Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 44 (click to see context) from:
* BreakingTheFourthWall: Orlando does this after changing sex [[spoiler: and again in the film's final shot.]]
to:
* BreakingTheFourthWall: Orlando does this after changing sex [[spoiler: and again in the film's final shot.]]a lot.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/orlando_movie.png]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 46 (click to see context) from:
* CrosscastRole: Orlando himself, at least until the physical transition. Elizabeth I is additionally played by trans woman author, raconteuse and LGBT icon Quentin Crisp, who at the time was unaware of being transgender and was cast as a male actor.
to:
* CrosscastRole: Orlando himself, at least until the physical transition. Elizabeth I is additionally played by trans woman author, raconteuse and LGBT icon Quentin Crisp, who at the time was unaware of being transgender (in fact, Crisp didn't come out until shortly before dying at age 90) and was cast as a male actor.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 84 (click to see context) from:
* [[UnfazedEveryman Unfazed Everyperson]]: The weird things that happen to Orlando (never getting old, changing from man to woman) never startle or surprise him/her; he/she only gets upset when someone dumps, insults, harries or otherwise mistreats him/her.
to:
* [[UnfazedEveryman Unfazed Everyperson]]: The weird things that happen to Orlando (never getting old, changing from man to woman) never startle or surprise him/her; he/she only gets upset when someone dumps, insults, harries or otherwise mistreats him/her.him/her.
----
----
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Deleted line(s) 18 (click to see context) :
* {{Bishonen}}: Orlando in the first half of the film, accentuated by his fashionably long hair (and underlined by the fact that he's played by Tilda Swinton).
Changed line(s) 68 (click to see context) from:
* MsFanservice: When Female!Orlando looks at herself in the mirror after the transformation.
to:
* MsFanservice: When Female!Orlando female Orlando looks at herself in the mirror after the transformation.transformation.
* PrettyBoy: Orlando is a youthful pretty boy in the first half of the film, accentuated by his fashionably long hair (and underlined by the fact that he's played by Tilda Swinton).
* PrettyBoy: Orlando is a youthful pretty boy in the first half of the film, accentuated by his fashionably long hair (and underlined by the fact that he's played by Tilda Swinton).
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 47 (click to see context) from:
* CrosscastRole: Orlando himself, at least until the sex change, but also Elizabeth I is played by male author, raconteur and LGBT icon Quentin Crisp.
to:
* CrosscastRole: Orlando himself, at least until the sex change, but also physical transition. Elizabeth I is additionally played by male trans woman author, raconteur raconteuse and LGBT icon Quentin Crisp.Crisp, who at the time was unaware of being transgender and was cast as a male actor.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* ChivalrousPervert: Male!Orlando in the 1500s, who's engaged to a nice girl but who falls for a Russian princess.
Added DiffLines:
* MarsAndVenusGenderContrast: By the 1700s Orlando has come to believe this:
-->'''The Khan''': [''proposing a toast''] To beauty of nature. And of course to the beauty of women, and the joys of love.\\
[''Orlando, who is a bit drunk, sinks to his knees with a pained expression on his face'']
-->'''The Khan''': I see. You're here as a casualty of love, my friend.
-->'''Orlando''': ...They're not like us fellows.
-->'''The Khan''': [''proposing a toast''] To beauty of nature. And of course to the beauty of women, and the joys of love.\\
[''Orlando, who is a bit drunk, sinks to his knees with a pained expression on his face'']
-->'''The Khan''': I see. You're here as a casualty of love, my friend.
-->'''Orlando''': ...They're not like us fellows.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 78 (click to see context) from:
* UnfazedEveryman: The weird things that happen to Orlando (never getting old, changing from man to woman) never startle or surprise him/her; he/she only gets upset when someone dumps, insults, harries or otherwise mistreats him/her.
to:
* UnfazedEveryman: [[UnfazedEveryman Unfazed Everyperson]]: The weird things that happen to Orlando (never getting old, changing from man to woman) never startle or surprise him/her; he/she only gets upset when someone dumps, insults, harries or otherwise mistreats him/her.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 48 (click to see context) from:
* DissonantSerenity: [[spoiler: After a lifetime of disappointments, humiliations, abandonments, her inheritance long since taken away, and everyone she has ever been fond of (except for her daughter) dying on her, including the only love she's ever had, the final shot of the film is]] Orlando smiling mysteriously into the camera with an unblinking stare for ''twenty-two seconds''. Strangely uplifting, because who wouldn't want Tilda Swinton smiling at them for 22 seconds.
to:
* DissonantSerenity: [[spoiler: After a lifetime of disappointments, humiliations, abandonments, her inheritance long since taken away, and everyone she has ever been fond of (except for her daughter) dying on her, including the only love she's ever had, the final shot of the film is]] Orlando smiling mysteriously into the camera with an unblinking stare for ''twenty-two seconds''. Strangely uplifting, because who wouldn't want Tilda Swinton smiling at them for 22 seconds.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Orlando has outlived everyone she's ever loved except for her daughter, and she's lost everything she ever had, but she's got a daughter, a motorbike, a potentially a saleable manuscript, and the knowledge that she represents a possible future for the human race.]]
-->''I am coming, I am coming, I am coming through''\\
''Coming across the divide to you''\\
''In this moment of unity''\\
''Feeling an ecstasy''\\
''To be here, to be now''\\
''At last I am free.''\\
''Yes at last, at last, to be free of the past''\\
''and of the future that beckons me''\\
''Yes at last, at last, to be free of the past''\\
''and of the future that beckons me.''\\
''I am coming.''\\
''I am coming.''
-->''I am coming, I am coming, I am coming through''\\
''Coming across the divide to you''\\
''In this moment of unity''\\
''Feeling an ecstasy''\\
''To be here, to be now''\\
''At last I am free.''\\
''Yes at last, at last, to be free of the past''\\
''and of the future that beckons me''\\
''Yes at last, at last, to be free of the past''\\
''and of the future that beckons me.''\\
''I am coming.''\\
''I am coming.''
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 7,8 (click to see context) from:
We see Orlando as a pregnant nurse, stumbling across a World War One battlefield, and then in the present day, Orlando is a single mother and author, shopping the manuscript of her life story to a publisher (played by the same actor who played Nick Greene). He's interested, this time. The film ends with Orlando sitting under a tree watching her daughter playing, while an angel sings in the branches.
to:
We see Orlando as a pregnant nurse, stumbling across a World War One battlefield, and then in the present day, Orlando is a single mother and author, shopping the manuscript of her life story to a publisher (played by the same actor who played Nick Greene). He's interested, this time. The film ends with Orlando sitting under a tree watching her daughter playing, while an angel sings in the branches.\n
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* ImmortalityBeginsAtTwenty: It does for Orlando, anyway, who over the course of 400 calendar years, ages by about ten years (Tilda Swinton was 31 when the film was made.)
Added DiffLines:
* StylisticSuck: Orlando's poetry.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 35 (click to see context) from:
* DissonantSerenity: [[spoiler: After a lifetime of disappointments, humiliations, abandonments, everyone she knew dying on her including the only love she's ever had, and her inheritance long since taken away, the final shot of the film is]] Orlando smiling mysteriously into the camera with an unblinking stare for ''twenty-two seconds''. Strangely uplifting, because who wouldn't want Tilda Swinton smiling at them for 22 seconds.
to:
* DissonantSerenity: [[spoiler: After a lifetime of disappointments, humiliations, abandonments, her inheritance long since taken away, and everyone she knew has ever been fond of (except for her daughter) dying on her her, including the only love she's ever had, and her inheritance long since taken away, the final shot of the film is]] Orlando smiling mysteriously into the camera with an unblinking stare for ''twenty-two seconds''. Strangely uplifting, because who wouldn't want Tilda Swinton smiling at them for 22 seconds.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* DissonantSerenity: [[spoiler: After a lifetime of disappointments, humiliations, abandonments, everyone she knew dying on her including the only love she's ever had, and her inheritance long since taken away, the final shot of the film is]] Orlando smiling mysteriously into the camera with an unblinking stare for ''twenty-two seconds''. Strangely uplifting, because who wouldn't want Tilda Swinton smiling at them for 22 seconds.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 59 (click to see context) from:
* TearsOfJoy: Orlando has these [[spoiler: at the end of the film]], watching her daughter run through the grass and listening to the angel hovering above the tree singing the film's closing song. Coupled with DissonantSerenity:
to:
* TearsOfJoy: Orlando has these [[spoiler: at the end of the film]], watching her daughter run through the grass and listening to the angel hovering above the tree singing the film's closing song.to her. Coupled with DissonantSerenity:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* TearsOfJoy: Orlando has these [[spoiler: at the end of the film]], watching her daughter run through the grass and listening to the angel hovering above the tree singing the film's closing song. Coupled with DissonantSerenity:
-->'''Daughter''': Why are you sad?
-->'''Orlando''': I'm not. I'm happy. Look up there.
-->'''Daughter''': Why are you sad?
-->'''Orlando''': I'm not. I'm happy. Look up there.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 39,40 (click to see context) from:
-->'''Orlando''': [''running through the maze in the grounds of her house''] Nature, nature, I'm your bride. Take me.\\
[''She runs out of the maze and startles a horse being ridden by Shelmerdine. The horse rears, he falls off and she falls over.'']
[''She runs out of the maze and startles a horse being ridden by Shelmerdine. The horse rears, he falls off and she falls over.'']
to:
-->'''Orlando''': [''running [''Churning romantic music; Orlando is running through the maze in the grounds of her house''] house, in fog; she falls over and lies on the grass''] Nature, nature, I'm your bride. Take me.\\
[''She runs out of the maze and startles a [''Shelmerdine rides up on his horse being ridden by Shelmerdine. and looks down at her. The horse rears, he falls off next to her. Orlando does an AsideGlance and she falls over.stares at him.'']
Changed line(s) 45 (click to see context) from:
-->'''Shelmerdine''': Ma'am... I would gladly... um, I...but I fear my ankle is twisted.
to:
-->'''Shelmerdine''': Ma'am... I would gladly... um, I...but I fear my ankle is twisted.\\
[''Cut to Orlando on horseback with him behind her, cantering back to the house'']
[''Cut to Orlando on horseback with him behind her, cantering back to the house'']
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* CrosscastRole: Orlando himself, at least until the sex change, but also Elizabeth I is played by male author, raconteur and LGBT icon Quentin Crisp.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 30 (click to see context) from:
* BreakingTheFourthWall: Orlando does this after changing sex.
to:
* BreakingTheFourthWall: Orlando does this after changing sex.sex [[spoiler: and again in the film's final shot.]]
Changed line(s) 46 (click to see context) from:
* TheReveal: The mirror scene. Orlando wakes up in wig and shirt and lies there for a moment, staring into space, then takes the wig off and leaves. The shirt falls on the bed. Orlando goes to the washstand, washes face, then pauses, and looks off. Cut Orlando looking at Orlando's reflection in a full-length mirror: "he" now has a woman's body. She stares at herself for a long moment.
to:
* TheReveal: The mirror scene. Orlando wakes up in wig and shirt and lies there for a moment, staring into space, then takes the wig off and leaves. The shirt falls on the bed. Orlando goes to the washstand, washes face, then pauses, and looks off. Cut to naked Orlando looking at Orlando's reflection in a full-length mirror: "he" she now has a woman's body. She stares at herself for a long moment.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Since the most famous thing about this film is that its title character changes sex, '''spoilers are unmarked'''!
* {{Bifauxnen}}: Orlando at the end of the film, in her boots, jodhpurs, waistcoat and shirt; she has a ponytail but she holds herself very upright.
Deleted line(s) 28,29 (click to see context) :
-->[''Female!Orlando stands naked before a full-length mirror for a long moment, staring at herself'']
-->'''Orlando''': [''softly, to the camera''] Same person. No difference at all. Just a different sex.
-->'''Orlando''': [''softly, to the camera''] Same person. No difference at all. Just a different sex.
* FieryRedhead: Inverted. Orlando has red hair but is generally very calm and seldom gets angry or upset.
* GenderBender: Orlando changes from a man to a woman halfway through the film.
* GenderBender: Orlando changes from a man to a woman halfway through the film.
Changed line(s) 43 (click to see context) from:
* TheReveal: The mirror scene.
to:
* TheReveal: The mirror scene. Orlando wakes up in wig and shirt and lies there for a moment, staring into space, then takes the wig off and leaves. The shirt falls on the bed. Orlando goes to the washstand, washes face, then pauses, and looks off. Cut Orlando looking at Orlando's reflection in a full-length mirror: "he" now has a woman's body. She stares at herself for a long moment.
-->'''Orlando''': Same person. [''smiles''] No difference at all. [''[[BreakingTheFourthWall looks into camera]]''] Just a different sex.
-->'''Orlando''': Same person. [''smiles''] No difference at all. [''[[BreakingTheFourthWall looks into camera]]''] Just a different sex.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* BreakingTheFourthWall: Orlando does this after changing sex.
-->[''Female!Orlando stands naked before a full-length mirror for a long moment, staring at herself'']
-->'''Orlando''': [''softly, to the camera''] Same person. No difference at all. Just a different sex.
-->[''Female!Orlando stands naked before a full-length mirror for a long moment, staring at herself'']
-->'''Orlando''': [''softly, to the camera''] Same person. No difference at all. Just a different sex.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 41 (click to see context) from:
* StrawMisogynist: Pope. Downplayed in that Pope doesn't actively hate women, he just has zero respect for them. This is TruthInTelevision.[[note]]cf. Pope's [[http://www.bartleby.com/203/144.html ''Moral Essays'']], Epistle II: Of the Characters of Women[[/note]]
to:
* StrawMisogynist: Pope. Downplayed in that Pope doesn't actively hate women, he just has zero respect for them. This Also Justified, as this is TruthInTelevision.[[note]]cf. Pope's [[http://www.bartleby.com/203/144.html ''Moral Essays'']], Epistle II: Of the Characters of Women[[/note]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 41 (click to see context) from:
* StrawMisogynist: Pope. Downplayed in that Pope doesn't actively hate women, he just has zero respect for them. This is TruthInTelevision.[[note]]cf. Pope's ''Moral Essays'', Epistle II: Of the Characters of Women[[/note]]
to:
* StrawMisogynist: Pope. Downplayed in that Pope doesn't actively hate women, he just has zero respect for them. This is TruthInTelevision.[[note]]cf. Pope's [[http://www.bartleby.com/203/144.html ''Moral Essays'', Essays'']], Epistle II: Of the Characters of Women[[/note]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 41 (click to see context) from:
* StrawMisogynist: Pope. Downplayed in that Pope doesn't hate women, he just has zero respect for them. Justified in that Pope did think like this.
to:
* StrawMisogynist: Pope. Downplayed in that Pope doesn't actively hate women, he just has zero respect for them. Justified in that Pope did think like this.This is TruthInTelevision.[[note]]cf. Pope's ''Moral Essays'', Epistle II: Of the Characters of Women[[/note]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* StrawMisogynist: Pope. Downplayed in that Pope doesn't hate women, he just has zero respect for them. Justified in that Pope did think like this.
-->'''Orlando''': [''who has recently turned into a woman''] Gentlemen, I find it strange. You are poets, each one of you, and speak of your muse in the feminine. And yet you appear to feel neither tenderness nor respect towards your wives, nor towards females in general.
-->'''Pope''': Madam. I have only the highest regard and purest respect for females.
-->'''Orlando''': I find no evidence of that sentiment in your conversation.
-->'''Pope''': Conversation is a place where one ''plays'' with ideas my dear lady. One ''forges'' them quite alone.\\
[''Murmurs of "Quite" from the other male writers in the room'']
-->'''Pope''': The intellect is a solitary place, and therefore quite unsuitable a terrain for females, who must discover their natures through the guidance of a father, or husband.
-->'''Orlando''': And if she has neither?
-->'''Pope''': [''patronising smile''] Then...however charming she may be, dear lady...she is lost.
-->'''Orlando''': [''who has recently turned into a woman''] Gentlemen, I find it strange. You are poets, each one of you, and speak of your muse in the feminine. And yet you appear to feel neither tenderness nor respect towards your wives, nor towards females in general.
-->'''Pope''': Madam. I have only the highest regard and purest respect for females.
-->'''Orlando''': I find no evidence of that sentiment in your conversation.
-->'''Pope''': Conversation is a place where one ''plays'' with ideas my dear lady. One ''forges'' them quite alone.\\
[''Murmurs of "Quite" from the other male writers in the room'']
-->'''Pope''': The intellect is a solitary place, and therefore quite unsuitable a terrain for females, who must discover their natures through the guidance of a father, or husband.
-->'''Orlando''': And if she has neither?
-->'''Pope''': [''patronising smile''] Then...however charming she may be, dear lady...she is lost.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* CharacterDevelopment: Male!Orlando tells Princess Sasha "You're mine", and when she asks why, he replies "Because I adore you." A couple of hundred years later, the Archduke uses the same line on Female!Orlando, but this time, she doesn't buy it.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* CantHoldHisLiquor: Downplayed with Orlando, who when exchanging toasts with The Khan in the blazing sun, manages to last for about three drinks before sinking to his knees.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* BreakingBadNewsGently: Orlando turns down the Archduke's hand in marriage this way.
-->'''Archduke''': I can offer you a house to rival your own.
-->'''Orlando''': [''genuinely puzzled''] I don't quite understand.
-->'''Archduke''': Orlando, to me, you were and always will be, whether male or female...the pink, the pearl, and the perfection of yourself. I'm offering you my hand.
-->'''Orlando''': [''amazed''] Oh. Archduke. [''warmly''] That is very kind of you, yes. I can't accept.
-->'''Archduke''': But I...I, am England. And you are mine.
-->'''Orlando''': [''nodding''] I see. On what grounds?
-->'''Archduke''': That I adore you.
-->'''Orlando''': And this means that...I belong to you?
-->'''Archduke''': Are you refusing me?
-->'''Orlando''': [''sweetly''] I am, I'm sorry.
-->'''Archduke''': I can offer you a house to rival your own.
-->'''Orlando''': [''genuinely puzzled''] I don't quite understand.
-->'''Archduke''': Orlando, to me, you were and always will be, whether male or female...the pink, the pearl, and the perfection of yourself. I'm offering you my hand.
-->'''Orlando''': [''amazed''] Oh. Archduke. [''warmly''] That is very kind of you, yes. I can't accept.
-->'''Archduke''': But I...I, am England. And you are mine.
-->'''Orlando''': [''nodding''] I see. On what grounds?
-->'''Archduke''': That I adore you.
-->'''Orlando''': And this means that...I belong to you?
-->'''Archduke''': Are you refusing me?
-->'''Orlando''': [''sweetly''] I am, I'm sorry.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 27 (click to see context) from:
* TheReveal: The mirror scene.
to:
* TheReveal: The mirror scene.scene.
* UnfazedEveryman: The weird things that happen to Orlando (never getting old, changing from man to woman) never startle or surprise him/her; he/she only gets upset when someone dumps, insults, harries or otherwise mistreats him/her.
* UnfazedEveryman: The weird things that happen to Orlando (never getting old, changing from man to woman) never startle or surprise him/her; he/she only gets upset when someone dumps, insults, harries or otherwise mistreats him/her.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
A 1992 film, written and directed by Sally Potter, based on the novel by Creator/VirginiaWoolf, and chiefly notable for being the movie which made Creator/TildaSwinton into a star.
The film is set between the Elizabethan era and the present day, and follows the career of the title character, played by Swinton, who starts out as a handsome and somewhat androgynous young nobleman. Orlando's beauty gets the attention of the elderly UsefulNotes/ElizabethI, who grants him a big house and lots of land on the condition that he doesn't grow old...which Orlando proceeds not to do. He is, however, unlucky in love, falling for a Russian princess who jilts him. By the 17th century, Orlando is as young as ever and is interested in becoming a writer. He shows his verse to cynical poet Nick Greene, who in return suggests that if only Orlando were to set him up with a financial stipend, he could devote himself to being a full-time writer. Greene reads Orlando's poetry and finds it terrible, and publishes a poem ridiculing Orlando. Orlando is humiliated, but tells his people to pay Greene the stipend anyway.
By the 18th century, Orlando is a diplomat who has travelled to Constantinople as the English ambassador. While he's there, he gets caught up in a battle. The next morning, he wakes up in his bed to discover that he's turned into a woman, and is fine with that. Orlando travels back to England to find that her new sex raises a lot of questions about who's going to inherit the house if she's not married, because obviously, she can't; she is also now patronised by the intelligentsia. The film moves on to the 19th century, when a dashing American chap named Shelmerdine (Creator/BillyZane) falls off his horse on Orlando's lawn, breaking his ankle. She takes him in and cares for him, and has her first (and only) satisfying love affair.
We see Orlando as a pregnant nurse, stumbling across a World War One battlefield, and then in the present day, Orlando is a single mother and author, shopping the manuscript of her life story to a publisher (played by the same actor who played Nick Greene). He's interested, this time. The film ends with Orlando sitting under a tree watching her daughter playing, while an angel sings in the branches.
----
!!Tropes in this film:
* TheAce: Shelmerdine.
* AsideGlance: Orlando does a lot of these, most amusingly at the end:
-->'''Publisher''': It's really very good. Written from the heart. I think it'll sell. Provided you rewrite it. You know, increase the love interest. Give it a happy ending. By the way, how long did this draft take you?
-->'''Orlando''': [''AsideGlance'']
* {{Bishonen}}: Orlando in the first half of the film, accentuated by his fashionably long hair (and underlined by the fact that he's played by Tilda Swinton).
* TheCynic: Nick Greene, who wants Orlando's patronage but sees no reason why he should even pretend to be grateful for it. Orlando seems to agree.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Strongly implied to be the case with Male!Orlando.
* MeetCute: Orlando and Shelmerdine:
-->'''Orlando''': [''running through the maze in the grounds of her house''] Nature, nature, I'm your bride. Take me.\\
[''She runs out of the maze and startles a horse being ridden by Shelmerdine. The horse rears, he falls off and she falls over.'']
-->'''Shelmerdine''': You're hurt, ma'am?
-->'''Orlando''': [''awestruck by his handsomeness''] I'm dead, sir.
-->'''Shelmerdine''': Dead. That's serious. Can I help?
-->'''Orlando''': ...Will you marry me?
-->'''Shelmerdine''': Ma'am... I would gladly... um, I...but I fear my ankle is twisted.
* MsFanservice: When Female!Orlando looks at herself in the mirror after the transformation.
* TheReveal: The mirror scene.
The film is set between the Elizabethan era and the present day, and follows the career of the title character, played by Swinton, who starts out as a handsome and somewhat androgynous young nobleman. Orlando's beauty gets the attention of the elderly UsefulNotes/ElizabethI, who grants him a big house and lots of land on the condition that he doesn't grow old...which Orlando proceeds not to do. He is, however, unlucky in love, falling for a Russian princess who jilts him. By the 17th century, Orlando is as young as ever and is interested in becoming a writer. He shows his verse to cynical poet Nick Greene, who in return suggests that if only Orlando were to set him up with a financial stipend, he could devote himself to being a full-time writer. Greene reads Orlando's poetry and finds it terrible, and publishes a poem ridiculing Orlando. Orlando is humiliated, but tells his people to pay Greene the stipend anyway.
By the 18th century, Orlando is a diplomat who has travelled to Constantinople as the English ambassador. While he's there, he gets caught up in a battle. The next morning, he wakes up in his bed to discover that he's turned into a woman, and is fine with that. Orlando travels back to England to find that her new sex raises a lot of questions about who's going to inherit the house if she's not married, because obviously, she can't; she is also now patronised by the intelligentsia. The film moves on to the 19th century, when a dashing American chap named Shelmerdine (Creator/BillyZane) falls off his horse on Orlando's lawn, breaking his ankle. She takes him in and cares for him, and has her first (and only) satisfying love affair.
We see Orlando as a pregnant nurse, stumbling across a World War One battlefield, and then in the present day, Orlando is a single mother and author, shopping the manuscript of her life story to a publisher (played by the same actor who played Nick Greene). He's interested, this time. The film ends with Orlando sitting under a tree watching her daughter playing, while an angel sings in the branches.
----
!!Tropes in this film:
* TheAce: Shelmerdine.
* AsideGlance: Orlando does a lot of these, most amusingly at the end:
-->'''Publisher''': It's really very good. Written from the heart. I think it'll sell. Provided you rewrite it. You know, increase the love interest. Give it a happy ending. By the way, how long did this draft take you?
-->'''Orlando''': [''AsideGlance'']
* {{Bishonen}}: Orlando in the first half of the film, accentuated by his fashionably long hair (and underlined by the fact that he's played by Tilda Swinton).
* TheCynic: Nick Greene, who wants Orlando's patronage but sees no reason why he should even pretend to be grateful for it. Orlando seems to agree.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Strongly implied to be the case with Male!Orlando.
* MeetCute: Orlando and Shelmerdine:
-->'''Orlando''': [''running through the maze in the grounds of her house''] Nature, nature, I'm your bride. Take me.\\
[''She runs out of the maze and startles a horse being ridden by Shelmerdine. The horse rears, he falls off and she falls over.'']
-->'''Shelmerdine''': You're hurt, ma'am?
-->'''Orlando''': [''awestruck by his handsomeness''] I'm dead, sir.
-->'''Shelmerdine''': Dead. That's serious. Can I help?
-->'''Orlando''': ...Will you marry me?
-->'''Shelmerdine''': Ma'am... I would gladly... um, I...but I fear my ankle is twisted.
* MsFanservice: When Female!Orlando looks at herself in the mirror after the transformation.
* TheReveal: The mirror scene.
