Hedwig and the Angry Inch
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DVD Cover Information
DVD: Region Code 1Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); German (Original Language)
Format: NTSC
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: ALL
Movie Reviews of Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Movie Review: Gnostic-Gender-Bending "The Origin of Love"
Summary: 5 Stars
People who know me will look at the title I gave this review--and if they didn't already think so--say, "Oh my, now the poor ol' thing's finally lost it..."
I can't help it, I really liked this movie. It had all the earmarks of potential disaster for me. I'm not real found of female impersonation, particularly in a sustained artistic form such as a film. Then there are the inevitable comparisons between HEDWIG and other similiar genre like ROCKY HORROR SHOE, PRISCILA OF THE DESERT, etc. I enjoy comedy, and I also enjoy substance. The world of female impersonation/drag queens can be extraordinarily superficial, filled with an angst that can be met with a world weary response like "So, what?"
Let me start with the nuts & bolts, like John Cameron Mitchell's form of gender bending & his musical lyrics & routines. He conveys a great depth to Hedwig without being mired in pathos or mere impersonation. Visually his chracter(s) are stunningly realistic (given the unreality of the world in which s/he lives.) The songs are fantastic, somewhere like a cross between T-Rex & Talking Heads. Some of the animation interjected reminded me of Bjork music videos. Not a great lover of musicals, I found myself actually looking forward to the next number.
Pertaining to the Gnostic element, a major theme in the film, it involves Hedwig's relationship with a boy who talks like a Jesus freak, but there is a much deeper level to his spiritual view--and it interacts with Hedwig's views on The Origin of Love. Either intentionally or not, it is almost a classic Gnostic interpretation of The Garden of Eden story of The Fall of Man. The fact that Hedwig invents the name of Tommy Gnostic for her lover may indicate that the artist knew exactly what s/he was doing when it came to the Gnostic theme.
I say "artist" because this film is the creation of a great artist in association with other obviously great artists.
It's is EXTREMELY entertaining too.
Summary of Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Sometimes grace and hope come in surprising packages. The title character of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a would-be glam-rock star from East Germany, undergoes a botched gender-change operation in order to escape from the Soviet bloc, only to watch the Berlin Wall come down on TV after being abandoned in a trailer park in middle America. Hedwig gets involved with Tommy, an adolescent boy who steals her songs and becomes a stadium-filling musical act. Suffering from a broken heart and a lust for revenge, Hedwig follows Tommy's tour, playing with her band (the Angry Inch) at tacky theme restaurants. Into this simple storyline, writer-director-star John Cameron Mitchell packs an astonishing mix of sadness, yearning, humor, and kick-ass songs with a little Platonic philosophy tucked inside for good measure. A visually dazzling gem of a movie. --Bret FetzerSimilar DVD Movies
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