"Postmodernism and Sally Potter

A detailed Summary of "Postmodernism and Sally Potter

Sally Potter's costume drama Orlando is described in a review by James Berardinelli as a "lavish tour through 400 years of history" Berardinelli believed Orlando to be "thin on story", this comment unintentionally concurs with the essay question; the visual nature of the film disrupts the story and draws the viewer away from the meaning created by Virginia Woolf in her book by the same name published in 1928. Woolf wrote Orlando for her close friend Vita Sackville-West. The text's purpose was to satirize the dispossession of Vita, who being a women was unable to inherit her family seat of Knole. Much of Woolf's meaning is present in Potter's film however Potter has added a large amount of her own meaning intentionally or unintentionally, a common feature of postmodern texts, in doing so Potter has revealed much of herself in Orlando. This aspect of the film draws much attention, again, disrupting the viewing process.

Orlando is a more modern text then postmodern, both the film and novel although criticizing the human condition appear to have faith in eventual redemption. Despite this, the film uses several postmodern techniques. Techniques present in Orlando like appropriation, gender confusion, fluid time barriers, looking at

The film also criticizes the English aristocracy in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. King James' behavior in Love is a critique of English xenophobia. Orlando and Sash, while conversing in French, discuss what the English do when speaking with foreigners if they do not learn foreign languages. Orlando informs Sash "Ils parlent Anglais plus forts." They speak English louder. Subsequently the shot changes to one of King James speaking very loudly to the Russian ambassador and not allowing the translator to finish translating.

The ironic reversal of roles is also a constant reoccurrence in Orlando. The section of the film Sex contains a scene appropriates a scene in Jane Eyre wherein Rochester rescues Jane Eyre however Orlando, the woman, rescues Shelmerdine, the man. In Love, the second section of the film, Orlando's fiancee the lady Euphrosyne laments about the "treachery of men" referring to Lord Orlando's sudden infatuation with Muscovite princess Sasha, a scene later Orlando laments the "treachery of women" after being abandoned, in his view, by Sasha. In a later section, Politics, Tilda Swinton in the role of Orlando states in reference to women "They're not like us fellows..." and proceeds to toast the 'manly virtues'. The humorous irony of these scenes distracts the viewer from the serious focus of the film, the dispossession of Lady Orlando.

The order of the sections in the film, Death, Love, Poetry, Politics, at which point Orlando changes sex, Society, Sex and finally Birth, is another clear criticism of assumed gender roles. Orlando as a man lived through the deeper, more important issues like Politics, Death and Love while women are left with the superficial issues like Sex, Society and the traditionally female role of giving birth and child rearing. This can additionally be seen as a reference to the feminist criticism that women seemingly have no history prior to the 18th century and therefore Orlando must remain a man until then.

Perhaps the most distracting aspect of the film is the fluidity of time throughout the film. The most obvi

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1401
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Arts