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Orlando
1992 94 min France, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, United Kingdom PG-13 18+
★7.7
Drama, Fantasy
Director: Sally Potter
🎭 Based on
«Orlando: A Biography»
byVirginia Woolf
Trailers
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Description
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.
Budget:
$4M
US Gross:
$5.38M
Worldwide:
$5.38M
Starring
Tilda Swinton
Actor
Billy Zane
Actor
Quentin Crisp
Actor
Awards
Venice Film Festival 1992
— OCIC Award
BAFTA 1994
— Best Makeup and Hairstyling
European Film Awards 1993
— Best Film by a Young Director
European Film Awards 1993
— Best Actress
Venice Film Festival 1992
— OCIC Award
BAFTA 1994
— Best Makeup and Hairstyling
European Film Awards 1993
— Best Film by a Young Director
Key opinion
Orlando is widely regarded as a visually stunning and poetic adaptation that serves as a career-defining showcase for Tilda Swinton. While most critics praise its artistic ambition and meticulous craft, some viewers find the unconventional, episodic pacing and abstract narrative depth challenging or inaccessible.
| Acting | Tilda Swinton delivers an iconic, career-defining performance that perfectly embodies the protagonist's androgynous nature and timeless evolution. | |
| Production | The production design, costumes, and cinematography create a visually lush, painterly aesthetic that effectively captures the film's surreal and shifting historical eras. | |
| Pacing | The film's stylistic, chapter-based structure rewards those who appreciate poetic, contemplative storytelling, while others view the same pace as sluggish or lacking coherent momentum. | |
| Accessibility | The narrative requires familiarity with Virginia Woolf's original novel to fully appreciate the thematic nuances, which may leave uninitiated viewers feeling confused. | |
| Theme | The film prioritizes aesthetic metaphors and symbolic imagery, which some argue comes at the expense of substantive thematic depth regarding gender politics. |