Amazon.com

Sally Potter's self-reflective film stars Potter (an actress and the director of Orlando), more or less as herself, learning to tango from master dancer Pablo Veron and considering making a film called The Tango Lesson. The film that we happen to be watching, however, is concerned largely with the delicious conflict between the politics of tango--the need for one partner, typically the woman, to yield to the other--and the expectations of the filmmaker to do things on her own terms. Can Potter simultaneously surrender and control for the duration of this circular project? The question is made more complicated by Veron's desire to be in one of Potter's films--in other words, to follow her lead. Potter may not be Veron's equal on the dance floor, but that isn't the point of this interesting movie and its provocative, internal debate. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (56)

Striking movie that captures the spirit of the Tango
Most dance movies obscure the actual dancing in a barrage of MTV-quick-cut shots of heads and feet. This one doesn't. Why not? Because it doesn't have to. The dancers are terrific, and shooting them full-length, with the camera on them for minutes at a time, shows them and the Tango to advantage.

After a distracting yet stylish introduction, the movie settles down into its intelligent portrayal of two exceptional people learning to love each other and dance together. The director wisely keeps the dialogue to a minimum, and lets the dancing tell the story. And what dancing! The Tango is a captivating dance to begin with, and these folks dance it with grace and passion.

Pablo Veron has more screen presence than any other actor alive, and he's a world-class dancer to boot. Sally Potter, the movie's director who plays his partner is also an excellent tanguera. Did I say it before? The dancing is amazing!

From the parks of Paris to the Tango salons of Buenos Aires, the characters speak to each other in French, Spanish, and English. This ain't Hollywood fare. No car chases, no pulling of heart strings, no wacky characters. Just striking cinematography, a fine, spare script, and delightful dancing. If you like beautiful things, you'll like this movie.

To set things straight...
I saw the Tango Lesson and found it a genuine work of Art. I recommend those who love good movies to watch this one. The Tango Lesson perhaps has a weak plot, but a film director isn't necessarily a story teller. The meta-narration which takes place in the Tango Lesson certainly makes this movie an advanced art product, which has nothing to do with the telling of actual occurrences, but rather focuses on the developing of Art itself in the mind and life of an Artist. In my opinion, one of the strong-points of this film is that it allows us to peek into the director's head, and see Art through her eyes (I can assure it's quite a sight). Some may interpret this film as an "exercise in self-indulgence," but personally, I think this approach misleading, in the age of the "Self." We're talking Art here, and Sally Potter is the Artist. Herself: no one else should be the starting point and centre of her own movie. The Lady knows how to direct, act, dance and sing: why shouldn't she do all of the above? I think she deserves much admiration: she's a well rounded Artist, and there aren't many! (Besides, as I've said already, to me the film is about Art and Life before anything else: the director uses her own experience and many skills to make a point and to get things done exactly how she wants them, but the movie isn't "about" Sally Potter.) Now to the point. The editing has character, it's intelligent, original, definitely not a Hollywood product. The photography is breathtaking - and eloquent: it says "the Tango Lesson is about Aesthetics, Beauty itself." The acting is honest, fresh, and charming. In my opinion, the acting is superb: Sally Potter really knows what measure and elegance are. The soundtrack is exquisite. The tango pieces are great, and so is the leitmotiv of the movie: the seagull-like cry in the airport scene tears my heart out every time I listen to it (it's also the one track that made me decide to buy the CD). This film, someone said, has little to offer the general public. I'm afraid this is accurate. Or rather, "the general public" probably would have some difficulty in tacklig this art-movie, which I don't believe was meant to give easy answers to difficult questions (like so many other films) but to make people think. Nonetheless, seeing this movie made me realise all over again that it's definitely worth trying.

Great dancing, great locales, not enough courage.
Sally Potter is a great director and Pablo Veron, her sometime teacher/boyfriend is a great dancer. Having said that, there is a reason why this film , despite its apparent honesty, fails.

It doesn't cut deep enough into the dark or shamefull flaws of the leads. It's too subtle for its own good, or rather it's subtle by default, it lacks courage. Sally plays herself and wistfully looks up at the apartment building where her teacher, Veron (who also plays himself) resides. It's a beutifull shot, with snowflakes falling. . .

In another scene she tells him she has been in love with him as a woman for over a year but that he just wants her to get into the movies and be a star, whereupon his reaction is once again, er...subtle.

The point I'm getting at is that she's much more than merely 'wistful' , she'a a middle aged woman who is making a complete ass of herself, acting like a 14 year old with a crush towards a man who is indeed ruthlessly exploiting her for the money of the lessons and for his chance at a movie role.

But we don't get to the heart of that.

These dark sides are whitewashed in wistfull snowflakes . . .

Had these flaws been brought out the characters would have been infinitely more vulnerable and interesting. The love between them (yes , despite their flaws there is love) would still have been there, the magic of the dance and its art would also have been there in all its glorious obsession. Most of all, the contradictions that make these two human beings unique and interesting would have come forth.

Still worth watching for some of the best Tango numbers choreographed. But it's a pity compared to what it could have been. . .

One of My Favorite Movies
I absolutely loved it because it's an adult love story told from an adult point of view. The two main characters have strong personalities, and because of their occupations, are used to being in control. They learn that in life, sometimes you lead and sometimes you follow. The cinematography is perfect; you only see what needs to be on screen, nothing superfuous. The same can be said about the dialogue. Sally Potter was involved in every aspect of her film: directing, writing, acting, dancing, writing music/lyrics, and singing. There is great chemistry between the two main characters and the music and dancing are wonderful. You won't be sorry you purchased it. The music will make you raptuous and the dancing will inspire you to dance.

Choregraphy is great!
The film as a film justly explores the politics of tango and is well directed. The film may lead the uninitiated to believe a student could reach such an advanced level of dance in such a short period of time. However . . . it is a film produced as entertainment.

All in all - for tango lovers, the dance scenes are worth watching again and again. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Breathtaking and practically nondiscursive, Sally Potter'saudacious Orlando overcomes some dodgy performances and a narrativestructure that could most generously be described as "loose" to emerge asa haunting, discussion-provoking trans-historical and transsexualdrama. Commanded never to age by Queen Elizabeth (played with surprisingly little camp by legendary cross-dresser Quentin Crisp), the titlecharacter becomes immortal; we then follow Orlando through 400years of dreamlike British history. Midway through the film, Orlandochanges genders--to Potter's immense credit, the transformation ishandled with little fanfare and no explanation. Tilda Swinton, in the leadrole, is far more convincing as a woman than as a man, and even duringthe film's latter half, her impassivity and lack of expression can beannoying. Potter encourages Swinton to play to the camera, and theresulting asides and glances askance can be amusing, but often seempurposeless, or even arch. Nevertheless, the willful idiosyncrasy andunderstatement of the film never quite capsize the project, and onceyou give yourself over to the filmmaker's logic, the panoramic sweep ofthe cinematography (remarkable sets include an aristocratic skatingparty on the frozen Thames during the Great London Frost of 1603, astunning tent-caravan in Central Asia, and countless fastidious boudoirsand interiors) will surely keep you enraptured. Orlando is noMerchant-Ivory production, no prissy, forgettable period piece; thisfilm has teeth, and it may bite ferociously when you least expect it to.Based on, but scarcely resembling, the Virginia Woolf modernist classicof the same name. --Miles Bethany ... Read more

Reviews (35)

Part man, part woman, all good
This is an amazing, ironic film, based upon Virginia Woolf's whimsically mock-serious epic about an immortal English lord, who experiences 400 years of history, changes his sex to that of a woman after refusing to participate in warfare (a feminist point that is subtly made), and never bores or condescends to us. What surprised me when I first saw it is how dry, boring and pompous it isn't; the film has a nice lightness and dry humor that make it digestible. The photography is beautiful and the film never drags, and the performances, which a lot of critics have suggested are somewhat two-dimensional, are that way for a reason: Orlando's adventure is too awesome to be rendered realistically; the people and adventures she experiences are meant, I think, to be represented symbolically---each character is actually a rough composite of perhaps hundreds of such types she meets in her journey from 1600 to 2000. Billy Zane, who is seen in the movie's poster, plays an American adventurer who romances the female Orlando, but to all of his "Titanic" fans, a word of caution: he's in the film for roughly twenty-five minutes, if that much. The real star of the show is the ethereally lovely, brilliant, and mysterious Tilda Swinton, whose male Orlando is unnervingly convincing; so much so that "he" almost seems to be doing a drag bit once the sex change happens---and because Swinton is so eye-pleasing and delightful, this is not a bad thing. Her intelligence and talent radiate from her face, which is so expressive that many shots consist simply of gigantic closeups of it---she can say more with a gaze than many lesser performers do with a page of dialogue. I first saw this film in 1993, as an exchange student living in London, and it gave me an appreciation for British history and for Woolf's books that I had never had before. It's really quite a smart, funny, cool, hip movie, but with no explosions, car chases, or hot-button themes, it's by no means a populist-type entertainment. If you like period films, or anything English, you'll dig this a lot: Orlando isn't just English, he/she *is* England, and the country should be so lucky as to be compared with Tilda Swinton's long-suffering (centuries of it, in fact, what a burden) poetry-spouting nobleman/woman. Very cool.

A charming farce of androgynous exploration....
First let it be said that while I love the film Orlando it is simply impossible to get all the themes and events of the novel into one movie, so I strongly urge all viewers, whether they loved or hated this movie, to read the book, Virginia Woolf's unique love letter to Vita Sackville-West.

The inevitable failings involved in translating a book into a film aside, 'Orlando' is visually exsquisite, the costumes and locations sumptuous and splendid, fully evoking the decadance and contrasting squalor of the centuries in which Orlando lives his/her life. The score perfectly compliments the surroundings, the atmosphere and the themes of each scene, and is beautifully composed and performed.

Though some have expressed doubts over Tilda Swinton's ability to play Orlando, the aristocrat born as man who turns into a woman half way through his/her life, I thought she was the perfect choice. I believe knowing she is a woman initially taints people's ability to find her convincing as a man; to me she played the part with great charm, amiability and empathy, and became even more charming as a woman - the character of Orlando at this stage in 'her' life becoming more rounded, more sympathetic, more knowledgable and Swinton captures that well.

This film does not follow the 'rules' of the 'real' world - besides changing genders, Orlando lives for 400 years and does not age a day. It is the story of a pursuit for life, for meaning, by one individual determined to discover what that means. Accept it, and enjoy.

In its attempt to capture the most important of the book's events the film does have a slight recurring bump in continuity, it seems, and will no doubt be pretentious and boring to some, if not many. Nonetheless, Orlando is a sometimes humorous, sometimes haunting movie, thought provoking and richly realised.

"You're here as a casualty of love."
As a fan of Virginia Woolf novels, I anticipated "Orlando" with mixed feelings. We have all experienced the disappointment of seeing favourite novels translated to the screen, and yet, in spite of this, I couldn't help but be curious to see "Orlando" on film. I saw the film when it was released, and it remains one of my favourite novel-to-screen productions.

"Orlando" begins in the year 1600. Orlando is a young man--heir to a magnificent estate--when his anxious parents thrust him at an elderly Queen Elizabeth I. Queen Elizabeth, a woman who always favoured handsome young men, embraces Orlando's beauty, and tells him "do not fade. Do not wither. Do not grow old." And from that moment on, Orlando never ages--but remains forever young.

Tilda Swinton was the perfect choice for the role of Orlando. There is something about the blank look to her features that lends itself perfectly to the role of Orlando--a Elizabethan male who eventually transforms into a twentieth century woman. I cannot imagine anyone else in this role. There were several pivotal moments in the film when Orlando/Swinton gazes directly at the camera. It is as though a secret, sympathetic exchange occurs between the viewer and the character of Orlando. In an interesting twist, Quentin Crisp plays Queen Elizabeth with a great deal of panache.

The film was true to the novel, and just as the novel was somewhat problematic in parts, so is the film. Orlando's romance with the American, Shelmerdine (Billy Zane) is perhaps the weakest part in the film. Visually, the film is stunning--the barges at night on the river--the sumptuous banquet scene--the dancing on a frozen river Thames--the magnificent maze. Woolf fans will enjoy "Orlando" for director Sally Potter obviously created the film with a great deal of respect for the author and her work--displacedhuman.

One of my favorites.
Finally got this one on DVD after nearly wearing out my VHS copy. Sally Potter is one of the best directors and of course Tilda Swinton in the title role is mesmerizing in every way. Although a sharp departure from Virginia Woolf's source material, it retains the spirit and scope of the novel. Orlando's tranformation from man to woman half way through is a beautiful moment. Swinton proudly naked and observing herself in the mirror looks directly into the camera and says "no difference really, just a different sex" it brilliantly blurs the line between what it means to be a man and woman. And when I say blur, I mean it in a good way. The gender, sexual orientation and race lines all need to be blurred until they disappear. Orland is a good salvo in that war.

An epic of astounding grace
This telling of Virginia Woolf's tale is a sweeping epic of grace and beauty.
There could not have been a better choice to portray the gender swapping Orlando than Tilda Swinton. She lights up the screen with her beauty, grace and subtle wit. As a young man nervously reciting poetry to Queen Elizabeth, or a modern woman raising a young daughter, she embraces the audience and pulls us fully into her world. The settings, costumes and music serve to construct a world of changing ages spinning around a single soul in flux.
Orlando is an astounding piece of cinema history and deserves a place of honor in any DVD library. ... Read more

Reviews (50)

Actors' Showcase
This is a great "acting" movie. The stars are great, but the rest of the movie was missing something--my interest.

I'm not saying it was bad. The acting was wonderful, masterful even. The cast consists of Christina Ricci, Johnny Depp, John Turturro, and Cate Blanchett, all doing work that is equivalent to their best. Ricci, especially, as the main character, gets to run the gamut of emotions and I couldn't take my eyes off her. Blanchett does a thick accent that is hard to understand sometimes, but her performance was as good as I've seen her give. And as for Depp and Turturro, well, they don't make wrong moves. Even if they are in bad films now and again, they can always be depended upon to give superb performances.

No, the cast was not the problem. It was the story. I just didn't care what was happening. I liked watching great actors practice their craft, and I cared about them, but I couldn't get involved in the story. I know there was some subplot involving a white horse, but I couldn't tell you the significance, except to make the Johnny Depp character look sensitive, but he does that anyway.

I would definitely recommend it for fans of the actors, but I couldn't recommend it as entertainment.

A visually beautiful film in the shadow of oppression...
A Russian-Jewish man travels alone to the United States in order start a better life for his family, which he intends to send for when he has raised enough money. However, the communist rule under Stalin separates the family which leads to the death of the mother and the escape of the daughter, Suzie (Christina Ricci). Suzie's escape brings her to England where she is adopted and forced to assimilate to the British traditions and culture that eradicates her of her own past. Years later when Suzie has reached adulthood she travels to Paris with hopes to raise money that can bring her to her father in the United States. In Paris she meets love, dreams, hope, and horror as she must face anti-Semitism brought to France by the Nazi's during World War II. Man Who Cried is visually stunning as it portrays the struggles of Suzie and those around her in a time of hostility. The visual elements are also enhanced by a terrific cast such as Christina Ricci, Johnny Depp, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro and many more. In the end, Potter ties together a meaningful cinematic experience that has both historical value as well as morals.

A beautiful artistic masterpiece of a film.
No, it's not a fast-paced story. It's slow, it is subtle, and you have to savor it to really enjoy it. Performances by everyone are perfectly wonderful. Turturo & Blanchett especially, Stanton included. Very well done. I loved it. If you reflect on the film after you see it, you realize how much LIFE this girl lived. Beautiful movie. Underappreciated.

\m/
I haven't seen this film either but I still give it 5 stars because it ... has Johnny in it.

The Holocaust goes Hollywood...literally!
From an impoverished Jewish settlement in Russie to the soundstages of Hollywood, this well intentioned but overwrought melodrama seems much longer than its nearly two hours.

In spite of the interesting, original premise, the story goes south with incessant lipsynching and an improbable melange of accents. Christina Ricci's tragic waif, "Susie," isn't a viable heroine in spite of excellent performances by the stars surrounding her. Blanchett, as usual, steals the show and captivates every moment of her screen time. ... Read more

Description

The year is 1927. A little Jewish girl (Fegele) lives happily with her father, a cantor, and her grandmother in a Russian village. But with the ever-present threat of persecution, her father leaves for America to find work and then send for his family. Soon after he leaves, violence engulfs the village. Fegele is bundled off with some fleeing villagers who hope to get to America, but she ends up on a boat to England.

Fegele is re-named Suzie, sent to a Christian foster home and to a school where she is forbidden to speak Yiddish but learns to sing. Ten years later she leaves England for Paris, where she becomes a chorus girl and befriends an ambitious blonde Russian dancer, Lola. She starts to save, hoping to earn enough money to pay for her passage to America. Together Lola and Suzie find jobs in the new opera company of impresario Felix Perlman; their lives become inextricably entwined with the fate of an arrogant Italian opera singer and a gypsy horse-handler as the Nazis move in on Paris and Suzie's quest to find her father becomes also a quest to embrace her own identity. ... Read more

Reviews (50)

Actors' Showcase
This is a great "acting" movie. The stars are great, but the rest of the movie was missing something--my interest.

I'm not saying it was bad. The acting was wonderful, masterful even. The cast consists of Christina Ricci, Johnny Depp, John Turturro, and Cate Blanchett, all doing work that is equivalent to their best. Ricci, especially, as the main character, gets to run the gamut of emotions and I couldn't take my eyes off her. Blanchett does a thick accent that is hard to understand sometimes, but her performance was as good as I've seen her give. And as for Depp and Turturro, well, they don't make wrong moves. Even if they are in bad films now and again, they can always be depended upon to give superb performances.

No, the cast was not the problem. It was the story. I just didn't care what was happening. I liked watching great actors practice their craft, and I cared about them, but I couldn't get involved in the story. I know there was some subplot involving a white horse, but I couldn't tell you the significance, except to make the Johnny Depp character look sensitive, but he does that anyway.

I would definitely recommend it for fans of the actors, but I couldn't recommend it as entertainment.

A visually beautiful film in the shadow of oppression...
A Russian-Jewish man travels alone to the United States in order start a better life for his family, which he intends to send for when he has raised enough money. However, the communist rule under Stalin separates the family which leads to the death of the mother and the escape of the daughter, Suzie (Christina Ricci). Suzie's escape brings her to England where she is adopted and forced to assimilate to the British traditions and culture that eradicates her of her own past. Years later when Suzie has reached adulthood she travels to Paris with hopes to raise money that can bring her to her father in the United States. In Paris she meets love, dreams, hope, and horror as she must face anti-Semitism brought to France by the Nazi's during World War II. Man Who Cried is visually stunning as it portrays the struggles of Suzie and those around her in a time of hostility. The visual elements are also enhanced by a terrific cast such as Christina Ricci, Johnny Depp, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro and many more. In the end, Potter ties together a meaningful cinematic experience that has both historical value as well as morals.

A beautiful artistic masterpiece of a film.
No, it's not a fast-paced story. It's slow, it is subtle, and you have to savor it to really enjoy it. Performances by everyone are perfectly wonderful. Turturo & Blanchett especially, Stanton included. Very well done. I loved it. If you reflect on the film after you see it, you realize how much LIFE this girl lived. Beautiful movie. Underappreciated.

\m/
I haven't seen this film either but I still give it 5 stars because it ... has Johnny in it.

The Holocaust goes Hollywood...literally!
From an impoverished Jewish settlement in Russie to the soundstages of Hollywood, this well intentioned but overwrought melodrama seems much longer than its nearly two hours.

In spite of the interesting, original premise, the story goes south with incessant lipsynching and an improbable melange of accents. Christina Ricci's tragic waif, "Susie," isn't a viable heroine in spite of excellent performances by the stars surrounding her. Blanchett, as usual, steals the show and captivates every moment of her screen time. ... Read more

Reviews (50)

Actors' Showcase
This is a great "acting" movie. The stars are great, but the rest of the movie was missing something--my interest.

I'm not saying it was bad. The acting was wonderful, masterful even. The cast consists of Christina Ricci, Johnny Depp, John Turturro, and Cate Blanchett, all doing work that is equivalent to their best. Ricci, especially, as the main character, gets to run the gamut of emotions and I couldn't take my eyes off her. Blanchett does a thick accent that is hard to understand sometimes, but her performance was as good as I've seen her give. And as for Depp and Turturro, well, they don't make wrong moves. Even if they are in bad films now and again, they can always be depended upon to give superb performances.

No, the cast was not the problem. It was the story. I just didn't care what was happening. I liked watching great actors practice their craft, and I cared about them, but I couldn't get involved in the story. I know there was some subplot involving a white horse, but I couldn't tell you the significance, except to make the Johnny Depp character look sensitive, but he does that anyway.

I would definitely recommend it for fans of the actors, but I couldn't recommend it as entertainment.

A visually beautiful film in the shadow of oppression...
A Russian-Jewish man travels alone to the United States in order start a better life for his family, which he intends to send for when he has raised enough money. However, the communist rule under Stalin separates the family which leads to the death of the mother and the escape of the daughter, Suzie (Christina Ricci). Suzie's escape brings her to England where she is adopted and forced to assimilate to the British traditions and culture that eradicates her of her own past. Years later when Suzie has reached adulthood she travels to Paris with hopes to raise money that can bring her to her father in the United States. In Paris she meets love, dreams, hope, and horror as she must face anti-Semitism brought to France by the Nazi's during World War II. Man Who Cried is visually stunning as it portrays the struggles of Suzie and those around her in a time of hostility. The visual elements are also enhanced by a terrific cast such as Christina Ricci, Johnny Depp, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro and many more. In the end, Potter ties together a meaningful cinematic experience that has both historical value as well as morals.

A beautiful artistic masterpiece of a film.
No, it's not a fast-paced story. It's slow, it is subtle, and you have to savor it to really enjoy it. Performances by everyone are perfectly wonderful. Turturo & Blanchett especially, Stanton included. Very well done. I loved it. If you reflect on the film after you see it, you realize how much LIFE this girl lived. Beautiful movie. Underappreciated.

\m/
I haven't seen this film either but I still give it 5 stars because it ... has Johnny in it.

The Holocaust goes Hollywood...literally!
From an impoverished Jewish settlement in Russie to the soundstages of Hollywood, this well intentioned but overwrought melodrama seems much longer than its nearly two hours.

In spite of the interesting, original premise, the story goes south with incessant lipsynching and an improbable melange of accents. Christina Ricci's tragic waif, "Susie," isn't a viable heroine in spite of excellent performances by the stars surrounding her. Blanchett, as usual, steals the show and captivates every moment of her screen time. ... Read more