Orlando

Playful, elegant, explosive, brilliant, daring, beautiful, sexy, hip, and funny: The words of praise have virtually been raining down on Sally Potter’s masterpiece Orlando ever since its initial release in 1992. And every single one is totally deserved.

Born a British nobleman in the 1500s, Orlando (Tilda Swinton) is somehow mysteriously bestowed with the gift of eternal youth – by none other than Queen Elizabeth I, on her deathbed. He travels through two centuries as a poet and ambassador, until one morning he awakes as woman. Thus, (s)he is (of course!) robbed of all property, authority and agency, but still manages to surpass their new limitations and make it all the way into our own time.

Orlando is period drama at its very finest, full as it is of amazing sets and scenes and witty dialogue. In only 90 minutes this film manages to say more about love, art, power, and 400 years of history than many television shows do in several seasons. The film is an adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s novel of the same name, from 1928, which was one of her most light-spirited, satirical, and popular publications. The iconic author’s criticism of the gender roles of her own time is clear throughout the film, and also finds resonance in the present day.

A stage production of Orlando is performed in Oslo on the 13th and 14th of June, the week after Oslo Pix. The production won the Hedda Award in 2017. Theatre director Sigrun Strøm Reibo joins us at this screening for a talk with translator Merete Alfsen about Orlando as literature, theatre, and film.