The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) - The outback gets a festive make-over

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The three stars in gorgeous costumes have their backs turned to us on the open road under a sweltering sky on this poster for Stephan Elliott's The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Two drag queens and one more or less honorable, aging transsexual decide to head way inland in Australia to stage shows, and they buy an old bus they name Priscilla for the occasion, which is regrettably not always trustworthy...

 

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is written and directed by Stephan Elliott (Frauds (1993)).

The three leads: Hugo Weaving (We're All Going to Die (2017, short)), Guy Pearce (Without Remorse (2021)) and (especially fabulous) Terence Stamp (Bitter Harvest (2017)), - as the three eternally bitching 'disco age' cliche gays are all in high-spirited form and give lots of life to their characters. Bill Hunter (Australia (2008)) is also outstanding as the gentleman Bob, who decides to join the trio on their adventures. 

Whether the film is as funny and good as its similarly long-titled To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995) and also content-wise very similar American film that was made apparently coincidentally (incredible as it may seem) at the same time, is up to each audience member's individual taste. (Mine lead me in favor of the American saga.) In any case: Whoa, is Pearce in strapping form here!

Priscilla both shows a bright corner of an easier, less judgmental future while also brimming with the unbeatable spirit of the LGBT world. It gives a damn about realism in favor of concept and world-class glitzy costumes, wigs and makeup that is out of this world. It is a very gay-positive cult movie that wins on heart and good moments of which it has many.

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 2 mil. $

Box office: 29.7 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 14.85 times its cost)

[The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was released 30 January (Spain) and runs 103 minutes. Shooting took place from September - October 1993 in Australia. The film opened #14 to a 219k $ first weekend in 7 theaters in North America, where it grossed 11.2 mil. $ (37.7 % of the total gross). It earned 16.4 mil. $ (55.2 %) in Australia. The box office record is likely missing information, and the world gross is likely higher than reported here. The film won the Best Costumes Oscar. It also won 2/7 BAFTA awards, was nominated for 2 Golden Globes, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 2.5/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Elliott returned with Welcome to Woop Woop (1997). Weaving returned in Exile (1994); Pearce in Dating the Enemy (1996) and Stamp in Mindbender (1996, TV movie) and theatrically in Tiré à Part (1996). The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is certified fresh at 94 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert? 

The Piano (1993) - Campion's enthralling Maori period romance

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+ Best $ Return of the Year: 20 times the cost + Best Erotic Movie of the Year + Best New Zealand Movie of the Year + Best On-screen Couple of the Year: Holly Hunter & Harvey Keitel + Best Romance of the Year

 

A striking, almost ethereal still from the film makes up this poster for Jane Campion's The Piano

A mute woman from Scotland arrives to New Zealand with her daughter and her piano, as she has been married off to a frontier man there, who is a stranger to her. Gradually, however, she falls in love with another man of the new land, who lives in the forest with the native Maori people.

 

The Piano is written and directed by New Zealander master filmmaker Jane Campion (Sweetie (1989)), whose 3rd feature it is.

It is a highly esteemed film about love with beautiful long takes - that are never too long still, (cinematography by Stuart Dryburgh (Gifted (2017))), fabulous nature and music (score by Michael Nyman (Everyday (2012))). 

The actors are also eminent: Anna Paquin (The Irishman (2019)) as the young daughter is brilliant; Holly Hunter (Succession (2019, TV-series)) and Harvey Keitel (Saturn 3 (1980)) as the odd couple are the same. SPOILER A devastatingly tragic ending is averted, (Campion has later divulged that this ending was her original choice), and instead The Piano ends on a life-affirming note.  

 

Related post:

 

Jane Campion: 1993 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 7 mil. $

Box office: Reportedly 140 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 20 times its cost)

[The Piano premiered 15 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 117 minutes. Shooting took place from May - July 1992 in New Zealand. The film opened #18 to a 151k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #7 and in 671 theaters (different weeks), grossing 40.1 mil. $ (28.6 % of the total gross). The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes (shared with Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine), making Campion the first female recipient in history. It was also nominated for 8 Oscars, winning for Best Actress (Hunter), Supporting Actress (Paquin) and Script. It lost Best Cinematography to Janusz Kaminski for Schindler's List, Costumes to The Age of Innocence, Director to Steven Spielberg for Schindler's List, Picture to Schindler's List and Editing also to Schindler's List. It also won 3/10 BAFTA nominations, 1/6 Golden Globe nominations, a César award, was nominated for a David di Donatello award, won 2 National Board of Review awards and the Best Actress award at Cannes (Hunter), among scores of other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Campion returned with The Portrait of a Lady (1996). Hunter returned in The Firm (1993); Keitel in Rising Sun (1993); and Sam Neill (Rams (2020)) in The Rainbow Warrior (1993, TV movie) and theatrically in Jurassic Park (1993). The Piano is certified fresh at 90 % with an 8.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Piano?