Orlando

Originally distributed in 1992, Sally Potter's film Orlando was re-released last summer. Ms. Potter adapted the screenplay from Virginia Woolf's 1928 novel Orlando: A Biography about an individual who changes genders halfway through her over four-hundred year long life. The movie is divided into seven sections: Death, Love, Poetry, Politics, Society, Sex, and Birth.

Excruciatingly slow and cryptic, Orlando is nonetheless a gorgeous work of art. Its enthralling music, mostly composed by Ms. Potter and David Motion, contributes to the film's dreamlike ambiance. Orlando's color palette is also extraordinary. Cinematographer Aleksei Rodionov shoots the Rococo period's pastel blues and pinks in muted light. Candles illuminate the Renaissance's bold outfits and elaborate rituals.

Tilda Swinton looks the part of the androgynous Orlando, but the movie's acting and writing are stilted and bizarre. Amongst the film's many unsubtle messages, its most powerful theme is that of identity. Though difficult to get through, Orlando has an entrancing originality.

I Am Love

The intoxicating I Am Love (Io sono l’amore) begins in winter. On a gray Milan day, snow encases the Recchis’ villa. But inside, the abode is glorious and bustling. Emma (Tilda Swinton) works with her servants to prepare a dinner in which her father-in-law (Gabriele Ferzetti) will name the successor to his business. Emma’s beautiful family arrives one by one, and the banquet proceeds.

No one seems to fit more into the Recchis’ immaculate lifestyle than Emma, a Russian transplant. She is close to her children, especially her confiding daughter Elisabetta (Alba Rohrwacher) and oldest son Edoardo (Flavio Parenti). He works for the Recchi business and supports his best friend Antonio’s (Edoardo Gabbriellini) efforts to start a new restaurant. Emma attends Antonio's family restaurant where his cooking affects her like an aphrodisiac.

I Am Love is a hypnotic addition to the oft told story of a woman’s awakening. As the film moves into and through the heights and depths of summer weather, several characters embark on a journey of self discovery and freedom. The dazzling score, featuring many pieces by John Adams, is as much a part of the movie as its imagery. While there are subtle commentaries on character, globalization, and classism, much of the symbolism is obvious. Birds flutter against church ceilings; moths fight against lamp shades. Gourmet food, naked bodies, and edenic scenery are lovingly illuminated.

Because the dialogue is occasionally cliché, I Am Love works best when no explanations are given. Tilda Swinton is superb, and the attractive supporting cast is excellent. Italian director Luca Guadagnino’s highly dramatic film is not for everyone, but some will adore this sweeping symphony of transformation and love.

The Devastating War Zone

Tom (Freddie Cunliffe) is an adolescent, which means he is as internally tumultuous as Devon’s weather. He and his family have transferred from London to an isolated country house near the sea. His pregnant mother (Tilda Swinton) quietly misses London, but his father (Ray Winstone) and older sister Jessie (Lara Belmont) stay occupied with work and college searches. The family spends their days trudging through rain or cozying up at home. They hardly notice when Tom, already sullen, discovers something that shakes him into near silence.

The War Zone (based on a book by Alexander Stuart) depicts a situation that is theoretically simple and in actuality anything but. Told from the perspective not of a knowing outsider but of innocence as it is being lost, Tim Roth’s directorial debut is uniquely powerful. Its most appalling moments are justified, even crucial.

The camera lingers on small figures surrounded by green and gray and pummeled by the elements. The ocean’s rhythmic violence and the setting’s physical remoteness clearly reflect the family’s emotional trials. The repetitive, sometimes sentimental soundtrack is still effective.

Tom’s impenetrability ultimately works, but Cunliffe’s lack of expressions is off-putting in comparison to Belmont’s harrowing performance as Jessie. Thespians Swinton and Winstone are understated and excellent as the parents. The sparse, mumbled dialogue is naturalistic if occasionally heavy handed (and difficult for Americans to understand).

The film offers no explanations and leaves on an ambiguous note, forcing viewers to identify with its tender protagonists. In spite of its bleak portrayal of youth overwhelmed by confusion, The War Zone has changed lives. Realistic in a way few movies are, its very existence dispels myths, fosters sympathy, and inspires confessions. The film’s flaws do not detract from its rare significance.

Michael Clayton: Searching for Grace

This is a story of Michael Clayton (George Clooney) a legal "janitor" who suffers a crisis of conscience when a manic-depressive friend and lawyer, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), does the same. While the plot is a typical corporate thriller which banks in occasionally on the audience's suspension of disbelief, it is far more realistic and well crafted than most films of its genre.

George Clooney gives an intense performance, perhaps the best of his I've seen, as the titular Michael Clayton. His boyish, aging face conveys both competence and weariness. He is especially convincing in the miraculous, quiet moments of grace which occur both in a field and a taxi. As Arthur, Tom Wilkinson's English accent occasionally slips through. This does not prevent his portrayal as a passionate, intelligent man searching for morality, high on a chemical imbalance, from resonating. Tilda Swinton as executive Karen Crowder seems perhaps too calculated, but because Karen's intimate moments may be as fake as the calm face she presents to the world, Swinton's acting works perfectly. Acting is believable all around, including Denis O'Hare as a panicked, aggressive client and Sydney Pollack as Michael's efficient, realist boss.

Robert Elswit cinematography is fantastically dark, subtle, and poetic. James Newton Howard's score is also touching, involving throbbing beats and lovely moments of clarity. Tony Gilroy's script is a little overly symbolic, but otherwise incredible. The corporate and legal worlds, Arthur's manic depression, and Michael's psychology and relation with his son are deeply authentic.

This film is engrossing but not full of blockbuster trademarks. It also does not say anything original about the sins of the city, major corporations, and law firms, but what it does say it does in a novel manner. It is a tale of banal evil and redemption, a very common, but a very necessary, message indeed.