Two drag-queens (Anthony/Mitzi and Adam/Felicia) and a transgender woman contract to perform a drag show at a resort in Alice Springs, a resort town in the remote Australian desert. They head west from Sydney aboard their lavender bus, Priscilla. En route, it is discovered that the woman they've contracted with is Anthony's wife. Their bus breaks down, and is repaired by Bob, who travels on with them.Written by
Randy Goldberg <goldberg@nymc.edu>
It's the Australian film that blitzed overseas box offices. It caused a near riot at the Cannes Film Festival. It won an Academy Award®. It's fun, daring, over-the-top and unforgettable. It's a road movie with attitude and the occasional frock. See more »
Due to a heavy filming schedule, lots of filming was done while the entire crew was on the road. But because the bus was such a small set, there was no room for the crew. As such in many scenes, they are actually in shot, hiding under clothes and other props. See more »
Goofs
At 1:31:31 when Benji stands up while throwing stones in the river, the camera pans up so his face fills the foreground, and a boom microphone - with pole and cable wound round it - which should have been raised with the camera P.O.V. stays in shot, top left of screen. Luckily it's obscured by the blur resulting from the depth of field of the lens and blends into the background scenery quite well. See more »
Quotes
Felicia:
[to Bernadette]
Come on, Bernice. It's so funny you'll laugh so hard your lashes will curl all by themselves.
See more »
The film was "Shown in Dragarama" at select theatres at the time of release. This involved some theatres using a mirror-ball and colored lighting during the "Finally" dance number. See more »
This is my favourite Aussie movie of all times - a classic hilarious comedy in Australian tradition.
There are 3 aspects of the movie which make it such an outstanding entertainer.
Firstly, it's the brilliant screenplay by writer-director Stephan Elliott about 3 drag queens - a gay, a bisexual and a trans-sexual - from Sydney going on a bus to Alice Springs, a distance of over 2000 Kms to the centre of Australia, for a public performance. It's a road movie unlike any I have seen before, outrageously funny in one moment and poignant and touching the next.
Second, the performances by the 3 lead actors are outstanding. It's hard to pick one which has outshone the others. My personal favourite, like a lot of others, is Terence Stamp as the trans-sexual.
Third, the stunning costumes are worth watching just for themselves. Some of the scenes in the movie where we see the characters in their wildly colourful costumes against the background of an outlandish landscape are breathtakingly beautiful and memorable.
It's a movie one can see many times, and enjoy it every time.
13 of 16 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
This is my favourite Aussie movie of all times - a classic hilarious comedy in Australian tradition.
There are 3 aspects of the movie which make it such an outstanding entertainer.
Firstly, it's the brilliant screenplay by writer-director Stephan Elliott about 3 drag queens - a gay, a bisexual and a trans-sexual - from Sydney going on a bus to Alice Springs, a distance of over 2000 Kms to the centre of Australia, for a public performance. It's a road movie unlike any I have seen before, outrageously funny in one moment and poignant and touching the next.
Second, the performances by the 3 lead actors are outstanding. It's hard to pick one which has outshone the others. My personal favourite, like a lot of others, is Terence Stamp as the trans-sexual.
Third, the stunning costumes are worth watching just for themselves. Some of the scenes in the movie where we see the characters in their wildly colourful costumes against the background of an outlandish landscape are breathtakingly beautiful and memorable.
It's a movie one can see many times, and enjoy it every time.