ORLANDO

In the 1990s, heritage cinema films began to find their character and began to search for their own identity, often transcending the rigid genre norms in form and content. In the grand estates, the focus shifted from just the landowners to their servants, and adaptations of classical works started to take on a more innovative and sometimes controversial character. The new face of heritage cinema can confidently include the film ORLANDO, directed by Sally Potter - composer, singer, screenwriter and director of such films as THE TANGO LESSON (1997), THE MAN WHO CRIED (2000) and PARTY (2017). 

In the 1600s, young aristocrat Orlando (Tilda Swinton) is cursed with eternal youth by the bewitched Queen Elizabeth I (Quentin Crisp), who is enchanted with him. The man experiences love, heartbreak, pleasure and the charms of art. After 200 years of life, Orlando transforms into a woman. In this new incarnation, he notices the significant social inequality between men and women.

This approximately 400-year journey in search of identity is not without irony. The coldness emanating from the spectacularly captured epochal scenes becomes a metaphor for some enslavement. The costumes worn by the androgynous Tilda Swinton also serve as a costume for the character she portrays. The fluidity of identity and a sense of timelessness embodied by Orlando seem to fit within the rigid framework of Great Britain with varying success.

The film itself breaks many barriers not just in terms of plot but also formally: one of the queer icons, Quentin Crisp, portrays Queen Elizabeth I, while Orlando comments on events by looking directly into the camera. The continual breaking of the fourth wall adds another metaphorical layer to this extraordinary tale.

Potter's work won three awards at the Venice Film Festival.

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Dominika Stachowiak