These assets that I've linked together in this pathway show that the whole film is meant to be a gestation period until the end (the present) when Orlando and her child are born. Rather than showing actual birth though, Sally Potter decided to follow "BIRTH" with a story draft for a publisher to read. The draft in the film is presumably a culmination of the entire story of Orlando's life, that we just saw. We might think also about the film as (figuratively) Sally Potter's child, based on these findings.
"Do not fade. Do not wither. Do not grow old." Is the message Queen Elizabeth I gives Orlando with the gift of eternal life and in researching the archives, I discovered that children are rather prevalent in the film. The film parallels the theme of eternal life with children as symbols of the beginning of life.
Copyright ©2024 Adventure Pictures. Some rights reserved. Non-commercial use of text and images in which Adventure Pictures holds the copyright is permitted, with attribution, under the terms and conditions of a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND License.