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| John Cameron Mitchell's platinum blonde title character sings her heart out on this poster for his Hedwig and the Angry Inch |
Hansie, an East-German boy, grows up to become a beautiful female rock singer in the West, who tours with her band, all the while the bitter breakdown of her relationship with young rock phenomenon Tommy pains and affects everything.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is written and directed by great Texan filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell (Rabbit Hole (2010)), whose debut it is. It is based on Mitchell and Stephen Trask's (The Savages (2007, score)) same-titled 1998 musical.
It is a fantastically distinctive and memorable film with some delightful songs, hair, makeup and costumes. - And an intense Mitchell in his own title role. Michael Pitt (Dawson's Creek (1999-00)) is also a star in the making as Tommy.
What can be criticized about this very stylishly assertive film, - which in fact can feel somewhat like watching a 90-minute, great music video, - is that it elevates Hedwig's narcissism and makes it its own, refusing to take interest in anything besides her limited, self-centered and overly dramatic world. This especially hurts the film's inauspicious ending.
Related posts:
John Cameron Mitchell: 2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Rabbit Hole (2010) - Kidman and Eckhart shine in Mitchell's excellent drama
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 6 mil. $
Box office: 3.6 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.6 times its cost)
[Hedwig and the Angry Inch premiered 19 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 92 minutes. Shooting took place in Ontario, including Toronto, from July - August 2000. Most of the lead vocals were recorded live. Pitt reportedly ate onion and garlic prior to his prolonged kissing scene with Mitchell out of discomfort. The film opened #28 to a 156k $ first weekend in 9 theaters in North America, were it peaked at #23 and in 101 theaters (different weeks), grossing 3 mil. $ (83.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were South Korea with 286k $ (7.9 %) and France with 94k $ (2.6 %). The film was nominated for a Golden Globe, won an award at the Berlin International Film Festival, was nominated for 5 Independent Spirit awards, won a National Board of Review award, 2 awards at Sundance and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Mitchell returned with Shortbus (2006) as a filmmaker and as an actor in Girls (2013-14)). Hedwig and the Angry Inch is certified fresh at 92 % with a 7.9/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Hedwig and the Angry Inch?
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