Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Its all about the music and the lyrics and yes, its a unique and outrageous film. The story takes us with a gay transvestite drag queen and his/her rock band on a tour of the United States. There is a plot line with flashbacks to the protagonists youth in East Germany. But its not the main game. What made this performance interesting for me was the quality of the rock music and the poetry in the lyrics. Its a real plus to turn on the English subtitles so you can read them.

John Cameron Mitchell plays Hedwig Robinson alias Hansel. This is the film version of an Off-Broadway play. Mitchell wrote the play, the screenplay and directed the film. Its rated R for a reason. There is implied molestation and implied gay sex and stage moves ala Madonna. Given that, the band has great energy and sound and Mitchells singing voice is good, very good. Stephen Trask wrote and produced the original music. I listed the song titles below.

Mitchells acting career includes mostly TV and some films over seventeen years. This film is his first screenplay and his first time directing.

Some people will hate this film and its content and some will think its gutsy. Mitchell did effectively capture aspects of the drag queen rock star life style the times of wild abandon, the angst of choices considered antisocial and pathos. There is a minor amount of animation that is simple, but seems to fit with the performance.

Reviewed April 3, 2003

Original Song Titles

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Tear Me Down

The Origin of Love

Sugar Daddy

Angry Inch

Wig in a Box

Wicked Little Town

Hedwigs Lament

Exquisite Corpse

Midnight Radio