Though an early role for Tilda Swinton, Orlando is one of the most Tilda-Swintonian of her roles. Sally Potter's adaptation of Virginia Woolf's gender-bending novel is a surprisingly faithful one, though the book actually has MORE gender-fluid characters. Potter simplifies this, but still casts a male actor as Queen Elizabeth, which acts as a witty visual pun given Swinton's equally ginger complexion. Great pageantry and dry wit make for a visually arresting film, but also one that's as quotable as the source material. Orlando has no justification for their change of sex nor their immortality except emotional ones, and in the end, the story makes great points about the mutability of gender norms, whether maleness or femaleness throughout history. Moving through history is edited in an equally magical way, with chapters divided topics the character becomes interested in whatever the era. Orlando has the further ability to make asides to camera where Swinton proves formidably engaging and beautifully subtle. A rather wonderful, literate story that was way ahead of its time in the 1920s, and dare I say, in 1992 as well.
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Siskoid
Though an early role for Tilda Swinton, Orlando is one of the most Tilda-Swintonian of her roles. Sally Potter's adaptation of Virginia Woolf's gender-bending novel is a surprisingly faithful one, though the book actually has MORE gender-fluid characters. Potter simplifies this, but still casts a male actor as Queen Elizabeth, which acts as a witty visual pun given Swinton's equally ginger complexion. Great pageantry and dry wit make for a visually arresting film, but also one that's as quotable as the source material. Orlando has no justification for their change of sex nor their immortality except emotional ones, and in the end, the story makes great points about the mutability of gender norms, whether maleness or femaleness throughout history. Moving through history is edited in an equally magical way, with chapters divided topics the character becomes interested in whatever the era. Orlando has the further ability to make asides to camera where Swinton proves formidably engaging and beautifully subtle. A rather wonderful, literate story that was way ahead of its time in the 1920s, and dare I say, in 1992 as well.