Orlando (Tilda Swinton) is a feminine well-educated young man. It's 1600. The elderly Queen Elizabeth takes on Orlando as her mascot. She bestows on him land, money and a castle on one condition. Do not fade. Do not wither. Do not grow old. He falls for Moscovite Ambassador's daughter Sasha Menchikova leaving his engagement to Lady Euphrosyne. Sasha leaves him and breaks his heart. He pays poet Greene who then ridicules his poetry. It's 1700. He is sent to Constantinople as British ambassador. He is changed into a woman. It's 1750. Lady Orlando loses her property since a woman has no ownership rights to the land. She rejects a proposal from Archduke Harry. It's 1850. She falls for Shelmerdine. The lawsuits are settled and she can only keep the land if she has a male heir. It's the modern era. She has a daughter and has written a book.
Tilda Swinton has a gender bending role and has the androgynous presence to do it. She does an amazing job taking on this role. The movie should probably be a lot more surreal. It's stuck somewhere in the middle. There is a perfunctory nature to this film. She wakes up one morning and finds that herself a woman. It could be read as she was always a woman pretending to be a man. Some sort of transformation needs to be seen or Orlando needs some more declarative speech. Also spanning so much time leaves very little space for each section. The movie feels shallow hinting at a much deeper source material.
Tilda Swinton has a gender bending role and has the androgynous presence to do it. She does an amazing job taking on this role. The movie should probably be a lot more surreal. It's stuck somewhere in the middle. There is a perfunctory nature to this film. She wakes up one morning and finds that herself a woman. It could be read as she was always a woman pretending to be a man. Some sort of transformation needs to be seen or Orlando needs some more declarative speech. Also spanning so much time leaves very little space for each section. The movie feels shallow hinting at a much deeper source material.