, Peter Eyre, Thom Hoffman, Kathryn Hunter, Ned Sherrin, Jimmy Somerville, Dudley Sutton

What it’s about: Loosely adapted from Virginia Woolf’s 1928 novel, the story follows the eponymous Orlando (Swinton), beginning with his life as young English nobleman in 1600. The sensitive, poetry-loving young man becomes a favored attendant of Queen Elizabeth (Crisp), who commands him “Do not fade. Do not wither. Do not grow old.” And as time passes, Orlando seems inexplicably able to honor this request. He falls for the Muscovite ambassador’s daughter Sasha (Valandrey) and befriends writers such as the poet, Nick Greene (Williams), eventually becoming ambassador to the Ottoman Empire for many years. But around 1800, Orlando wakes up to find she has suddenly become a woman, and is soon facing legal challenges to her property as a result. She meets a kindred spirit in the roguish Shelmerdine (Zane), and eventually arrives in the modern era, now with a young daughter, revisiting the ghosts of her past.

Reflections: In case it wasn’t obvious from that description, this is a very loose, dreamlike film, less about following any kind of propulsive plot than observing the changing world through the lens of its enigmatic central character. Despite the lack of momentum, it’s nonetheless compelling thanks to three primary factors. One is a smart script that draws out a kind of coming-of-age tale across 400 years of English culture and history, investing it with a kind of mythic quality, frequently breaking the fourth wall, and poking at questions of art, gender, and the contradictions of society while still remaining open-ended and interpretive. Second, is Potter’s lush, sensual visual style that plays with color, light and shadow, lingers on rich sensory details and textures, and creates an atmosphere of spectacle without ever being loud about it. And the third is, simply, Tilda Swinton.

It’s hard to imagine anyone else being able to pull this difficult material off. Never an actress to shy away from a fascinatingly weird performance, she gives the younger, male Orlando a kind of plucky naivete that slowly fades as he becomes more acquainted with the complexities of the world, and the older, female version, a kind of knowing confidence and ease, pushing against expected norms in both directions. The two… sides? versions? incarnations?… are different but still identifiable as an evolution of the same person, and both with a slightly distant quality that adapts to the world but never quite belongs in it. The rest of the cast doesn’t have as much to carry, although Crisp’s turn in drag as the Queen stands out for its subversive dignity and Zane stands out a bit–feeling the most modern and American–but in a way that suits his role here.

This is not gonna be a movie for everyone–it’s often languid and difficult to pin down and it asks a lot of its audience in figuring out what it’s trying to communicate. But its unique (and queer) sensibility, often sharp wit, and the richness of its style end up weirdly moving if you can catch its wavelength, even if it still defies clear explanation. There is a quiet lust for life, a deep appreciation of art and beauty, and an earthy sensuousness that belie its challenging nature. A hypnotic, fascinating trip if one can let it in.