Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Unique.

Good: Every frame of this movie is thoroughly original. The only familiar things about it are the emotions it evokes and portrays. Otherwise, it’s a ride through a world that most people will never know. The music is good to the point of being almost extraordinary; I haven’t been impressed so much by a soundtrack of this ilk since Velvet Goldmine, which this film resembles in a number of ways (although I’d argue that it’s more creatively successful). Despite being a creature of the stage, Mitchell has a magnificent eye for film. Not a shot was ill-considered or out of place, and all the directorial creativity in this film worked. Mitchell himself is a hurricane of talent, and his performance reminds me of all the great performances I’ve talked up in this blog or elsewhere – Witherspoon in Walk the Line, Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs, Fonda in Klute, Cruise in Magnolia. Totally natural, effortless, yet still obviously tremendous acting, and with a special shimmer of charisma that the actor doesn’t bring to everything else. He’s eminently watchable here, and admirable beyond the pale as a performer, especially since bringing such an unusual character to life, let alone making her great to watch, is a hell of a feat. Everybody else’s acting was good too. Michael Pitt interested me, because his portrait of the character was as a gothy little punk who was in over his head, sexually and intellectually. I’m curious as to whether this was the point or not. I hope it was - the movie’s richer that way.

Mediocre: Some pieces of the film were less than believable even in the semi-credible context of the rest of the film – the connection between Tommy and Hedwig wasn’t so clear to me, and I wondered why the people in Hedwig’s life seemed to desert her and band with her only at convenient moments. I also wasn’t sure about the ending. I enjoyed the theoretical direction of the end, but I didn’t think it fully fit with the fleet-footed storytelling feel of the rest of the film. (It did evoke the end of Rocky Horror, which is, I suspect, intentional.) The evocation of Bowie, and the glam style of music, was pretty darn obvious, but I like Bowie so this isn’t really a flaw.

Bad: I found the movie a totally enjoyable experience, largely without fault, but I have to say that I can see how it would turn off many people, possibly the majority of people, by nature of its content and storyline and characters and so on. I don’t care, because I largely take people as they are, but BF for instance has politely declined to watch it with me. (We watched Velvet Goldmine together, and I know he’s enjoyed Rocky Horror live; I think it’s just the ultimate awfulness of a botched sex change that bothers him.) Other than what others may think of the film, I have no complaints.

But if your mind does not resemble a parachute – able to open at any time - stay away. If it does, I suspect you will have a great time with this film. It’s fun, a little sad, and very foot-tappin’.