Throughout the film, Sally Potter brings the audience\\\'s attention to moments when characters fall to their knees. On one hand, falling symbolizes the recurring theme of the pain of literally having fallen in and out of love, but It also represents the film\\\'s cyclical structure. Just as Orlando\\\'s immortal life is on an endless loop, humanity\\\'s need for love and the inevitability of suffering there in also exists on an endless and eternally recurring loop.
[[Read this pathway from the bottom up; the last asset to the one directly bellow this]]
This shot is especially significant because it ties together the loop.
Ex: Orlando's daughter falls to the ground = a loop that is just beginning (child)
Ex: Occurs during Orlando's first visit to the home that she loved and lost (discussed in the first asset of this pathway)
Orlando closes the loop, returning to the "Lost Love," but her daughter stumbles to the ground, perpetuating the cycle. The endless loop.
After running across a lush green field, Orlando trips and falls. Shelmerdine falls moments after.
Difference: Orlando falls to a lush ground instead of barren desert or harsh ice = positive connotations, beginning and growth (green/grass)
Similarity: Again, as on the ice (not the desert), Orlando and Shelmerdine fall unexpectedly = life is unexpected
First Orlando's face falls and then he falls to his knees after being reminded of Sasha (Lost Love Interest).
Ex: Remember Lost Love = Fall
Ex: Loose balance, fall to desert ground.
Comparable to the icy ground, the desert ground is equally barren and void of life.
Difference: Desert sand is a much softer landing than ice (as in the previous instances) and instead of slipping unexpectedly (like on the ice), Orlando now falls out of his own chosen action.
=Progression
Significance: Although the purpose of this shot isn't the characters' love interests, or possible lack thereof.
This take does, however, support the idea that because love and loss exist on an endless loop throughout life, attempting to run away from something and escape the loop is futile. Falling is inevitable (~running on ice is inevitable)
Ex: Loose balance, fall to icy ground. Barren and harsh, void of life.
Orlando falls to his knees after searching for Sasha (his love interest) with no avail.
Ex: Loose Loved Object = Fall
Ex: Loose balance, fall to icy ground. Barren and harsh, void of life.
Lost balance also signifies the unexpected and out of control, Involuntary
A clip of the bellow asset.
Euphrosyne, Orlando's fiance, falls to the icy ground after realizing Orlando's affections for Sasha.
Ex: Loose Loved Object = Fall
Ex: Loose balance, fall to icy ground. Barren and harsh, void of life.
"Orlando is trudging through a muddy field, stumbling across deep furrows." : Sally Potter Scene direction, directing Tilda Swinton to fall. This scene direction correlates with the transition in time from Orlando's life at her estate to being forced out of her beloved home.
Ex: Loose Loved Object = Fall