Genre:
Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Review Date:
31st March 2014
Venue:
Bradford International Film Festival
Director:
Sally Potter
Cast:
Tilda Swinton, Billy Zane, Quentin Crisp
In adapting Virginia Woolf’s novel, Sally Potter was finally able to achieve what she had hoped to with the release of The Gold Diggers, reaching a wide audience while sticking to her principles. For in Orlando she explores the role of women in society through a story that is more accessible to the mainstream, choosing a more subtle approach to her material which critiques in a playful and witty manner while providing an entertaining story that can be appreciated and enjoyed by all. The story, for those of you unfamiliar with it, surrounds the androgynous and immortal Orlando (outstandingly played by Tilda Swinton), who, beginning life as a young man during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, lives through four centuries and both genders. The film is at its best when satirising the gender expectations and constrictions as they shift over time, whether it be the feminine look desired by men in the Elizabethan era, or the protagonist no longer being entitled to her own home once she changes sex from that of a man to a woman. While the film is not as formally adventurous as The Gold Diggers, it has lost none of the passion that its predecessor showed toward the injustices of a patriarchal society. To the contrary, through maintaining its passion and giving the film a greater accessibility, Orlando has become Potter’s magnum opus.
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