Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)

Starring: John Cameron Mitchell, Michael Pitt, Andrea Martin
Director: John Cameron Mitchell
Country: USA
Genre: Music

It’s not so much a performance as it is a genesis.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch serves up a bizarre viewing experience that’s half train wreck, half raw emotion, and half heart attack. The result is one and a half times the exploits of a normal film. The character is a bit paradoxical in that on the surface most of the audience shouldn’t be able to connect with a transgender lead singer of a punk rock band from East Berlin… but for whatever unabashed reason, it’s almost impossible not to. It feels outlandish saying it, but Hedwig and the Angry Inch wears its heart on its sleeve, and that opens up an emotional link with the audience that’s unavoidable. Did I mention it’s a rock opera? A performance piece? A pseudo-documentary? The character of Hedwig has so much depth, that John Cameron Mitchell doesn’t create so much of a performance as he does a genesis. I’d been putting this film off for far too long, after too many recommendations, and am finally glad to be recommending it to others.

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