Review of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001) by Blind P — 25 Jun 2010

Taken from a stage play of the same name, the film depicts the struggles of a transsexual rock singer to find elusive success as she follows the tour of a former protege who found commercial success by stealing her material, attempting to draw attention to a lawsuit accusing him of such.

It combines elements of humour and tragedy to draw the viewer's interest, and is punctuated throughout by some lyrically clever tunes that deepen the value of it all.

Anybody who finds success elusive, or feels alienated from general society, will find much to identify with, even as the main character struggles with identity issues.

Though I was aware of this film for quite some time, I didn't have much idea of what it was about, so it unfolded without expectation and that is always a condition I crave for watching any film. It is experiences like this that drive me to continue to try and find the gems of any era, because the surprise and delight that comes from watching something interesting, well conceived, and stylistically unique is worth sitting through any amount of drek to get to.

To think this one just happened to be on television...