Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

John Cameron Mitchell

Writers (WGA):

John Cameron Mitchell (book) and
Stephen Trask (book) ...

Release Date:

27 July 2001 (Canada)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Music

Tagline:

An anatomically incorrect rock odyssey

Plot:

A transexual punk rock girl from East Berlin tours the US with her rock band as she tells her life story and follows the ex-boyfriend/bandmate who stole her songs.

Plot Keywords:

Rock Band | Sex Change | Reference To Adam And Eve | Transvestism | Betrayal

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 27 wins & 27 nominations

Cast

John Cameron Mitchell	...	Hedwig
Miriam Shor	...	Yitzhak
Stephen Trask	...	Skszp - Band Member
Theodore Liscinski	...	Jacek - Band Member
Rob Campbell	...	Krzysztof - Band Member
Michael Aronov	...	Schlatko - Band Member
Andrea Martin	...	Phyllis Stein
Ben Mayer-Goodman	...	Hansel - 6 years old
Alberta Watson	...	Hansel's Mom
Gene Pyrz	...	Hansel's Dad
Michael Pitt	...	Tommy Gnosis
Karen Hines	...	Tommy's Publicist
Max Toulch	...	Goth Menses Boy
Maurice Dean Wint	...	Sgt. Luther Robinson
Ermes Blarasin	...	Fat Man

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content and language.

Runtime:

95 min | Argentina:93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Portugal:M/16 | USA:R (certificate #37948) | Argentina:16 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

The Eaton Center, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Killer Films

Trivia:

The aqua and peach track jacket worn by Hedwig's make-up man, Mike, in the call girl in the alley scene shows up several times throughout the film as an inside joke.

Goofs:

Factual errors: On the poster advertising for auditions for a production of Rent, the character of Collins is described as 'Young, Edgy, Black, Aspiring Musician.' However, Collins is actually a philosophy professor. The 'aspiring musician' of Rent is Roger.

Quotes:

Hansel's Mom: Absolute power corrupts.
Hansel (6 Years Old): Absolutely.
Hansel's Mom: Better to be powerless, my son.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Gifted and Challenged: The Making of 'Shortbus' (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Tear Me Down

Brilliant toe-tapping stuff

Already the winner of numerous awards including the Audience and Director awards at Sundance, this is the film of an original stage musical comedy that played off Broadway for over two years. It centres on Hedwig, whose only way of escaping from East Berlin is to undergo a sex-change and assume his mother's identity. Unfortunately the operation goes wrong and he is left with an `angry inch'. Escaping to America, he forms a rock band whilst seeking the soul partner that will fulfil his destiny. Loaded with songs that you will be humming all the way out of the cinema, Hedwig and the Angry Inch is the funniest, most outrageously entertaining movie of its kind since Rocky Horror. Unlike Rocky Horror, it does have some more serious philosophical reflections built into it (mostly via the songs), but it rocks, kicks ass and injects some seriously funny pizzaz into the transgender scene. I had the advantage not only of seeing the UK stage version a few days after the film, but also hearing the director speak about his work at the UK premiere. As a first time film effort it's quite an accomplishment, but as Cameron also played Hedwig in the stage version he had a starter for ten. On the down-side, the film is probably better on second or third viewing, when all the pieces would fit into place, and towards the end there is a tendency to tell the story only in songs and so at the expense of any serious script writing. But still it's a must-see movie.