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Tilda Swinton, Billy Zane, Lothaire Bluteau, John Wood, Charlotte Valandrey ... see more see more... , Heathcote Williams , Quentin Crisp , Peter Eyre , Jimmy Somerville , Dudley Sutton , John Grillo , Roger Hammond , Barbara Hicks , Thom Hoffman , Mary McLeod Bethune , Jerome Willis , Sarah Crowden , Robert Demeger , Ned Sherrin , Simon Russell Beale , Kathryn Hunter , Toby Jones , John Byrne

Independent filmmaker Sally Potter's gender-bending epic, which views four centuries of sexual politics through the eyes of a sex-switching main character, is based on the 1928 novel by Virginia Woolf... read more read more.... The androgynous title character is played with delicate quietude by Tilda Swinton. The story begins during the reign of the aging Queen Elizabeth I (Quentin Crisp, in a droll turn recalling his The Naked Civil Servant). Queen Elizabeth takes a shine to the attractive young Orlando and seeks out his sexual favors. In return, Elizabeth grants him a large estate, commanding him, "Do not fade, do not wither, do not grow old." Orlando takes the queen at her word and doesn't. When Elizabeth dies, Orlando becomes attracted to Sasha (Charlotte Valandrey), the daughter of a Russian diplomat, but she rebuffs his advances. Crushed, Orlando accepts an ambassadorship to Constantinople. After witnessing the killing of a man in battle, Orlando undergoes a change of sex, becoming a woman and returning to England, where she hobnobs with 18th-century geniuses like Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and John Addison. Walking through a garden labyrinth, the time frame shifts to the 19th century, and Orlando falls in love with a handsome American (Billy Zane). Now in the 20th century, Orlando gives birth to his child and continues on. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Flixster Users

81% liked it

7,923 ratings

Critics

79% liked it

28 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 33 min.

Directed by: Sally Potter

Release Date: September 16, 1992

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DVD Release Date: August 3, 1999

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Stats: 624 reviews

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Orlando Tilda Swinton and Billy Zane
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Flixster Reviews (624)

  • matertenebraum
    February 10, 2011
    matertenebraum
    Simply put one of the best movies I have ever seen. The cast is amazing and deliver in their performances, the stunning visuals and beautiful music combine to create a dreamy atmosphere through which S. Potter uses Orlando as a medium to make subtle and elegant commentaries about... read more life, the human condition and the struggle of the sexes to understand each other when they are basically two aspects of the same coin. As opposed to some of the other reviewers here I did not find the movie slow or boring at any time. Nor is it just about Orlando; there are multiple layers. It flows simply and quietly but with great intensity and an underlying irony at every moment. This film must be Potter's masterpiece.
  • garyX
    January 21, 2011
    garyX
    A young nobleman in the seventeenth century makes a promise to his Queen to never grow old, living on through to the twentieth after undergoing the transformation to womanhood. Based on a story by Virginian Woolf, Orlando is an ambitious attempt to portray gender issues spanning ... read morethe centuries. Tilda Swinton shares the limelight with some wonderful costumes and locations, appearing just at home in doublet and hoes as a corset and bustle and her central performance is arresting. It's a pity that the rest of the cast don't really get a look in, as the story is represented as a series of all-too-short vignettes where some initially intriguing supporting characters appear briefly but are gone again before there is any chance to explore them or relationship with Orlando. This is a real shame because some of the scenes, especially concerning her receiving the kind of attitudes that she was herself guilty of having when she was a man, had real potential. This is doubly true of Zane's character who is the other side of the coin of Orlando's transformation. It is sometimes guilty of being too "arty" for its own good, the gimmicky casting of Quentin Crisp as Elizabeth I (although it could be argued that he is the perfect choice to play an old queen...) and the appearance of Jimmy Somerville as a golden angel overstep the boundary to campness. It's certainly an interesting and beautifully realised film visually, but Benjamin Button did something similar with a lot more heart.
  • ceWEBrity
    May 23, 2009
    ceWEBrity
    A true forgotten classic. Watching Orlando is heartbreaking because you know they're never going to make another film as bizarre or beautiful as this ever again. Modern Hollywood just wouldn't allow something involving an androgynous immortal, inexplicable gender changes, the bre... read moreaking of the fourth wall, and a bizarrely evangelical ending to be distributed, let alone created for 5 million dollars.

    This is art. It doesn't always make sense, but trying to parse it and giving it personal meaning makes the experience completely worthwhile. Kudos to Sally Potter for creating such an uncompromising adaptation of a Virginia Woolf novel. Kudos to Tilda Swinton, who I fall more in love with every day and who has one of the most exciting and diverse filmographies of any living performer today. Kudos to all involved with this striking, unique, powerful innovation.
  • ebs90
    April 17, 2009
    ebs90
    This is Sally Potter's beautiful, otherworldly adaptation of Virginia Woolf's story. Orlando reaches a tone, a temperature, a state of dream-like ambiguity that many other art films often thrive to possess. It's immediately enchanting on the surface: fantastic set design, photogr... read moreaphy, make-up, costumes and music, but there's a fascinating substance underneath it all.

    Orlando is born into a noble English family in the 17th Century. Ever since he's a youth he is enamored with poetry and love, and little else. His mother, mortified by her old age and by death, leaves him her palace as inheritance, with the condition that he remain young forever. Orlando's life extends itself through centuries, during which time he also gets disillusioned with his virility after a romantic frustration and decides to try his luck at love from a woman's perspective.

    The spirit of this film is Tilda Swinton's epic performance. This is a role cut out for her. She makes perfect use of her androgynous looks and her characteristic refinement to play Orlando. She's not particularly my favorite actress, but here she's wonderful, as is all the supporting cast. Billy Zane has a brief but relevant appearance and delivers a lovely performance.

    So... Orlando attracted me for the intriguing storyline, how Sally Potter would manage to bring it to life, and for Swinton's demanding role. I think it shouldn't be missed precisely for its success in all those areas. It's quite different from many other films, especially because of its very original source material.
  • hoganshero
    September 3, 2007
    hoganshero
    This epic film had me glued to the TV. This is a gender bending ride through history!
  • webalina
    June 18, 2007
    webalina
    I liked this OK, although I'm not really sure I understood it. Anyone?
  • wbgoose13
    October 26, 2008
    wbgoose13
    Only Tilda Swinton could pull off sexual ambiguity through the ages this well.
  • jimbotender
    January 31, 2009
    jimbotender
    I yearn for one thing only: to revive Virginia Woolf for 2 hours and let her enjoy her creation on-screen.
  • divinetrash
    February 12, 2008
    divinetrash
    A very interesting view on life from an even more fascinating character. Have to see it again, since the first time I was too distracted by it's wonderful costumes and locations.
  • ileo
    September 26, 2007
    ileo
    Great movie.

View All Orlando Reviews

Critic Reviews

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

This is the kind of movie you want to talk about afterward. Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
August 27, 2010
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

It's very specifically planned, and defiantly oddball. Full Review

Sean Axmaker
August 17, 2010
Sean Axmaker, Parallax View

Potter recreates four centuries of British cultural history in painterly images and austerely constructed settings... Full Review

Dan Kois
July 27, 2010
Dan Kois, Slate

A silly and serious work of art that isn't afraid to entertain. Full Review

Keith Uhlich
July 21, 2010
Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York

Swinton's androgynous affect has rarely been better exploited: It's a kick to see her transition among Orlando's numerous identities, whether wooing a Russian princess or submitting to the charms of t... Full Review

Eric Kohn
July 20, 2010
Eric Kohn, indieWIRE

Eighteen years after its initial theatrical release, "Orlando" returns to theaters with all of its original allure intact, and then some. Full Review

Matthew Connolly
July 19, 2010
Matthew Connolly, Slant Magazine

Rarely have source material, director, and leading actress been more in alignment than in Orlando, the 1992 adaptation of Virginia Woolf's novel, directed by Sally Potter and starring Tilda Swinton. Full Review

Donald J. Levit
July 10, 2010
Donald J. Levit, ReelTalk Movie Reviews

Warmer color and sound enhance this new release print, but the film's wry humor, action fantasy, and a literary leaning may make for tough sledding with today's viewers. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
May 13, 2009
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

I would imagine such a bizarre film would appeal mainly to those with a discriminating taste. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
July 23, 2007
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Tilda Swinton is perfectly cast in Sally Potter's lavish, daring, and inventive adaptation of Virginia Woolf's novel. Full Review

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