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Hedwig and the Angry Inch

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Synopsis

Hedwig is a wildly original, transcendent, gender-bending rock-n-roll epic; an essential masterpiece of queer cinema.

3 Reasons To buy this film

An essential queer masterpiece
One of the top rock 'n roll films of all time
You'll watch Hedwig so many times you'll know the lyrics.

Review

First developed at the NYC queer rock club Squeezebox, and then a long-running Off-Broadway show, Hedwig hits the big and home video screens in all its bewigged glory compliments of creators John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask. In the film, Mitchell directs and stars as Hansel/Hedwig, a little gay boy/aspiring rock star raised in Communist East Berlin who desperately wants to move to the West. He meets Luther, an African-American G.I. who encourages him to have a sex change, marry and escape with him to Kansas. The operation is botched and Hansel is left as a boy with a teeny weeny! Once there, in trailer park hell, Hedwig is abandoned with little more than memories and the remnant of that sex change: an “angry inch.”

Relegated to babysitting gigs, she/he develops a lounge act playing restaurants with Korean army brides as back-up. Our “internationally ignored song stylist” meets a 17-year-old sexually alluring Christian rocker, Tommy (Michael Pitt). They fall in love, and Hedwig transforms the boy into glam pop icon Tommy Gnosis. Tommy filches her songs and act and becomes a huge star, leaving Hedwig in her trailer empty-handed yet again. Screwed over one too many times, the cynical, Farrah Fawcett-wigged Hedwig hits the road with her pan-Slavic band, including a lover obsessed with the Broadway musical Rent, Yitzhak (Miriam Shore in a wonderful gender-twisting role), and an aggressive manager (SCTV’s Andrea Martin), determined to right the wrongs and claim the recognition, riches and "other half" she so richly deserves.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch has a rich score filled with melodic ballads and out-and-out rockers that propel the telling of Hedwig's incredible story. Hedwig has allowed himself to be victimized all his life - his dick has been stolen, his act has been appropriated and his life has been controlled by others until the self-affirming end of the film. Special mention must be made of Emily Hubley's whimsical animated sequences and the fantastic costumes and wigs. Hedwig is brilliant filmmaking, don't miss it! The DVD comes with an amazing 83 minute documentary entitled Whether You Like it or Not: The Story of Hedwig that tells of Hedwig's genesis.

"If Hedwig actually gets out there to these small cities and towns, it could do some good. It could loosen some people up. No one has as bad a story as Hedwig, so you can kind of feel better about yourself in comparison to her. But I think, more so, we're all freaks, we're all losers at some point in our life. And if she can find some kind of solace, maybe we can too, and maybe that involves putting on a wig. maybe it involves acting up, maybe it involves facing an earlier tragedy head-on - just seeing what happens in that impact, because sitting around bitterly, morosely didn't work for her. I think she's a kind of Oprah. Oprah could recommend Hedwig to her viewers."
-Creator John Cameron Mitchell in the Advocate

"Mitchell gives this post-punk, neo-glam rock extravaganza everything in his loaded arsenal of talents. He gets the sound right, the look right, the fun right and - this is crucial - the pain right. His singing has the pow and purity of rock. His acting draws on a core of blunt honesty that allows him to move from humor to heartbreak without getting stuck for too long in the muck of sentiment and pretension. His directing, which won Mitchell a prize at Sundance, breaks new ground by making music come alive on film without compromising its fierce energy or romantic soul. Is this a tour de force or what? As Hedwig would say, you do the math, honey."
-Peter Travers in Rolling Stone

-- Scott Cranin

Customer Reviews

Will Someone Please Explain All The Hoopla?

Green Giant wrote on 06/08/2010:

The only time I've seen this film was a few years
back when it was released theatrically. I was
looking forward to it since i enjoyed both Mitchell
and Pitt in other stage and or film work they had
done. I was totally non-pulsed by this film. in terms
of the all the important aspects of a film- script,
direction, music etc..... I simply don't get all the
acclaim and or cult status. I can't possibly be the
only gay person with this opinion.

The Best Musical Of Our Time!

August wrote on 07/25/2006:

My first intro. to Hedwig was the original off broadway soundtrack cd that was recommended as a member of my cd music club. It sounded fascinating and soon I was caught up in the wonder that is Hedwig. After listening to the music I lamented about wishing I had seen the stage production. About six months later I read that there was a film that would be released in early 2001 and waited with anticipation of it's arrival.

When it was released finally in my quaint little corner of suburbia I saw it three times in the theater I loved it so much! It is such a raw, tour de force of rock energy unequaled by anything that has gone before it. A movie about a transgendered drag queen the best musical of our time? If you only see it once you'll understand the social rammifications it can have for everyone. But "Hedwig . . ." is , one of those movies you can watch again and again and always notice something new you didn't see before, since there are so many nuances in the performances and production.

"Hedwig . . ." is universal in it's themes: love, love lost, love found, then lost again, abandonment, betrayal, rejection, hope, longing and the list goes on. Fundamentally, it's based on the Greek philosopher Plato's "Symposium" which is the basis of the center piece song of the movie called "The Origin Of Love". This song and animation in the movie sets the mood for the entire film. This is film is so much more than the front of the transgendered lead character.

Granted, "Hedwig . . ." is not for the faint of heart and subsequently not for everyone. With it's raw punk rock edge, the colorful language and images that are definitely eye opening and controversial if one is not oriented to gay culture. It is a cross between "Priscilla Queen Of The Desert" and " The Rocky Horror Picture Show"(both of which I love) although these comparisons pale in the shadow of "Hedwig . . ." since it really has no peer in it's scope.

"Hedwig . . ." is a wonderful mix of comedy, drama and musical and balances all beautifully. The brainchild of John Cameron Mitchell who wrote the lyrics(Stephan Trask wrote the music and also plays one of the band members of the Angry Inch), screenplay, stars and directs, is simply the most creative vision seen in years. I am looking forward to his next project which he is currently working on about human sexuality which unfortunately he is having difficulty finding funding due to it's graphic and unflinching look at humans and sex. Visionary artists always have problems getting their controversial work produced.

I, of course, own the dvd and watch it periodically from time to time. There are all sorts of wonderful extras on the dvd like an awesome documentary called "Whether You Like It Or Not: The Story of Hedwig" (a full feature itself)in which Mr. Mitchell talks about his inspirations for the character and how it all came into being. The doc includes performance footage from the original off broadway stage play(which is incredible in and of itself)as well as footage of his first drag performance as Hedwig at a NYC gay club called "Squeezebox". There is also commentary by Mr. Mitchell, deleted scenes, a direct song index and so much more! Well worth the price!!

I have introduced several of my straight friends to it who have loved it and I will continue to introduce it to those friends I know who will truly appreciate it. I hope this review has inspired you to at least check out the movie because it's worth seeing, so enjoy the musical journey that is "Hedwig . . . ."

What's The Shouting All About?

Green Giant wrote on 07/05/2002:

While this film has on the surface a very interesting
concept i was totally underwhelmed by the execution.
the only scene in the film that was worth my $9.50 was the duet between Hedwig and
his/her ex-boyfriend Tommy toward the end. they both sing it barechested and both
Mitchell and Pitt have A+ hot
physiques. but that's it. proceed at your own risk.

Rock-n-Roll!

Hipster wrote on 05/22/2002:

Camp Classic but a Rock-n-Roll gem that would have come out in the '70s, like "Tommy" if the '70s embraced transgendered rock stars and liberal sexuality (on main stream film, that is). Amazingly original.

This is one MONUMENTAL film

RS in TX wrote on 04/25/2002:

The music is fantastic and the storyline is intriguing. I understand this film was made from an Off Broadway play by the same name. For the first part of the movie, a question mark was sure to be seen over my head, and then I gave in to the overpowering drive to wach this movie to the end. I surely wanted to see what was going to be thrown at me next! This movie turned out to be visually stunning and a joy to the ears. The storyline borders on art...no, it is art...as you are speechless at the end. I haven't enjoyed anything as much since the Academy Award Winning Foreign Film "The Thief, The Butcher, His Wife, and Her Lover". Hedwig and the Angry Inch is truely a great, soon to be overlooked by the mainstream, film!

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