England, 1600. Queen Elizabeth I promises Orlando, a young nobleman obsessed with poetry, that she will grant him land and fortune if he agrees to satisfy a very particular request.
Acting
Swinton's centuries-spanning stillness is otherworldly.
Costume
Sandy Powell's 400-year fashion journey slaps.
Direction
Potter's fourth-wall breaks feel like conspiratorial winks.
Director
Sally Potter
Tilda Swinton
Orlando
Billy Zane
Shelmerdine
Lothaire Bluteau
The Khan
John Wood
Archduke Harry
Charlotte Valandrey
Sasha
Heathcote Williams
Nick Greene / Publisher
Quentin Crisp
Queen Elizabeth I
Peter Eyre
Mr. Pope
Thom Hoffman
King William of Orange
Kathryn Hunter
Countess
Jimmy Somerville
Singer / Angel
Dudley Sutton
King James I
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Virginia Woolf wrote Orlando as a love letter to Vita Sackville-West; Sally Potter had Swinton play both genders to honor that gender-fluid spirit.
The film's final motorcycle sequence—Orlando in modern dress, daughter in tow—was radical 1990s queer imagery that still feels ahead of its time.
GB
