Orlando

1992 1h 34m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 411

DramaFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Sally Potter
Writers: Sally Potter, Walter Donohue
Languages: English, French, Russian, Turkish
Countries: France, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

34 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, French, Russian, Turkish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 5 countries: France, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Sally Potter, shot by Alexey Rodionov. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Sally Potter. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Hervé Schneid shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Tilda Swinton and Billy Zane and Lothaire Bluteau carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Sally Potter directs. Alexey Rodionov behind the camera. Sally Potter scores. Hervé Schneid cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in France, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English, French, Russian, Turkish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
234 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, French, Russian, Turkish.
4International production across 5 countries: France, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, United Kingdom.
5Directed by Sally Potter, shot by Alexey Rodionov. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Sally Potter. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Hervé Schneid shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Tilda Swinton and Billy Zane and Lothaire Bluteau carry the top of the cast.
9IMDB entry: tt0107756 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 10 themes, including "london, england", "based on novel or book", "queen elizabeth i", "breaking the fourth wall".

The technical file

Cinematography: Alexey Rodionov
Original score: Sally Potter
Editing: Hervé Schneid
Production design: Stanislav Romanovsky
Costume design: Sandy Powell
Makeup / hair: Tamara Frid
Sound: Robin O'Donoghue
Stunt coordinator: Steve Dent
Runtime: 94 min · 1h 34m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,000,000
Box office: $5,377,643
Return: 134% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Orlando (1992)

Awards

Sitges Film Festival Best Feature-Length Film award
Young European Film of the Year

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Sally Potter

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Filipe Manuel Neto2022-09-29
★ 5/10
Based on a somewhat controversial novel, it tackles gender issues and other deep subjects quite well. “Orlando” is perhaps one of the most interesting and controversial novels by the equally controversial Virginia Woolf. The details of this writer's life are known: the sexual abuse she suffered in childhood, the depressive crises, the existential doubts she experienced all her life, her bisexuality. And “Orlando” was born in this context: it is the result of the relationship between Woolf and Victoria Sackville West, an aristocrat who maintained an open marriage, in which she could live her sexuality with other women. To what extent have Victoria or the author herself, at certain moments, not wanted or fantasized about an eventual sex change? I don't know, however, I assume that Woolf's novel may be one of the first literary works to explore the possibility of transsexuality. The film doesn't do much more than transport Woolf's words to the screen, recreating a story where a young androgynous English aristocrat of the Elizabethan court, Lord Orlando, finds himself the object of the affection of the old queen, who gives him various goods and perks. on condition that he can never grow old or die, which actually happens! Thus, “blessed” (the eventual negative consequences are never addressed) in this way, Orlando crosses the centuries without aging a day, lives in love and gets to know other countries. At one point, he is possessed by a sleep he cannot wake up from, and when he finally wakes up, he has mysteriously become a woman, and spends the next two hundred years proving that not only did he never die, he changed sex. And the years go by, with the film ending in our days. The film is responsible for boosting the film career of Tilda Swinton, a British actress who, even before making this film, was already pursuing a somewhat androgynous aesthetic look, perhaps due to having spent her childhood as the only girl among several male brothers. . The truth is that the film contributed decisively to the actress's career. She dominates the film and gives us a superb performance. John Wood and Quentin Crisp also do great value work. Technically, what stands out the most about this film is the cinematography, very careful and beautiful, and the smooth but consistent pace of a film that can take a while to convince viewers, but manages to do it and keeps our attention until at end. Filmed largely on British soil, it makes good use of various aristocratic houses as part of its set, and all the costumes, for each historical era, were really well done.
CinemaSerf2022-10-21
★ 7/10
Tilda Swinton is superb in this story of the eponymous Tudor noble who obeys a command from the enamoured Queen Elizabeth (Quentin Crisp) and refuses to grow old. The film now follows the adventures, loves and ultimately depicts how the character adapts - quite literally - as England becomes Britain and eventually he becomes free! The experiences as an ambassador in the middle east, the determination to retain the family property when the authorities begin to smell a rat, the arrival of a child - all build upon this wonderfully enigmatic Virginia Woolf creation that defies typical analysis. This is story of humanity and of it's own reluctance to embrace meaningful change as events and the environment relentlessly changes around it. Historical figures from Othello to King James I appear throughout this quirkily engaging chronology that is colourful, vibrant and enjoyably imaginative with this particular adaptation taking a little liberty with the book by extending the timeline into the more modern era. Whilst "Orlando" may evolve with some Hermaphroditic characteristics, they serve as a conduit to this story and are not overtly central to the action. It's that very gender ambiguity that becomes gradually better defined as if the immortal is emerging from a fog - and Sally Potter keeps that remarkably well focused for the ninety minutes of screen time we are presented with here. It is an hard film to evaluate, it may or will mean many different things to many different people, and that's what makes it very watchable indeed.