same person. no difference at all.

[alonewiththemoon]

I just re-watched Orlando for the first time in many years and am so glad I did.  When I watched it years ago, it was with someone who I think was categorically incapable of putting himself in another's place, and thus the whole conceit of the story didn't work for him, plus OMG naked lady and that lady used to be a dude and OMG.  ANYWAY stupid memories aside, I have reclaimed the viewing experience for my own and felt every nuanced minute of it.  Tilda Swinton is just magnificent as Orlando, both male and female.  Lines that easily could have been ridiculous she rendered so convincingly you accepted them, or understood why they were ridiculous.  She's just luminous on the screen (in fact, she and Billy Zane together in 1850s period clothing were just about too beautiful to look at).  And so many little details added so much, like Orlando being a better horsewoman than Billy Zane's adventurer.  I felt like I was catching my breath the entire movie.

Also, Quentin Crisp was clearly born to be Queen Elizabeth I.  Insert old queen joke here, but still, seriously.  And Jimmy Somerville (of Bronski Beat fame) was excellent as an Elizabethan singer and an angel.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I've never read any Virginia Woolf.  I have to rectify that.
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Comments

[fieryredhead.livejournal.com]

I *LOVE* Orlando. I really need to get it on DVD as my VHS is on it's last legs.

[fudjo.livejournal.com]

I remember flipping through channels and coming across this really odd yet totally mesmerizing movie and being clued in to the awesomeness of Tilda Swinton. Yeah, Orlando rocks.

[dirtyknees.livejournal.com]

Too funny - if your viewing companion on the first round was who I think it was, then your Orlando is my Brazil. Still haven't steeled myself to watch that.

Yes, yes, you must read Orlando. After having been a longtime fan of the film, I finally read it last year. Though be forewarned, it is atypical of her writing. I read To the Lighthouse and Mrs. Dalloway, and they were more like the body of her work (so the lit crits said). I should read her letters to Vita Sackville-West next (Orlando was a sort-of inside joke between the two women).

Andrea

[alonewiththemoon]

Yes, that's exactly who, so I'm sure you can imagine the pain ;-)

[suzycat.livejournal.com]

Orlando instilled in me a desire for an all-white bed with all manner of silks and laces in the sheets. It is a *gorgeous* film. I should watch it again.