Orlando

Orlando; fantasy drama / art-film, UK / Russia / France / Italy / The Netherlands, 1992; D: Sally Potter, S: Tilda Swinton, Charlotte Valandrey, Quentin Crisp, Heathcote Williams, Billy Zane

1600. In England, the young Orlando tells a poem about youth in front of Queen Elizabeth I. She grants him a large estate and orders him never to age. During winter, Orlando falls in love with Sasha, the daughter of a Russian diplomat, but she abandons him...1650. Orlando decides to finance poet Greene, but gets disappointed by his work...1700. Orlando is an ambassador in some country in the Middle East. After a man gets killed, Orlando wakes up one morning as a woman...1750. Orlando rejects an offer for marriage...1850. Orlando meets Shelmerdine, who fell from his horse, and spends a passionate night with him...A pregnant Orlando walks through World War battlefield...90s. Orlando hands over a manuscript for her novel and rides away with her daughter.

Art-drama "Orlando" is one of the strangest essays about transgenderism and gay love ever filmed. By presenting a man, Orlando, who becomes a woman half way into the film (he/she awakes, looks herself in the mirror and and talks directly into the camera: "The same person. No difference. Just a different gender"), the story tried to reflect the essence of that state that is reflected across different centuries, yet despite a solid direction by Sally Potter, "Orlando" is strangely unaffecting, pale and deprived of any way to communicate with the viewers. For all of its good intentions, it's purely a film for its own sake, or for some other sake unknown and alien to us. The seven episodes from Orlando's life all flow smoothly, they are all well crafted, yet they have no meaning as a whole or for themself. Here and there a few intriguing scenes show up that ignite the viewers' interest, like the shot of a ship captured by ice in the middle of the frozen sea, yet the flame quickly gets extinguished since the story fails to incorporate a purpose that is sensed into it. It's a film that's so bizarre that you're surprised you don't feel anything. Though cult actress Tilda Swinton is very good as the androgynous title hero/heroine since the role seems to fit her hermetic talent.
Grade:+