Orlando

Rating:
Summary: Part man, part woman, all good
Review: This is an amazing, ironic film, based upon Virginia Woolf's whimsically mock-serious epic about an immortal English lord, who experiences 400 years of history, changes his sex to that of a woman after refusing to participate in warfare (a feminist point that is subtly made), and never bores or condescends to us. What surprised me when I first saw it is how dry, boring and pompous it isn't; the film has a nice lightness and dry humor that make it digestible. The photography is beautiful and the film never drags, and the performances, which a lot of critics have suggested are somewhat two-dimensional, are that way for a reason: Orlando's adventure is too awesome to be rendered realistically; the people and adventures she experiences are meant, I think, to be represented symbolically---each character is actually a rough composite of perhaps hundreds of such types she meets in her journey from 1600 to 2000. Billy Zane, who is seen in the movie's poster, plays an American adventurer who romances the female Orlando, but to all of his "Titanic" fans, a word of caution: he's in the film for roughly twenty-five minutes, if that much. The real star of the show is the ethereally lovely, brilliant, and mysterious Tilda Swinton, whose male Orlando is unnervingly convincing; so much so that "he" almost seems to be doing a drag bit once the sex change happens---and because Swinton is so eye-pleasing and delightful, this is not a bad thing. Her intelligence and talent radiate from her face, which is so expressive that many shots consist simply of gigantic closeups of it---she can say more with a gaze than many lesser performers do with a page of dialogue. I first saw this film in 1993, as an exchange student living in London, and it gave me an appreciation for British history and for Woolf's books that I had never had before. It's really quite a smart, funny, cool, hip movie, but with no explosions, car chases, or hot-button themes, it's by no means a populist-type entertainment. If you like period films, or anything English, you'll dig this a lot: Orlando isn't just English, he/she *is* England, and the country should be so lucky as to be compared with Tilda Swinton's long-suffering (centuries of it, in fact, what a burden) poetry-spouting nobleman/woman. Very cool.

Rating:
Summary: This is one REALLY odd movie
Review: This is one really odd movie, I've never seen anything quite like it. I found the story interesting but strange at the same time. I'm not sure how historically accurate it is but the movie seems very well researched and loaded with tiny details that could so easily have been over looked or even left out, much better done than so many modern day setting movies. The plot mostly made sense to me although the passage of time seems dreamlike in later stages. I really liked the locations and costumes, weird as they were I think the clothing was probably exactly right for the times, remarkable achievement for what I think was actually a low budget movie.

Rating:
Summary: Quirky and fun
Review: This movie is certainly worth watching. You are taken on a trot through about 400 years of British history from the perspective of the title character who is commanded not to age by Elizabeth I so doesn't. Orlando suffers somewhat as a man and inexplicably changes sex part way through film and has to deal with the unfairness of a patriarchally based system, and always has to deal with the issue of his/her longevity.

Quirky and fun, I thought the acting was good, and the cinematography very good. A movie you will talk about after you watch it.

Rating:
Summary: Very Zen, very good.
Review: This movie is one of those that you must be in the proper mood for. The pace is slow, and there are often long pauses in the dialogue, filled by the haunting, wide eyes of Tilda Swinton. But if you are relaxed and open to this movie, it is a wonderful experience. It is beautifully photographed, and spiritually fulfilling. Loved it!

Rating:
Summary: It lingers...
Review: This seems like a movie you'd either love or hate. I'd never watch it with my boyfriend because he'd either say, "Nothing is happening..." or "Wait- Why's he a *girl* now...?" I found this movie incredibly thought provoking and haunting really- to think of all of the life lessons and challenges you could learn if you had 400 years to experience- To be a man and then suddenly be a woman and realize all of the rights that you had as a man that you took for granted. "Orlando" and "Like Water for Chocolate" are still the only two movies I've rewound immediately after watching them so I could watch it again and see what else I could "get" a second time around. If you liked "Elizabeth" and loved the costumes and the progress of gender issues throughout history, give it a shot.

Rating:
Summary: An epic of astounding grace
Review: This telling of Virginia Woolf's tale is a sweeping epic of grace and beauty.
There could not have been a better choice to portray the gender swapping Orlando than Tilda Swinton. She lights up the screen with her beauty, grace and subtle wit. As a young man nervously reciting poetry to Queen Elizabeth, or a modern woman raising a young daughter, she embraces the audience and pulls us fully into her world. The settings, costumes and music serve to construct a world of changing ages spinning around a single soul in flux.
Orlando is an astounding piece of cinema history and deserves a place of honor in any DVD library.

Rating:
Summary: An epic of astounding grace
Review: This telling of Virginia Woolf's tale is a sweeping epic of grace and beauty.
There could not have been a better choice to portray the gender swapping Orlando than Tilda Swinton. She lights up the screen with her beauty, grace and subtle wit. As a young man nervously reciting poetry to Queen Elizabeth, or a modern woman raising a young daughter, she embraces the audience and pulls us fully into her world. The settings, costumes and music serve to construct a world of changing ages spinning around a single soul in flux.
Orlando is an astounding piece of cinema history and deserves a place of honor in any DVD library.

Rating:
Summary: Imortal, fantastic story.
Review: Virginia Woolf is the greatest author of the 20th century for me.The perfect language, the capacity of her imagination and the power of her literature impressed me very much. Orlando is not from our world.She/he ýs from the fantastic planet which Virginia Woolf lived in.SHE/HE for just a person, what a fantasy.

Rating:
Summary: I watched in rapture...
Review: What and incredible waking dream.. This film left a lasting impression. I fell in love with the character with the aid of a fantastic storyline, amazingly beautiful countryside and wonderful musical score. I highly recommend this film

Rating:
Summary: A Fascinating Work of Beauty
Review: Whether it was a mystical experience to watch because it pulled me out of the boredom of a dreary Sunday morning when it appeared on IFC, or whether it really is one of the most fascinating and hauntingly photographed films ever made...well, the jury is still out, and in fact it's probably both reasons. But I quickly obtained my own copy and have waited to watch it again because I so badly want to share this movie with someone. But it's a rare breed that will appreciate the story of a man who over time turns into a woman---a human being who tells a story of pain and obsession, heartache, war, and finally fulfillment in the truest love possible, across five centuries of different lives/same soul. A beautiful and artful rendition of the novel. I can't wait to unwrap mine one day and share it with the right friend... Could become an underground intellegentsia cult classic. (If it hasn't already and I'm really out of the loop.)