Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Orlando is one of those films you either get, or you don't. Derived on the novel of the same name by Virginia Woolf (who based the character on her friend Vita Sackville-West), it's a trip through time from the late Elizabethan age to modern times, as seen through the eyes of Orlando.

When we first meet Orlando, he is a callow young man, thinking that things will remain the same, that time does not change, that he is indeed the pearl in the world's oyster. Then he meets the Queen, Elizabeth (strikingly portrayed by the late Quentin Crisp), who makes a favorite and companion, and grants him the family estate to be his forever, under one condition -- "That you do not grow old, do not fade."

Which is exactly what happens. Throughout the centuries, in fifty, then one hundred year leaps, Orlando does not age. Through his -- and later, her, for Orlando switches gender on us -- eyes, we see progress, and time passing. Orlando falls in love, tries poetry, warfare, social change and commentary, and romantic love, and faces the viewers with that disarming, direct gaze that draws them into the story -- and Orlando's mind -- at the same time. And Orlando matures into a serene and knowing soul, at ease with her surroundings and nature, able to adapt to any change while remaining true to herself.

The cinematography, and art direction in this film is excellent. Colors and textures, light and shape are lovingly placed and shown, making this one of the best-looking films that I have ever seen. The costumes are the most accurate that I have seen in a very long time, and the depiction of Jacobean London is marvelous, showing a frozen over Thames, and the reception of the Russian Ambassadors is one of the most gorgeous bits of acting and staging.

This is a thinking film; you're not going to be seeing a lot action or intense personal exchanges. Instead, the nature of love, gender, and what is time is the central theme of this movie, given in witty, careful dialogue.

Cast: Tilda Swinton as Orlando, Billy Zane, Quentin Crisp, John Wood, and Heathcote Wiliams.

Check this one out if you're looking for something besides car-chases, sappy romance, or silly humor.


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older