Repeated viewing is the answer to this puzzle of a film. I saw it when first released (egad, has it been twelve years!)and was intrigued and frustrated by it. Now, no longer a callow youth (crap, I wasn't a youth when I first saw it!),I find it intriguing and very fine. Casting Quentin Crisp as Elizabeth the First was a stroke of genius and Tilda Swinton is perfection as Orlando. Billy Sommerville (Bronski Beat)is, now and forever, an angel in my mind. Has Billy Zane ever looked so good? Visuals are important in this movie; there are so many beautifully photographed scenes. Sally Potter lets humour sneak in to save it from what might have been total and impenetrable pretension.
